Advocacy Spotlight: Housing Action Illinois

Housing Action Illinois is a long-time partner and advisor to Joining Forces, particularly relating to our state-level advocacy. In turn, Joining Forces helps Housing Action work toward achieving their mission, since one of their key goals is to mobilize partner organizations like us across the State to support their state and federal advocacy efforts. Joining Forces is particularly important to them in their work to extend their reach into the northern suburbs. 

Housing Action Illinois' mission is to increase and preserve the supply of quality, affordable, accessible homes in Illinois for low-and moderate-income families and individuals. 

​Housing Action Illinois was started 35 years ago by a group of advocates who realized the need for an organization that can change statewide public policy and push for more resources dedicated to ending homelessness. They now have close to 200 member organizations, including housing counseling agencies, developers of affordable housing, policymakers, and homeless service providers like Connections for the Homeless.

Research and Education

A key function of Housing Action is to engage in research and reporting on housing topics in the state. Often in collaboration with others (including the National Low Income Housing Coalition), Housing Action has released reports on the following subjects:   

• The lack of housing options for low-income households

• Housing opportunities for people with housing choice vouchers

• Who loses their homes due to unpaid property taxes

• How Illinois’ state budget problems impact unhoused people and service providers

Advocacy  
 
Homelessness can’t be solved with services alone. To change the systems that create homelessness, public policy changes are a necessity. First, more money must be allocated to federal and state budgets for programs that work to end homelessness and provide affordable housing. Second, policies must support a cultural shift that moves from viewing housing as a wealth-building commodity to viewing it as a basic human need. The current housing market is failing not just the unhoused population, but also renters and owners who are spending most of their incomes on housing.   
 
Since advocacy is key to making necessary policy changes, Housing Action has a yearly state legislative and budget agenda and works with national partners on a federal agenda. They organize people from partner organizations, including people with lived experience and those with advocacy expertise, to advocate with them for policies that would support increases in housing affordability and improvements to homelessness services. Issues that Housing Action has advocated for include support for homeownership programs, tenant’s rights, and fair housing.   

Collaboration with Service Providers

Housing Action partners with the 19 groups of homeless services providers in Illinois (called "Continuums of Care") to connect people experiencing housing insecurity to direct service providers, including Connections for the Homeless.  

Additionally, Housing Action works with the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County to conduct annual legislative breakfasts, where they gather service providers and people with lived expertise to speak with legislators. This year, the focus of the breakfast will be how the State of Illinois can support HOME Illinois, the state plan to prevent and end homelessness. 

Housing Action Illinois’ Impact  
 
During the pandemic, Housing Action fought for more emergency rental assistance, stronger eviction moratoriums, and foreclosure prevention. Post-pandemic, they focused on housing new migrant and refugee arrivals in Illinois. Most recently, they lobbied for state budget increases and legislation that would end income-based housing discrimination and strengthen the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act. They also helped form a coalition that focuses on restricting local government use of so-called “crime-free housing and nuisance ordinances”  that can contribute to housing inequities and homelessness.
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Housing Action Illinois believes that keys to creating enough affordable housing include:  

• Increasing the supply of affordable housing and services that provide or fight for it
• Ensuring that local communities support affordable housing
• Changing public policy at all levels of government and making sure that elected officials know that their communities care about these issues

Housing Action has been a catalyst for tens of thousands of new homes being built, hundreds of thousands of people who’ve faced housing insecurity living in stable housing, and millions of renters gaining better protections. From Housing Action’s work with members and partners, this organization has created access and housing opportunities in every community throughout Illinois. Joining Forces is proud to be one of the their partners! 
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Person interviewed: Bob Palmer, Policy Director at Housing Action Illinois ​