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.