Annual
Caravan
Each year, Housing Action Illinois' board and
staff take a three-day road trip, or "caravan", through a different
region of Illinois.
Housing Action’s purpose in organizing the
Caravan is two-fold: first, to obtain current, local information
about pressing affordable housing issues and concerns in order
to inform our public policy advocacy, public education and organizing,
and training and technical assistance work; and second, to inform
and mobilize community-based organizations and advocates to get
involved in our state and federal advocacy work.
“The Caravan continues to be successful
in bringing organizations to the table to discuss housing issues
and to see the benefit of the advocacy work of Housing Action Illinois,” states
Bob Campbell, Executive Director of the Rockford Area Affordable
Housing Coalition, 2009 Caravan Host, and Housing Action Illinois
Board Member.
2010 Caravan
Housing Action Illinois Hits the Road--Annual Caravan is August
17 to 19
During our 2010 Caravan we are visiting south suburban Cook County
and the five collar counties. Here's the schedule.
2010 Housing Action Illinois Caravan
Tuesday, August 17
Event in Lake County at 10:30 a.m. at Affordable Housing Corporation
of Lake County, 1590 S. Milwaukee Ave., Suite 312, in Libertyville
(Local hosts: Lake County Residential Development Corporation.
and the Affordable Housing Corporation of Lake County)
Event in McHenry County at 2 p.m. at Home State Bank, 611 S. Main
Street in Crystal Lake
(Local host: CAHMCO)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Event in DuPage County at 10:00 a.m. at Metropolitan Family Services,
222 E. Willow Ave in Wheaton
(Local host: DuPage Housing Action Coalition)
Event in Kane County at 1:30 p.m. at Hesed House, 680 S. River
Street in Aurora
(Local host: Hesed House)
Thursday, August 19
Event in Will County at 9:30 a.m. at Joliet Public Library, 3395
Black Road in Joliet
(Local host: Will County Center for Community Concerns)
Event in South Suburban Cook County from 1:30 p.m. at YMCA Network
3801 W. 127th Street in Alsip
(Local host: South Suburban Council on Homelessness)
Please Join Us
If you are interested in joining us for any of the local events,
please contact Gianna Baker at 312-939-6074 x. 110 or gianna@housingactionil.org.
2009 Caravan
From August 25-27, 2009, members of Housing Action Illinois’ Board
of Directors and staff visited five Illinois communities— DeKalb,
Ottawa/Peru, Rock Island, Freeport and Rockford—as part of
our fourth annual Caravan.
Each stop included a community stakeholders
meeting to discuss local housing issues and Housing Action’s
work to address affordable housing issues on a federal and state
government level.
More than 65 individuals representing nonprofits,
government, and business came together to discuss the state of
housing in their communities. The paramount issues and concerns
that stakeholders shared focused on the lack of quality affordable
housing in their area, the lack of resources, support and funding
available to develop affordable housing, and the growing need to
educate communities about the critical need for quality affordable
housing.
Another serious concern that many stakeholders echoed is the wide-spread,
negative effect suffered by communities as a result of rising unemployment
in Illinois, and in particular in rural Illinois, where businesses
continue to close and move away. The loss of jobs and the lack
of new job opportunities have resulted in a dramatic increase in
abandoned and blighted areas throughout north central and north
western Illinois. As one Freeport stakeholder noted: “A
little bit of blight is a lot of blight in communities like ours.” The
ability to access stimulus funding was also an issue of pressing
concern to many stakeholders, as was the lack of year-round emergency
shelter and transitional housing for homeless families.
We want to give a special thank you to all of
our local hosts who made this Caravan possible: the DeKalb
County Housing Action Coalition; Illinois Valley PADS and the YMCA
of Peru; the Illinois/Iowa Center for Independent Living; NHS of
Freeport; and the Rockford Area Affordable Housing Coalition. Thank
you also to all of the participants who attended our stakeholders
meetings and who openly shared their thoughts and experiences with
us. We
look forward to working with all of you this upcoming year.
Past Caravans
2008: Centrall Illinois—Decatur, Springfield,
Quincy, Macomb and Peoria
2007: East Central Illinois—Bloomington,
Danville, Kankakee, Pontiac and Urbana
2006: Southern Illinois—Effingham, Centralia,
Vienna, Carbondale, Granite City and Belleville
Local
Coalitions
We
support the activities of our members and allies throughout the
state, including volunteeer-led local coalitions in DuPage Count
and Kane County.
They organize advocacy efforts by
Identifying issues and needs
Raising public awareness on the issues
Collaborating with regional, statewide, and national advocacy efforts
Networking through the exchange of education and information
Types of activities
Affordable Housing Forums
Affordable Housing Presentations
Meeting with Legislators
Publicize Local Affordable Housing Efforts
For more information contact Bob Palmer at 312- 939-6074 x. 206
or bob@housingactionil.org. |