Thinking Outside the Box

Decreased federal assistance in affordable housing development encourages non-government organizations to take the lead. This is where the Chicago Community Loan Fund plays a role. The Chicago Community Loan Fund was created in 1991 and has provided over $36 million in 160 low-interest loans to nonprofit business, commercial/retail space, industrial and social service facilities, and affordable housing initiatives like Stone Soup Cooperative in Uptown, which secured a first loan at $355,000 in 2000.47

Other nonprofits have developed their own solutions to confront the affordable housing deficit. The Sweet Home Chicago Campaign, for instance, consists of nine community organizations and three unions that advocate for the city to dedicate 20 percent of TIF funds collected to be dedicated to affordable housing. If enacted in 2008, $110 million would have been reserved for housing. Specific developments would qualify for funds if "50 percent of the units were affordable to households earning less than $37,000 for a family of four. In addition, citywide, 40% of the total units created with the dedicated funds each year must serve households earning less than $22,600 a year for a family of four."48

Northside P.O.W.E.R. (People Organizing to Work, Educate, and Restore) and Lakeside CDC have also developed an alternative housing campaign using TIF resources. Based in Rogers Park, the groups seeks to create a TIF program in the 49th Ward that would offer grants to landlords to conduct capital improvements on multi-family rental apartments in exchange for keeping a certain percentage of units affordable.49 Although neither the Sweet Home Chicago Campaign nor the Rental Improvement Fund have yet to come to fruition, the creative work of nonprofits to produce transparent TIFs dedicated to affordable rental housing marks a step in the right direction.