Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued a proclamation to join House America: An All-Hands-on-Deck Effort to Address the Nation’s Homelessness Crisis, a federal initiative launched in October 2021 in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). By participating, the County joins a national partnership of mayors, city and county leaders, tribal nation leaders, and governors. House America will utilize American Rescue Plan investments to address the crisis of homelessness through a Housing First approach.

The proclamation outlines Cook County’s pledge to work with partners including the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC), the Cook County Land Bank Authority and the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County by re-housing 1,000 households and developing at least 800 units of new supportive and affordable housing by December 31, 2022. To meet this goal, the County and allied agencies will leverage federal resources like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, project-based vouchers (PBVs), and the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program. Homelessness continues to impact approximately 1,160 suburban Cook County residents every night. To find out more about House America, go to http://www.hud.gov/house_america.