Illinois’ extremely low-income renters are in dire need of affordable housing, according to a recent report issued by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Housing Action Illinois.
According
to the report, for every 100 extremely low-income households in
Illinois, there are only 28 available and affordable rental homes. In
Illinois, a family of four is considered extremely low-income if their
annual income is less than or at $21,650, which is 30 percent of the area median
income.
Extremely low-income renters typically spend more than half their income on rent, according to researchers.
“When
you are paying 60 or 70 percent of your income toward your housing
costs, there’s not much money left for the other necessities of life,
such as food, medical costs or investing in your education,” said Bob
Palmer, policy director for the statewide housing coalition, Housing
Action Illinois.
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Quanzina Haynes plans to pull her children from the Chicago Public
Schools (CPS) district if the Chicago Board of Education votes in favor
of closing their school, 
Opponents of a 
Minimum wage workers in Illinois must work 82 hours per week — more than double the hours of a standard work week — and 52 weeks a year, in order to afford to rent a safe, reasonable apartment unit, according to a recent 
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a plan yesterday for which the
city will spend $2.5 million a year to help its homeless residents.
AFSCME Council 31 public employees union is upset about the plan because the strategy
will outsource the city’s overnight homeless transport service.
The Cook County Board passed a resolution today setting up a committee that has 60 days to devise a model for a county
land bank, an ambitious proposal that board President Toni Preckwinkle 
The Infrastructure Trust ordinance, a plan where private investors will fund public infrastructure, 