DANVILLE – After a Housing Authority of the City of Danville voucher briefing Friday for tenants being displaced with the upcoming public housing building demolitions, it was determined most will leave Vermilion County with their tenant protection vouchers.

“Eighty percent will port out …” said HACD executive director Jaclyn Vinson.

She said the remaining approximately 20 percent will use their voucher to live within Vermilion County. Most of the approximately 30 families will remain in Danville.

Those leaving the county will be going back to Chicago, Indianapolis and other locations and states to be closer to friends and family.

The demolition of six buildings at Fair Oaks public housing complex off East Fairchild Street next year is displacing 57 public housing units housing 130 individuals. Five of those individuals and families are choosing to stay in public housing in another unit.

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New construction, renovations and demolition are among $10.9 million in planned work on public housing following a critical few years for East St. Louis Housing Authority.

Ben Carson, head of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development, visited the city in August 2017 to announce the return of responsibility to local control over the housing authority for the first time since the federal government took it over 1985.

A year after Carson’s visit, an investigation by The Southern Illinoisan and the ProPublica Local Reporting Network found HUD inspectors failed nine of the city’s 12 public housing projects where nearly 4,000 people live.

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Federal officials granted a request from the Housing Authority of Danville to demolish several buildings, which house 57 apartments, at the Fair Oaks public housing complex on the city's east side. The work will create a dramatic change within the complex, and should serve as a first step toward a citywide commitment to improve housing for all residents.

The barracks-like structures at Fair Oaks do little to inspire residents and serve as a symbol of how the good intentions of providing assistance to those in need can go off the tracks. The demolition projects will, as housing authority representatives tell reporter Jennifer Bailey in today's Commercial-News story, allow better service for residents and, hopefully, spark improvements in the Fair Oaks neighborhood.

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CHAMPAIGN — Construction is set to begin soon on a $15 million housing authority project on the north side of Champaign.

The Housing Authority of Champaign County is planning a groundbreaking Dec. 14 on its Haven project on Interstate Drive, behind Walmart.

The three-story building will have 98 apartments for people 55 and older, and another one-story apartment building with 24 units for people with special needs.

It will also have a large community room and kitchen, computer lab, fitness center, outdoor walking areas, a dog park and other amenities.

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Representatives from Macoupin Housing Services (MHS) and the Macoupin County Housing Authority (MCHA) cut the ribbons on three tax credit housing developments in the county at ceremonies held Sept. 23.

Home tours were available to area residents and local dignitaries at the 14 homes built in Staunton, nine in Bunker Hill and 15 in Gillespie. The homes were built through a low-income housing tax credit created under the 1986 Tax Reform Act. It gives incentives for the use of private equity in the development of affordable housing aimed at low-income Americans. The program is administered at the state level through the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), which receives a fixed allocation of credits based on population.

The homes have to meet strict requirements with regard to construction standards and energy efficiency.

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