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The affordable housing crisis is growing across the nation. We are seeing this in Evanston—more people coming to Connections for the Homeless for help, more struggling to maintain housing they can’t afford, and more who have lost their homes. Our programs are full, and more people are living outside waiting for an opening. Without more affordable housing, we--Connections and the community--cannot meet the need.
And for more affordable housing to be created, more people need to be demanding it, finding ways to make it happen, supporting action, and fighting opposition. We need your help, and we’ve developed a new membership structure to make it easier for you to get involved.
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 Travon Bonner is one of many people who advocated for more affordable housing in Springfield with Joining Forces this spring. She is the Youth Program Supervisor at Connections for the Homeless, which involves providing support and resources to the full team of people who serve 60 transition-aged youth at Connections. Travon helps with in-house clerical tasks, manages one of Connections’ homes that is staffed 24/7, works on the program’s budgeting, and ensures that programming that’s offered suits the needs of the program’s participants.
Joining Forces for Affordable Housing advocates for system change to make housing more affordable in our region. Recently, someone asked the sensible question of “What would it look like if the system changes were in place?” Here are four things that we believe help to answer that question.
 Data is from the National Alliance to End Homelessness (1). by Nathaniel Hagemaster
Joining Forces for Affordable Housing provides education resources on affordable housing, homelessness, and related issues. We try to help people stay informed about the need for affordable housing and what can be done. We occasionally post research-based blog posts on the broader scope of homelessness and affordable housing.  Allison Keller is not only an affordable housing advocate. She is also a Rapid Rehousing and Transitional Housing Case Manager at Connections for the Homeless. In this role, she matches people to housing programs that provide one to two years of rental assistance and connects them to resources like school systems and public benefits programs to help them access jobs, food, and services. These programs help participants pay rents that they can afford and supplement the remaining housing costs for up to two years, while helping them to increase their income until they’re able to pay rent independently.
 Image from NCH.org by Nathaniel Hagemaster While it’s common knowledge that black people are highly overrepresented in homeless populations, fewer people know that members of the LGBTQIA community face similar adversity. Research is now showing that the long-held prejudices that keep minorities vulnerable to poverty contribute to homelessness among black and LGBTQIA populations, with a particularly intense impact where those populations overlap.  By Max Seeley
As the spring session for the 103rd Illinois General Assembly concludes and the dust settles, we can unquestionably say that this has been a remarkable session for advancing affordable housing and homeless services in our state. Our bill reforming the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act (AHPAA) passed both chambers and is headed to the Governor’s Desk to be signed into law! The state budget for FY 2024 included a total of $60.1 million in funding increases for homeless services in Illinois, marking a huge step forward in ending homelessness in the state.  Community Case Manager at Connections for the Homeless, Ernie Calderon, is one of the 23 people who went to Springfield with the advocacy team to lobby for Senate Bill 1476 and more funding for housing services in Illinois. He works at the drop-in centers at Dewey and Hilda’s Place, serving as the first point of contact with Connections’ clients to help them with finding medical insurance, getting driver’s licenses, attending court and doctor’s appointments, etc.
 On Tuesday, April 18, Joining Forces took a team of 22 people to Springfield to advocate for two days. It was a remarkable and impactful trip. Here’s a gallery of photos from the trip and an overview!  Melissa Appelt is originally from Ames, Iowa, but has lived in east Glenview since 1994. Melissa worked for more than 30 years as a grant writer for the Chicago Botanic Garden and Mid-America Arts Alliance, a regional arts organization in Kansas City. She became involved with Interfaith Action of Evanston through its Advocacy Committee and is now the president of the board of directors. With a mission to serve homeless and hungry people, promote interfaith dialogue, and advocate for the people it serves, Interfaith Action is a member of Joining Forces and works closely with Connections for the Homeless.
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