HODC hosted Illinois State Representative Olickal from the 16th District at our office. The process and challenges of developing affordable housing was the topic of the day. Representative Olickal met with HODC’s Executive Director, Richard Koenig, who was joined by the Executive Director of the Illinois Housing Council (IHC), Allison Clements, and Beth Demes who is the Executive Director of the Alden Foundation. “Additional funds are needed to create more affordable units” said Richard, “and the Build Illinois Homes State Tax Credit is an important potential new source.
Access to affordable housing is a common complaint heard by Representative Olickal. In Illinois, there are more than 450,000 extremely low-income renters with a deficit of more than 288,000 affordable and available rental units for them. The state is facing the 8th highest deficit of homes in the nation.
“It was an honor to host Representative Olickal, IHC and the Alden Foundation for this discussion,” said Richard. “The need for housing exists in every community and we’re grateful for Representative Olickal’s support.”