 | September 2025 Newsletter: Policy Focus | Annual Report | Housing Counselor Dispatch | Housing Action Corps Updates | Welcome | Members Corner | Learning & Networking | What We're Sharing | Jobs |
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| | Response to Recent Federal Actions in Illinois Housing Action opposes harmful federal actions in Illinois conducted without collaboration with our state and local governments. We support protections and resources for people experiencing homelessness, immigrants, and other impacted communities. - The Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness is working to protect the rights and safety of people experiencing homelessness. Their new outreach resources provide guidance on staying safe during enforcement activity and a hotline for help or reporting concerns: 312-641-4148
- The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, The Resurrection Project (TRP), and others created the Illinois Immigration Information Hub to empower immigrants information and access to legal help. The ICIRR Family Support Hotline is: 1-855-HELP-MY-FAMILY
Webinar: Federal Shifts, Local Impacts on Homelessness Federal decisions are shaping homelessness policy in Illinois like never before. Join Housing Action Illinois, the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness, and partners for a 90-minute briefing on September 22 that will cover how national actions are influencing local communities and HOME Illinois, the state plan to prevent and end homelessness. Topics include: -
Federal military and immigration enforcement deployments—and what they mean for people experiencing homelessness. -
FY26 budget negotiations (with just one week left in the fiscal year). -
Implications of President Trump’s Executive Order on homelessness. -
Updates on Continuum of Care Program NOFOs. |
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| | | | In 2024, Housing Action stayed focused on what matters most: ensuring everyone has a safe, affordable home. We deepened our roots in Illinois while collaborating with allies across the country, advanced local and statewide policy solutions, and helped secure a historic $290 million state investment to end homelessness. Milestones included 10 years of our Housing Action Counseling Network—supporting nearly 100,000 households—and a rebrand of Housing Action Corps, which connects AmeriCorps VISTA members to housing organizations across Illinois and beyond. Learn more in our 2024 Annual Report » |
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| | Housing Counselor Dispatch |
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| SSHC Hosts First Housing Resource Fair Congrats to longtime Housing Action member SSHC (South Suburban Housing Center) on hosting their first Housing Resource Fair. SSHC brought together vendors providing a variety of homeownership products and services and SSHC representatives at their Lean Into Homeownership Housing Resource Fair. They helped connect 118 families with resources to support their homeownership journeys or gain housing stability after hardships. Read their overview » |
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| | Housing Action Corps Updates |
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| Building Capacity Nationwide We are excited to welcome 42 Housing Action Corps members and leaders to our 2025-2026 cohort! For the next year, these AmeriCorps VISTA members will serve with 30 organizations across Illinois and housing counseling agencies in 7 other states. Housing Action Corps members take on projects that build organizational capacity, advance housing opportunities, and strengthen communities. We are also proud to celebrate the 31 AmeriCorps members and leaders who recently finished their terms of service in August. By completing year-long projects at 26 host sites in IL and 4 other states, members made a lasting impact on the communities and organizations they supported. |
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| Welcome to Housing Action's New VISTA Leader Join us in welcoming a new VISTA Leader, Bobby Rowe! After serving in AmeriCorps with Community Partners for Affordable Housing, they will spend the next year supporting Housing Action Corps members and planning professional development opportunities for our network. |
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| | Welcome New AmeriCorps VISTA Members We are excited to welcome three AmeriCorps VISTA members who will be serving directly at Housing Action Illinois in the coming year! Natalie Floreancig is joining the Communications & Development team as the Development and Engagement VISTA and will be working on resource development, public education, and member engagement. Phuc Huynh and Mikayla Miller are joining our Capacity Building team; as the Training Coordinator VISTA, Phuc will help plan and market our trainings for housing counselors, and as the Performance and Compliance Coordinator VISTA, Mikayla will support HUD-approved housing counseling agencies in our Housing Action Counseling Network. |
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| - In our newest member spotlight, learn about how Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH) works with their AmeriCorps VISTA to provide stable housing to individuals and families in Lake and Northern Cook Counties.
- Congratulations to Sarah Petersen on becoming the new Executive Director of Open Communities, and best wishes to Cheryl Lawrence in her retirement.
- IFF has announced that Kirby Burkholder, current president of core business solutions and a longtime leader within the organization, will become its next CEO in 2026. He will succeed Joe Neri, who will retire at the end of 2025.
- IHDA has allocated $40M to BEDS Plus, Inc, Cornerstone Community Outreach, Connections for the Homeless, and Housing Forward to develop four non-congregate shelters that will create 194 units with 422 beds for people experiencing homelessness
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 | Mom and daughter who are smiling because they realized their dream of owning a home by purchasing a CPAH Community Land Trust affordable home in Wilmette, IL |
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| | Learning & Networking Events from us, our members, funders, and organizations to which we belong. Submit your listing » - Hosted by Marshall Heights CDO: Annual Global Readiness Conference, 9/19: Register
- Federal Shifts, Local Impacts on Homelessness: What’s Happening Now and What’s Ahead, 9/22: Register
- In- Person Housing Action Coalition Conversation: Aging in Place, 9/23: Register
- How to Implement your HECM Program, 9/24: Register
- Hosted by Woodstock Institute: Predatory Inclusion: Debunking the Crypto Hype, 9/26: Register
- Hosted by HUD: Opportunity Zones (OZ) 2.0 Launch Event, 9/30: Register
- Hosted by Chicago Rehab Network: Empowerment Series, next training 10/19: Register
- Housing Counseling Career Path, 10/21-10/23 & 10/28-10/30: Register
- Hosted by Woodstock Institute: Community Lending Data Virtual Training, 10/28: Register
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| Register for 2025 Housing Matters Join us in Bloomington on October 16–17 for our 2025 Housing Matters Conference—our annual gathering where housing counselors, advocates, homeless service providers, developers, changemakers, and more come together to learn, connect, and take action. This year's keynote speakers will be Leah Rothstein, co-author of Just Action, and Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Register now » |
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| | | | 🦋 Follow Housing Action Illinois on Bluesky! (social media) The National Council of Nonprofit has launched a new national campaign — Nonprofits Get It Done —emphasizing the critical role nonprofits play in every community from coast to coast (resource) IFF Flex Loans for Nonprofits offer up to $50,000 for 501(c)(3) nonprofits of all sizes across the Midwest, including smaller and newer organizations (resource) Rent is becoming unaffordable to Illinoisans according to new report, WMBD, 7/31/25 (media) Why is it So Expensive to Build Affordable Housing in Chicago? Block Club Chicago, 7/28/25 (media) Cutting Housing Counseling is a Grave Mistake, The Progressive, 7/25/25 (media) Federal housing credit expansion could increase affordable rental units in Illinois: report, Capitol News Illinois, 7/22/2025 (media) Listen to our Policy Director Bob Palmer discuss the role of modular homes in Chicago's housing crisis on Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons, WBEZ Chicago, 7/15/25 (media) |
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| | | | We are stronger together. Join our movement to create an Illinois where everyone has a good, stable place to call home. |
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| | Housing Action Illinois
67 E. Madison Street, Suite 1603 | Chicago, Illinois 60603
312-939-6074 | communications@housingactionil.org |
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