Register for 2024 Housing Matters

Our annual Housing Matters Conference brings together 350+ professionals from the homelessness and affordable housing field to spark connections, get the latest updates, and share ideas. Join us on October 17–18 in Bloomington, IL to choose from 18 breakout workshops related to ending homelessness, public policy advocacy, housing counseling, and affordable housing development.

We've sold out for two years, so register now »

By providing training, consulting, and resources, we help housing organizations—especially housing counseling agencies—better serve our communities. In recent years, we have expanded some of our Capacity Building programs beyond Illinois. Our training program educates housing counselors from across the nation, and last year, we reached 840 participants from more than 40 states. Our Housing Action Counseling Network includes affiliates in six states, and our Housing Action Corps includes AmeriCorps VISTA members in seven states.

To reflect this expanded reach, we've adopted a new look and names for some of our Capacity Building work, including our Housing Action Training Center and Housing Action Counseling Network. While staying anchored in Illinois, we look forward to collaborating even more at regional and national levels.

This year, we are celebrating our 10th year as a HUD-approved Intermediary! Our Housing Action Counseling Network supports 35 housing counseling agencies in the Midwest and beyond. We help these organizations by providing one-on-one guidance and securing resources, including grant funding from HUD that we subgrant to our partner agencies. We assist organizations in navigating the process for HUD approval and ensure the agencies in our network meet program standards and pass annual reviews.

In FY23 alone, our network helped 12,321 households understand their housing options.

Learn more »

Local Advocacy Opportunity: New List of Communities Must Complete Affordable Housing Plans

The Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act (AHPAA) is an Illinois state law intended to encourage certain local governments to create more affordable housing. Housing Action recently advocated to strengthen this law, and now, 44  municipalities where the percentage of affordable housing units is less than 10% must create a plan to change that and submit those plans by June 2025. This provides an opportunity for residents to advocate for a strong local plan.

View our resource guide & toolkit to learn more »

Senate's Federal Budget Proposal Includes 10% Increase for THUD

The U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations passed a fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending bill that would provide $78.2 billion for HUD’s vital affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs in FY25 (a more than 10% increase from the previous fiscal year). For full details, see National Low Income HousingCoalition’s full analysis and updated budget chart. We recently organized a meeting with staff for US Senator Dick Durbin, which was attended by several of our members and allies to discuss the harm that would come from passing the House version of the budget, which includes far less overall funding and cuts to many housing programs. We also made the case for funding beyond the Senate version of the budget for programs such as Housing Choice Vouchers, public housing, homeless assistance grants and eviction prevention.

Welcome New VISTA Leaders

Our National Service Team is growing alongside our Housing Action Corps network! Maddison Arseneaux and Jovan Williamson are two new VISTA Leaders who joined us in August. After serving at Tennessee RiverLine and Attucks Community Service Board, respectively, they will spend the next year supporting Housing Action Corps members and planning professional development opportunities for our network.

Save the Date

Our ninth annual Toast to Housing Justice will be held on April 24, 2025, at Catalyst Ranch in Chicago. Join us for a fun evening of pizza, beer, music, friendly faces—and a chance to win great prizes at our silent auction. Best of all, by attending, you'll support Housing Action's work toward an Illinois where everyone has a good, affordable place to call home.

Our 2023 Annual Report: Strong Roots, Thriving Communities. Illinois will always be our home and the primary focus of our work. But we know that the fate of our local communities is inextricably linked to that of our neighbors, and change means partnering with allies near and far. (annual report)