Creating affordable housing for homeless, low-income, and migrant residents of the West Side of Chicago brought together Illinois State Rep. Lilian Jiménez (D-4th), city officials and non-profit organizations to move forward with affordable housing solutions.
So far, solutions include using TIF funds and land trusts to help fund affordable housing.
The Housing Roundtable organized by Jiménez – the second this year – gathered the Chicago Department of Housing, the Department of Family and Support Services, the Law Center for Better Housing, Cornerstone Community Outreach, Here to Stay Community Land Trust, Association Housing of Chicago and others on Nov. 1.
Their goal is to work with the West Side community to find a variety of solutions for permanent, affordable housing. Jiménez, who sits on Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s Interagency Task Force on Homelessness, hopes to host a roundtable before every legislative session to gauge what the community has done and needs. The first roundtable was focused on property tax relief. Jimenez said they are continuing to work with partners to make sure that property tax relief
becomes a reality.
“We’re trying to create spaces for people to know where to come to help us, to introduce ideas, vet ideas, and to let the community know what we’re working on,” she said.
According to the Point in Time count, there is an increased number of people experiencing homelessness in Chicago due to the migrant crisis. With 13,891 new individuals experiencing homelessness since 2023, the total comes to 18,836 individuals. In Illinois, there is a shortage of 289,419 affordable homes, according to Housing Action Illinois. In Chicago, the shortage of
affordable rental homes stands at 126,125.
Pritzker’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget dedicates $360 million towards ending homelessness and improving housing solutions. Jiménez’s role is to direct funds to impactful projects in her district.
The idea of a community land trust is, for Jiménez, one of the best solutions, using state grants to buy properties.
Lucy Gomez, community engagement specialist for Here to Stay Community Land Trust, said that many of the roundtable participants “advocated for a $5 million grant from the state for Here to Stay last year, and we’re happy to report that we spent it!”
With the grant, they acquired 12 properties, most of them for families. According to Gomez, this is the only active community land trust in Chicago. Since 2022, four homes have been sold, but many properties have been acquired and are in the rehabilitation process.
Here to Stay owns the land in trust. First-time buyers can purchase the home built on it. The buyers then lease the land from Here to Stay, meaning they only pay for the structure and not the land itself. This arrangement significantly reduces housing costs. Low-income families who have lived in these neighborhoods their whole lives can now stay and be protected from the rapid gentrification.
“We have to think of creative ways to basically outwit the market because these market forces are very exploitative and extractive,” says Jiménez.
Through the state and the city’s continued efforts, Alder Jessie Fuentes (26th) is applying public funding to purchase the New Life Covenant church building in Humboldt Park and turn it into a non-congregate shelter. Jiménez is trying to acquire $500,000 in state funds for this project. On top of means obtained through Chicago’s non-congregate shelter acquisition program and Tax Increment Financing, Fuentes will be able to provide 50 to 60 new rooms.
Beneficiaries will have their private space and access to many services, including on-site case workers, meals, gyms, professional development workshops, and other resources.
“The model has been proven to support individuals’ well-being but also improve transition to long-term housing,” says Meredith Muir, Program Manager of the Chicago Recovery Plan at the Department of Housing.
The Chicago Recovery Plan aims to help implement additional non-congregate shelters and has awarded grants to organizations that want to make that effort.
Cornerstone Community Outreach (CCO) is a non-profit organization working to find permanent housing solutions for people experiencing homelessness. Through the Chicago Recovery Plan, they will receive $4 million to rehabilitate 1140 W. Wilson. This will accommodate 40 men in need of affordable housing.
“This is a very courageous project with the Department of Housing, DFSS, Public Health, the 26th Ward, the State of Illinois,” said Andrew Winter, Executive Director of CCO. “Cornerstone is forwarding this new model of housing in this neighborhood, and I am grateful to be a part of that.”
Although there is still significant progress to make, the momentum for affordable housing is
strong. “The governor has shown a commitment to ending homelessness, to addressing the
housing shortage in the last budget,” said Jiménez, “I hope that the governor will continue on
that path and make some announcements on how we can invest in more infrastructure.”
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