Affordable Housing Plan for Illinois’ 7th Congressional District
Housing is infrastructure. When it fails, everything else breaks.
In Illinois’ 7th Congressional District, housing determines whether families can stay rooted, seniors can age with dignity, and young people can build a future in the communities they love. When housing becomes unstable, costs rise across the board, workers are pushed farther from jobs, and neighborhoods lose the people who hold them together.
This plan treats housing as essential infrastructure. It is grounded in existing federal law, proven housing models already operating across the United States, and the real conditions facing communities from downtown Chicago to Oak Park, Proviso, Englewood, Austin, and across the West Side.
Every element of this plan is realistic, enforceable, and within the authority of Congress.
District reality this plan responds to
Illinois’ 7th Congressional District is fully urban and majority renter. Much of the housing stock consists of older two-to-four flats and small multifamily buildings without permanent affordability protections. Rents have risen faster than wages, while seniors and longtime homeowners face housing loss due to repair costs and property tax volatility.
Public housing developments carry long-documented capital repair backlogs. Evictions and housing instability are concentrated in specific ZIP codes, creating ripple effects that raise costs and displacement pressure across the entire district.
These are not abstract trends. They are documented conditions recognized by federal and local housing authorities and experienced daily by residents across income levels.
Housing affordability is a shared challenge across incomes
Housing instability hits hardest those with the least resources, but it does not stop there. Young workers, middle-income families, seniors on fixed incomes, college students, and first-time homebuyers are increasingly priced out despite working full time and doing everything right.
For many residents, the barrier is no longer income alone, but access to fair credit, reasonable interest rates, and first-time buyer support.
When rents rise faster than wages and starter homes disappear into speculative markets, the entire housing system breaks down. This plan is designed to stabilize that system for everyone by preserving existing homes, expanding mixed-income housing, limiting predatory investment, and creating durable paths to homeownership.
Housing policy should keep communities intact, not force people into categories.
Federal tools this plan uses
This plan relies on existing federal programs and authorities, including:
Housing Choice Vouchers and project-based vouchers
Low-Income Housing Tax Credits
The National Housing Trust Fund
HOME Investment Partnerships and Emergency Solutions Grants
Public Housing Capital Funds
Community Development and CDFI financing
No new agencies are created. This plan strengthens and better targets the tools already available.
Measurable Targets
| Priority Area | Target |
|---|---|
| Housing preservation | Preserve at least 3 existing affordable homes for every 1 new unit built using federal resources |
| Eviction reduction | Reduce eviction filings by at least 25 percent in targeted high-risk ZIP codes |
| Permanent affordability | Secure long-term affordability protections on thousands of existing units |
| Voucher utilization | Increase voucher use and landlord participation |
| Public housing modernization | Prioritize repairs addressing health and safety risks |
| Senior housing stability | Reduce displacement risk through rental assistance and home repair grants |
Why these targets are realistic for the 7th District
These targets are grounded in existing federal programs, documented housing conditions, and the implementation capacity already present in Illinois’ 7th Congressional District. Most affordable homes in the district already exist in older small multifamily buildings, making preservation faster and more cost-effective than relying on new construction alone. Eviction prevention, legal defense, and rental assistance programs have already shown measurable reductions in displacement where they are funded. This plan focuses on scaling what already works, targeting investment where housing instability is most concentrated, and holding programs accountable through public reporting.
Pillar 1: Keep people housed now
Actions
Expand eviction prevention, legal defense, and diversion programs in high-risk ZIP codes
Increase emergency rental assistance to prevent housing loss before families enter shelters
Enforce habitability and fair housing standards in federally assisted housing
Pillar 2: Preserve existing affordable housing at scale
Actions
- Prioritize preservation of older two-to-twenty-unit buildings common across the district
Support acquisition and rehabilitation by mission-driven developers and community organizations
Provide low-cost capital to small property owners in exchange for long-term affordability and fair-housing compliance
Pillar 3: Build affordable and mixed-income housing where it belongs
Actions
Expand Low-Income Housing Tax Credits for urban districts with documented housing shortages
Prioritize mixed-income developments near transit, healthcare, schools, and employment centers
Use surplus federal land for affordable housing before it is sold to private buyers
Support zoning reforms that allow modest density increases when paired with affordability requirements and tenant protections
Why this matters
Building housing in the right places reduces pressure on rents across the market and keeps working families close to jobs and services.
Pillar 4: Make affordability permanent
Actions
Expand Community Land Trusts to keep homes permanently affordable and out of speculative markets
Support limited-equity cooperatives and shared-equity homeownership models
Fund targeted home repair grants for seniors and low-income homeowners to prevent displacement caused by deferred maintenance
Why this matters
Permanent affordability prevents public dollars from chasing rising market prices year after year.
Expanding access to homeownership and credit
Actions
Expand federal down payment and gap assistance for first-time homebuyers, prioritizing historically underserved and high-cost communities
Support increased funding and improved utilization of Housing Choice Vouchers, including expanded use of project-based vouchers
Align federal housing programs with state housing agencies, including IHDA, to modernize credit and underwriting standards that unnecessarily exclude qualified first-time buyers
Incentivize banks, CDFIs, and mission-driven lenders to offer lower-interest specialty loans for first-time buyers in targeted underserved communities
Support housing stability for college students and recent graduates by reducing housing-related debt pressures and expanding affordable rental and ownership options near campuses and job centers
Why this matters
Stable housing and homeownership should not depend on perfect credit, generational wealth, or rigid systems that no longer reflect economic reality.
Pillar 5: Public housing modernization and resident protection
Actions
Fully fund long-overdue public housing repairs
Remove health hazards such as mold and lead
Improve energy efficiency to lower utility costs
Protect residents’ rights during rehabilitation and modernization
Pillar 6: Housing, health, and stability
Actions
Expand permanent supportive housing for people cycling through shelters, hospitals, and incarceration
Align housing investments with healthcare systems to reduce emergency costs
Protect housing stability services tied to Medicaid and community health programs
Clear contrast
This plan rejects the failed idea that the market alone will house everyone.
It rejects policies that favor large investors over local residents
It rejects cuts to vouchers, public housing, and fair housing enforcement
It rejects inaction that allows displacement to become normalized
Instead, it uses public dollars to produce public benefit, with accountability.
Top priorities in Congress
Expand preservation and affordability tools
Support legislation strengthening LIHTC, vouchers, preservation financing, and the National Housing Trust Fund.Fully fund public housing repairs and modernization
Address long-standing capital backlogs and protect residents during rehabilitation.Reduce displacement and eviction
Expand eviction prevention, legal defense, and enforcement of habitability standards.Curb predatory housing practices
Increase transparency and accountability for large corporate investors and landlords receiving federal assistance.Align housing with health and economic stability
Support permanent supportive housing and housing stability services tied to healthcare delivery.
My message to the 7th Congressional District
From downtown Chicago to Oak Park, from Englewood to Austin, from West Loop renters to seniors who have lived in the same home for decades, the question is the same.
Will we be able to stay?
Housing is what holds a district together. When housing becomes unstable, everything else follows. Families are forced farther from work. Seniors are pushed out of the neighborhoods they built. Young people do everything right and still cannot afford to put down roots. Communities lose teachers, nurses, service workers, and first responders not because they want to leave, but because they cannot stay.
This plan is designed to prevent that slide.
- It keeps people housed now
- It protects the homes we already have
- It builds new housing where people actually live and work
- It makes affordability permanent so public dollars serve the public for the long term
- It treats housing as infrastructure, not a luxury
Most importantly, it recognizes that the 7th Congressional District is one community. What happens in downtown affects Oak Park. What happens in Englewood affects the West Loop. Displacement in one neighborhood raises costs everywhere else. Stability in one place strengthens the whole district.
I am running for Congress to fight for a housing system that works for the people who live here, not just those who profit from it. This plan is realistic, enforceable, and ready to move forward. It reflects our values and meets the moment we are in.
- If you believe housing should be affordable, stable, and fair
If you believe working full-time should be enough to stay in your community
If you believe seniors should age with dignity and young families should be able to build a future here
Then I ask for your support
– La Shawn K. Ford
