November is Affordable Housing Month in Illinois

From Heartland Alliance Research and Policy News, November 10th, 2008

November is Affordable Housing Month in Illinois. Hot off the presses, this issue of Heartland Alliance Research & Policy News focuses on three new housing reports to keep you informed about how housing hardship and homelessness affect communities across Illinois and on how you can promote the human right to housing.

Report Releases

Heartland Alliance Mid-America on Poverty recently completed three reports on affordable housing, a 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, and supportive housing. Click the headlines to download the reports.

McHenry County: A Place to Call Home – Affordable Housing Needs Assessment

This assessment of the need for and the supply of affordable housing found that there is a serious lack of housing in McHenry County that falls in the price range of low and even middle-income families. The need is particularly salient for households with annual incomes below $35,000 and for people with special housing support needs.

DuPage County, Illinois, Plan to End Homelessness: Progress at the Five-Year Mark and a Blueprint for Moving Forward

This report documents the tremendous successes of the past 5 years of the DuPage County Continuum of Care’s 10-Year Plan to End Homeless. It also outlines the process by which stakeholders were re-energized and re-engaged in the effort to end homelessness in the county and establishes a new blueprint for success for the coming 5 years.

Study of Supportive Housing in Illinois: Interim Report on Publicly-Funded Service Usage by Residents Prior to Entry into Supportive Housing

This study was launched to document and analyze supportive housing residents’ use of public services prior to entering housing and afterwards, in order to determine the cost savings of supportive housing to other systems. This second interim report provides a picture of the services that supportive housing residents accessed within the 2 years before they entered supportive housing.

Policy Action & Update

Action Alert: Urge Governor to Restore FY09 cuts to critical programs and services without delay

The Governor recently signed the funds sweep bill SB 790 allowing the state to tap $221 million from special state designated funds to meet current revenue needs. However, he did not sign SB 1103, the appropriation bill that would allow the swept money to be spent on reversing the cuts in programs and services for Illinois’ most vulnerable residents - people experiencing homelessness, those needing substance use treatment, and individuals and families needing mental health care.

The governor has until December 6 to take action on SB 1103 legislation. However, we know that individuals are suffering daily due to existing cuts. Urge the Governor to sign SB 1103 without delay.

1. Call the Governor – Thank him for signing SB 790 and urge him to promptly sign SB 1103 as passed by the House and Senate. His office phone numbers are 217-782-6830 (Springfield) and 312-814-2121 (Chicago).

2. Write/Fax the Governor – Write a letter to the Governor to explain the impact of the cuts on you, your program, and your community. Thank him for signing SB 790 and urge him to promptly sign SB 1103 as passed by the House and Senate. His fax numbers are 217-558-0897 (Springfield) and 312-814-5512 (Chicago).

3. Share this alert – Urge others to take action and contact the Governor today.

Update: Opportunities for Change: Taking Action to End Extreme Poverty in Illinois – Location Change

As a result of Heartland Alliance's ground-breaking From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign: Realizing Human Rights in Illinois, the Office of the Governor is partnering with Heartland Alliance to hold Opportunities for Change: Taking Action to End Extreme Poverty in Illinois on December 9-10 in Evanston, Illinois. This summit, held in conjunction with International Human Rights Day, is designed to engage stakeholders from across Illinois in the newly created Commission on the Elimination of Poverty. This summit will begin to develop short- and long-term solutions to extreme poverty in our state, moving us towards our goal of cutting extreme poverty in half by 2015. More information about the agenda and registration can be found at the State of Illinois website.