Housing collaboratives in South and West Cook County receive nearly $11 million in federal funds to stabilize communities across borders
The West Cook County Housing Collaborative and the Chicago Southland Housing and Community Development Collaborative received nearly $11 million in federal funding from the IKE Disaster Recovery Program to further their interjurisdictional work on stabilizing communities in south and west Cook County in the wake of the foreclosure crisis. The funding will help hard-hit communities preserve workforce housing, address blight, and recover from the devastating floods of 2008. The award also represents an important affirmation of the collaborative model on the part of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which administered the IKE Disaster Recovery Program in Illinois.
The housing collaboratives were initially founded in response to the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), which provided funding to municipalities to purchase vacant, foreclosed homes and return them to productive use. Since many municipalities do not have the resources to pursue and comply with federal funding programs, the collaboratives were founded to coordinate the application and compliance process across dozens of municipalities and allocate funds in accordance with strategic planning priorities. Through the NSP process and beyond, the housing collaboratives have opened up new opportunities for communities in south and west Cook County that are traditionally overlooked by federal programs.
The collaboratives are a first-of-their-kind approach to pursuing regional housing priorities, and many government programs are not designed to award funds to collaborative applicants. Representatives from south and west Cook County and key RHOPI partners the Metropolitan Planning Council and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus have worked to educate funders on the benefits of collaboration and encouraged them to reward collaboration in their funding priorities.
“The IKE Disaster Recovery Program Awards are a significant step in deepening the relationship between the housing collaboratives and the State,” said Janice Morrissy, Director of Housing Initiatives for the Chicago Southland Housing and Community Development Collaborative (CSHCDC). “We are thrilled that the State recognizes that collaborating across borders can amplify the benefits of federal funding and effectively advance regional priorities.”
“This funding is a great example of what happens when communities collaborate and strategically think about what sustainability means to their region,” said Michelle Hoereth, Director of Housing at IFF, which coordinates the West Cook County Housing Collaborative. “The foreclosure crisis is substantial in our areas and has a direct impact on every community. The goal here is to have a strong region and part of that means having a robust housing market that supports a range of household incomes and careful consideration of the link between housing and transportation. Strong communities benefit the entire region.”
The CSHCDC received $6.6 million in IKE Disaster Recovery Program funds. Funds will be used in Hazel Crest, Lansing, Olympia Fields, Park Forest, Phoenix, and South Holland to purchase vacant homes for rehabilitation, demolish deteriorating homes, or to repair damaged or deteriorating infrastructure. . Existing community plans were taken into consideration when targeting the IKE funds in south Cook County. For example, Hazel Crest is using its funds to improve vacant, foreclosed homes near a transit-oriented development district, while the funds will allow Park Forest to demolish the majority of a concentration of distressed homes in one neighborhood while continuing to rehabilitate homes in another neighborhood receiving Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) investment.
The West Cook County Housing Collaborative (WCCHC) received $4.2 million in IKE Disaster Recovery Program funds, which they will initially use in Maywood, Bellwood, and Forest Park. The funding will be used to acquire, rehabilitate, and sell single-family homes in these areas, targeting homes that are close to transit. WCCHC is planning on maximizing the funds’ impact by targeting them to stabilize specific blocks, instead of homes scattered throughout the region. A revolving fund was set up so that the proceeds from the sales of the homes will return to IFF and be used to acquire and rehab more homes until the fund is exhausted. WCCHC hopes to rehab and sell more than one hundred homes and eventually expand its program to Berwyn and Oak Park. With many affordable homes being lost to the foreclosure crisis, WCCHC is making sure to keep their homes affordable by using some of the IKE funds to subsidize purchase.
By coordinating efforts and focusing on regional priorities, the housing collaboratives in south and west Cook County are opening up opportunities to municipalities that rarely had a chance to compete for federal funds in the past. The IKE Disaster Recovery Program funds give the collaboratives even more resources to strategically stabilize neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosure, preserve housing affordability, and promote access to transportation.