Where we live is one of the strongest predictors of our health. A stable home is not just shelter, but it is the place from which everything else becomes possible, shaping the food we access, the schools children attend, and the stability we carry into every part of our lives. That is why homelessness is not simply a housing crisis. It is a health crisis and a reflection of the structural decisions that have left certain communities with fewer resources and greater burdens than others.
The HCF service region is home to approximately 900,000 residents, more than half of whom are Black, Indigenous, Latine, and other People of Color, concentrated on the west and southwest sides of Chicago. These are communities of deep resilience that have carried the weight of disinvestment for generations. Discriminatory housing policy in Chicago restricted access to stable, affordable homes and the gap between what people earn and what housing costs has only widened over time. The consequences of this are not abstract—economic instability leads to housing loss, and housing loss makes stability harder to regain. Without a stable home, holding a job, managing stress, and keeping medical appointments all become harder.
But these issues do not happen organically. They are the result of policy decisions which means they can be changed by making different ones.
Recently, Healthy Communities Foundation signed on to the public comment in support of the City of Chicago’s draft Five-Year Blueprint on Homelessness, a plan to prevent and end homelessness from 2026-2031 that centers the dignity of unhoused residents, confronts the historical impact of wealth inequity, and creates pathways to housing for those often shut out of opportunity.
Through our grantmaking, we support partners and efforts working to address the root causes of housing instability—because long-term change requires changing the conditions, not just responding to the crisis.
Here are a few examples of HCF partners who are building housing, expanding who gets counted, and creating pathways to stability for people in non-traditional ways outside of the standard continuum of care.
Counting Who Gets Left Out
Latine residents experiencing homelessness are systematically undercounted because “doubled-up” homelessness, which means staying temporarily with family or friends, falls outside the traditional definition of homelessness and goes largely unmeasured. Latino Policy Forum is a critical voice in bringing this hidden crisis into focus, advocating for more inclusive counting methods that reflect the full scope of Latine homelessness in Chicago.
Safe Housing Built by and for Black Trans People
One in five transgender people experience homelessness over their lifetime, and LGBTQIA+ young people make up over 40% of those ages 18-24 who identify as homeless. Life is Work’s Lois House and Brave Space Alliance’s Jasmine Alexander House offer safe, affirming homes paired with wrap-around case management, developed by and for Black trans women. When you design for those most marginalized, you build something that works for everyone.
In 2025, we joined together the Philanthropic Strategic Response Network and our grantee partner, Brave Space Alliance, to host a funder briefing on what support Chicago-area Trans people need in this moment, an effort led by our Program Manager of Learning & Evaluation, Gillian Knight. Read a recap of the briefing here.
Rebuilding From Within
The Southwest Side of Chicago was devastated by the 2008 recession, leaving hundreds of buildings vacant. SWOP’s Reclaiming Southwest Chicago Campaign purchases and rehabilitates those properties and returns them to the community as affordable housing while connecting residents to counseling, rental assistance, and foreclosure prevention. IMAN’s Green ReEntry program takes a complementary approach to neighborhood revitalization and violence prevention by providing transitional housing and sustainable construction training for returning residents and justice-involved youth. These individuals build trade skills while actively improving the neighborhood’s housing stock.
Together, these efforts reflect what we believe: Housing is health. Community is health. The work of building both belongs to all of us. The conditions that created the housing and homelessness crisis were constructed, and with the right investments, policies and partners, they can be reconstructed into something more just and equitable.
