The Polk Bros. Foundation recognizes that housing is critical to family stability and self-sufficiency. We have supported the development of safe, affordable housing for many years. In 2004, in response to the growing housing crisis in Chicago, the Foundation began strategic efforts to encourage the production and preservation of affordable rental housing for families earning 50% or less of the area median income. We anticipate contributing increasing resources to this initiative each year. The following grants have been approved to date:
$20,000 to the Consortium for Housing & Asset Management (CHAM), for a training program to inform nonprofit developers about the process of preserving affordable housing units that have expiring affordability contracts.
$50,000 to create a fund to help nonprofit developers secure additional technical assistance for preserving affordable housing units that have expiring affordability contracts.
$30,000 to the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, for the Rental Housing Preservation Project, which provides legal advocacy for low-income families at risk of losing their rental housing due to expiring affordability contracts, substandard building conditions or condominium conversion.
$75,000 to LISC Chicago, for a marketing campaign and matching service to encourage greater use of the Donations Tax Credit, which could generate $26 million annually for affordable housing development.
For information on the Foundation’s additional efforts to address issues of housing and homelessness, click here.