The Housing Authority of Champaign County has unveiled its 2025 Moving to Work Plan, including a new proposal to combat homelessness and support low-income residents through its Emergency Housing Support Services initiative.

This $1 million project aims to provide critical resources, such as temporary housing, financial literacy programs, and case management, to individuals and families in need. 

“We recognize there’s so much going on with the homeless population, and the housing authority wants to be able to do something to assist and help,” the authority’s Executive Director Lily Walton said in an interview.

The authority plans to partner with a local homeless service provider to maximize impact rather than directly manage the services. The program will exclusively service individuals and families earning at or below 80% of the area’s median. 

According to the United States Census Bureau in 2023, the median income for nonfamily households in Champaign County is $37,366, and for family households, it is $59,574.

In January 2024, there were 279 homeless individuals in Champaign County, an increase of 64 from the 215 individuals identified the year before. The point-in-time count was conducted by the Continuum of Services Providers to the Homeless, which counts annually.

Of those individuals, 42 were unsheltered and 152 were sheltered in emergency shelters and 85 in transitional housing.

“The PIT count provides community stakeholders with important data that helps us more effectively meet the needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Champaign County,” continuum Chair Breaden Belcher said in a press release. “This year’s data shows the importance of ongoing investments in homeless services and high-quality affordable housing in our community.”

The authority anticipates that this program will be another driving force to help serve homeless residents in the county and increase the number of resources and financial assistance to aid in ending homelessness. 

The Emergency Housing Support initiative is one of three new proposals presented by HACC for the upcoming year. 

The authority provides affordable housing and various housing assistance programs to residents utilizing traditional public housing and section housing assistance funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

It has 51 employees and serves 2,162 households through various programs. The agency manages approximately 900 units across 24 properties it owns or manages. As of Dec. 9, the authority had around 4,000 individuals on its waitlist.

Currently, the authority’s budget is about $28.6 million. 

According to Walton, this budget comes from multiple revenues, including housing assistance payments, HUD, property management operations, and grants. However, housing assistance and HUD funding make up a large part of the budget, she said. 

Three proposed plans focus on affordable housing

Alongside the Emergency Housing Support Services, the authority is introducing two other proposals for next year: the Affordable Housing Acquisition and Development Fund and the Home is Possible Program. 

In 2010, the authority was selected to participate in the Moving to Work (MTW) program, which allows the authority to “design and test innovative, local strategies for providing low-income families with affordable housing and a path to economic independence.” 

As part of the program, the authority develops an annual plan that includes new proposals each year. This process involves an internal meeting to identify primary needs and potential policy changes. The ideas are then detailed in a draft plan, which is available for public comment over 30 days. A public hearing follows to gather community input. 

County residents can submit public comments through email or at the front desk of the housing authority office. After incorporating feedback, the final plan is submitted to HUD for approval, typically approved by January. 

The Affordable Housing Acquisition and Development Fund is designed to increase the amount of affordable housing and rental units by investing in new developments and purchasing existing properties. 

Walton said a survey done by a third-party company and market studies show that Champaign County residents are rent-burdened and spend one-third of their income on rent alone. She said she accredits this issue to the county housing of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which leads to an increase in student housing, which in turn drives an increase in the cost of housing for all residents. 

Additionally, the aftereffects of COVID-19 include many landlords experiencing issues with renters unable to pay due to loss of work and the eviction moratorium, during which landlords were unable to evict non-paying renters. 

“And so I think post COVID, many property owners and property management companies increased the rents,” Walton said. “For me specifically, I know I was living in an apartment, and my rent went up like $300 after COVID.”

The Home is Possible program seeks to help families transition from renting to owning. Through fixed subsidies, participants can apply for housing vouchers that could pay a set amount towards a mortgage. The program would also involve financial education programs to equip participants with the tools to manage homeownership responsibilities. 

“Essentially what we’re hoping to do with that [voucher] is allow families to utilize their voucher assistance as opposed to giving it to a landlord, give it to investments in your own property that you could potentially own one day, fully, you know,” Walton said. 

The program will be available for participants involved in the MTW voucher program and includes a 15-year subsidy period modeled after other voucher programs the authority offers. The authority aims to assist 10 households annually and expects this proposal to increase the housing assistance payments by $72,720. 

HUD will decide to approve the three proposals by the beginning of January. 

Walton emphasized that the authority wants to get the most out of the programs to show that the authority’s programs work and make a difference in the community and residents’ lives. 

“I think that is our goal, to show that our program works, make sure our clients’ income is being increased because of the program,” Walton said. “And our HAP assistance, our housing assistance payments are being decreased in the long run because of the services and programs that we offer.”