Category Archives: Housing

A Road Map for Repairing the Harm: The History of Racially Restrictive Covenants

Posted on 04/01/2024 by Aaron Ammons and Grant Chassy

Can you imagine, as a resident of Champaign County, being told you aren’t allowed to live in a neighborhood because you’re Black? By today’s standards, such blatant racism would be met with disgust and rejection—at least by the majority of … Continue reading →

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Community of Urbana-Champaign Cooperative Housing to Reduce the Post-Pandemic Youth Housing Divide

Posted on 08/27/2023 by Marilena Prisco

Housing cooperatives have a long history in the US. In university towns like C-U, those laboratories of young people assume new importance in the post-pandemic city. Escaping the logic of a typical landlord-tenant agreement, members self-manage and maintain the houses … Continue reading →

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Champaign Can End its Housing Discrimination

Posted on 09/18/2022 by Housing Working Group of the Champaign-Urbana Democratic Soc

As previously reported in the Public i, housing discrimination in Champaign is a chronic issue. Following on the “tough on crime era,” since 1994 Champaign has allowed landlords to reject tenant lease applications based on their conviction record—in excess of … Continue reading →

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Acceptance or Approval? LGBTQ Housing in 1960s and 1970s Champaign-Urbana

Posted on 03/18/2020 by Nick Goodell

In 1960s Champaign-Urbana, the state and civil society did not actively approve the existence of LGBTQ people, but gave passive acceptance for them to do as they wished in their own homes. Records of this life have been preserved in … Continue reading →

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Affordable Housing—For Whom?

Posted on 12/24/2019 by Esther Patt

Billions of federal, state and local dollars were spent on affordable housing for low income people last year. Yet 2.5 million children in the nation were homeless. Close to 700 of them were right here in Champaign County. Most “affordable … Continue reading →

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FirstSteps Community House

Posted on 09/20/2019 by James Kilgore

“Our community needs a transitional house … we’re gonna reach out and help people get employment, help them bond back with their families and be able to give back to the community.” — Casandis Hunt, peer mentor at FirstFollowers, talking … Continue reading →

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Making a Profit off of the Crisis in Affordable Housing

Posted on 12/12/2018 by Janice Jayes

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Frank Rolfe and Dave Reynolds discovered a lucrative new area of real estate investment, manufactured home communities (MHCs), and made millions by buying out older mom-and-pop operations and putting new profit-oriented practices … Continue reading →

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