MAY 7, 2024: Last month, Governor J.B. Pritzker announced his plan to include $250 million in the FY25 budget, an increase of $50 million, to implement a statewide action plan to improve the housing safety net and address racial disparities in homelessness. This funding includes an additional $35 million for rental assistance, $13 million to reduce racial disparities in homelessness and $2 million for legal aid in eviction processes.
Pritzker made the announcement with legislators at UIC while the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy released its report on the structural drivers of inequality. According to the report, Blacks in Illinois are more than eight times as likely as whites to experience homelessness, double the national rate. It also identifies the legacies of racism and structural inequities that make homelessness more likely for black families. The report concludes with an action plan for racial equity from the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. The full report can be found here or downloaded below.
