HR0302 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0302 LRB094 11977 CSA 44900 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The South Suburban Housing Center (SSHC) celebrates its 30th anniversary in April of 2005; and

WHEREAS, The SSHC was organized in April of 1975 by several local chapters of the League of Women Voters for the purpose of monitoring and addressing discriminatory practices in the housing markets of the south Chicago metropolitan region; and

WHEREAS, The SSHC is the private, non-profit, regional fair housing agency serving over 100 communities in southern Cook, northeastern Will, and Kankakee counties of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, SSHC's mission is to foster stable, racially and economically diverse, communities; governed by an interracial and multi-cultural Board of Directors, SSHC's current Fair Housing Enforcement and Housing Counseling programs assist individuals in all protected classes and ensures that housing providers recognize and comply with the fair housing laws; and

WHEREAS, SSHC's housing counseling activities administered by its Homeseekers Service Program provide comprehensive counseling assistance to homebuyers, renters, homeless individuals, and existing homeowners; affirmative, option-expanding approaches to housing and mortgage financing choices are promoted to all clients receiving assistance; additional fair housing and predatory lending legal awareness education is given to each housing counseling client by SSHC's experienced fair housing enforcement staff; these housing counseling activities include pre-purchase, post-purchase rental, and homeless displacement individual sessions, as well as group homeownership workshops and fair housing/predatory lending awareness educational presentations; and

WHEREAS, SSHC's 2004 program accomplishments included responding to inquiries from the public about housing availability or housing opportunities; providing intensive one-on-one pre-purchase/mortgage counseling to families; conducting fair housing tests in 64 communities; presenting first-time home buyer seminars in six different locations throughout the south Cook County service area; receiving and processing complaints of housing discrimination from the public; presenting fair housing law training sessions for area landlords, builders, and municipal officials; providing affirmative rental placement counseling; filing new fair housing act enforcement actions and housing discrimination suits; and resolving fair housing complaint actions; and

WHEREAS, SSHC's challenge is to continue to expand the operation of programs that effectively combat the forces that cause segregated housing and that promote inclusive housing markets throughout the region; SSHC works in partnership with a network of other municipal, business, civic, and advocacy groups to address the fair housing issues of the region; in recent years, SSHC has participated in the Housing Task Force organized by U. S. Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s office to implement the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's WOW (With Ownership, Wealth), initiative in Illinois' 2nd Congressional District; and

WHEREAS, SSHC continues to maintain its close working relationships with the collaboration of private fair housing agencies operating in the Chicago area; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the South Suburban Housing Center on the occasion of its 30th anniversary and commend its many accomplishments and extend our best wishes for continued success in the years ahead; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the South Suburban Housing Center as an expression of our esteem.