FOCUS AREAS

Housing

Safe, affordable housing is a cornerstone of a thriving community and key to each person’s health and well-being.

For people experiencing homelessness, housing is healthcare.

Why Illinois

A microcosm of the United States, Illinois’s land and people most closely reflect the nation as a whole. As we deepen our understanding of people’s challenges and find new ways to work together, we are creating solutions that can help people here and everywhere.

Illinois is also a leader, deeply invested in the fight to end homelessness at a government and systems level as well as a grassroots level, with strong community-based organizations that are connecting people with solutions.

Our Work

IPHI collaborates with government, systems-level and community-based partners, and advocates who are dedicated to helping people experiencing homelessness and housing instability.

As we work to align housing, healthcare, public health, and human services, we are strengthening lines of communication, reducing crisis costs, and building lasting housing security.

Health and Housing Strategy

IPHI brings together this cross-sector coalition to strengthening the systems that care for people experiencing chronic homelessness in Cook County and Illinois. Advocates with lived experience, policymakers, and the local healthcare, behavioral health, criminal/legal, and housing sectors are working to help align services, systems, and policies. This will help to ensure that people have the right support at the right time and place, and that everyone in Cook County has a stable home in their community of choice.

Systems Change Collaborative

In partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health, IPHI convened healthcare professionals, policy and advocacy organizations and people with lived expertise to share experiences, identify needs, and create and implement changes that help Chicagoans experiencing homelessness. Among the major shifts resulting from the work are the funding of the Chicago Regionwide Community Information Exchange (CIE) and a recent, $40 million investment in the city’s shelter system.

Illinois Medical Respite Capacity Building Initiative

IPHI partners with the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness (OPEH) to support communities across the state building systems of care for medical respite. Through medical respite, people experiencing homelessness can safely move from hospital treatment into a place where they can recover safely and find more support. Through the Illinois Medical Respite Capacity Building Initiative, IPHI funds 29 community-based medical respite programs across the state, supporting a statewide learning collaborative, technical assistance, and the Cook County Medical Respite Network.