(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants to address homelessness in Illinois and is proposing spending over a quarter of a billion dollars in taxpayer funds to do so.
During his State of the State address, Pritzker unveiled the initiative Home Illinois, which focuses on helping state agencies with housing ideas and other services. He highlighted Rockford, where Mayor Thomas McNamara has said they have nearly eliminated chronic homelessness.
“The state should help other communities do the same, mobilizing every agency and every resource at our disposal so that no Illinoisans go without a home,” Pritzker said.
Illinois Homelessness Chief Christine Haley said during a recent House Housing Committee hearing that Illinois’ homeless population is diverse.
“The LGBQ community, persons fleeing interpersonal violence, college students, there are so many different faces that we see of our Illinois residents who are experiencing homelessness throughout the school year,” Haley said.
There are four main pillars in Home Illinois, including affordable and permanent supportive housing, bolstering safety nets, assisting with financial stability, and closing the mortality gap, Haley said.
In Pritzker’s budget proposal, $360 million would be directed to the program, including $90 million to build housing and shelter units around the state.
State Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, is head of the House Housing Committee. He said the committee may be responsible for determining how those taxpayer dollars are spent.
“Let’s get together all the line items across the state budget that touch homelessness in some way and pull them into one place and really look at those line items and dig in and we can kind of treat ourselves like an appropriations committee in some way and think about where we need to spend more money and invest more resources around ending homelessness,” Guzzardi said.
