In 2013, the five municipal members of the Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative (NWSHC)—Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect, Palatine and Rolling Meadows—collaborated with regional housing partners to develop a long-term housing policy plan through the Homes for a Changing Region project. The Homes plan examined each community’s existing housing supply and conducted a number of housing-related analyses to develop policy recommendations that seek to create a balanced, sustainable future housing supply at the municipal and sub-regional levels. One of the larger issues of concern for the northwest suburbs is addressing the housing needs of a growing senior population, and a number of the municipal and sub-regional recommendations suggested in the plan were in response to this challenge.
The NWSHC has since made senior housing and aging in place a driving force for its work. The Collaborative partnered with Valerie S. Kretchmer Associates, Inc. to complete a Senior Housing Needs Assessment in order to survey existing senior housing opportunities and services in the five communities, and make recommendations on actions that NWSHC communities can take to successfully meet senior housing needs in the future.
In collaboration with the North West Housing Partnership, NWSHC is providing seniors and people with disabilities over the age of 18 with minor home repair services as a part of the Handyman Program. The Collaborative also developed a Senior Resource Guide, which is a compilation of transportation and housing resources and other services that provide support to seniors in the northwest suburbs. The Caucus will continue to work with the NWSHC and other municipalities to develop innovative solutions to address the housing needs of our region’s aging population.
The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative received funding for these efforts from The Chicago Community Trust, Village Bank and Trust/Wintrust Financial and BMO Harris.