The Department of Community Development (CDC) in Chicago, Illinois is soliciting proposals for ways to use the nearly $5.4 million funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Applications for proposals should focus on the city’s efforts to stem the tide of foreclosed homes for sale in the area. According to the DCD, it plans to use the federal stimulus money to boost its foreclosure prevention assistance program for homeowners, homebuyers and renters.
The agency also plans to expand its Troubled Buildings Initiative and include the purchase and renovation of foreclosed condos in various neighborhoods in the city. It plans to convert these foreclosed properties into affordable apartments for rent.
According to CDC First Deputy Commissioner Ellen Sahli, the number of foreclosure filings in the city of Chicago rose by 48.4 percent last year, representing almost 20,592 properties receiving at least one foreclosure filing.
She explained that the federal stimulus money has provided the agency an opportunity to expand its foreclosure mitigation and prevention efforts in order to create jobs, help people remain in their homes and eradicate the blight that foreclosed properties turned out to be in communities and neighborhoods.
She added that the agency is looking forward to working with existing and new partners to alleviate the foreclosure crisis that has devastated many communities in the city.
The funding opportunities include a proposal request to choose multiple nonprofit agencies that provide housing counseling to expand Chicago’s educational and counseling services to help homebuyers make informed buying decisions. Proposals are also requested to help distressed homeowners stay in their homes and assist renters who are in danger of eviction due to foreclosure.
Proposals are also requested for nonprofit agencies or organizations that are interested in conducting and developing outreach events to help prevent foreclosures and to connect homeowners who are in danger of losing their properties to foreclosures with resources and assistance. This initiative will focus on the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable program.
Furthermore, requests for qualifications are also sought to choose an agency with receivership experience and construction and property management in an effort to lower the number of abandoned and foreclosed condominiums in Chicago and convert them to rental units for low-income and moderate income families.
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