On March 3, 2022, the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation, in partnership with the Illinois Housing Development Authority, awarded $2,185,805 in grants to seven nonprofit organizations to provide legal aid and mediation services to assist homeowners in danger of losing their home due to the financial hardship of the pandemic.
The grants, funded with federal Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) dollars, will support services over 18 months. The awardees are as follows:
Legal Aid Grants ($1,646,428)
Chicago Volunteer Legal Services ($261,428)
To conduct outreach and provide legal information, advice and representation to underserved immigrant communities at risk of foreclosure across the state of Illinois.
Land of Lincoln Legal Aid ($640,000)
To provide legal information, advice and representation to homeowners in 65 central and southern Illinois counties at risk of foreclosure.
Legal Aid Chicago ($75,000)
To provide advice and legal representation to homeowners in Cook County at risk of foreclosure.
Prairie State Legal Services ($670,000)
To conduct outreach and provide legal information, advice and representation to homeowners in 36 northern and western counties at risk of foreclosure.
Mediation Grants ($539,377)
Center for Conflict Resolution ($30,864)
To train 100 mediators to provide foreclosure mediation services across the state.
Dispute Resolution Institute ($339,166)
To provide mediation services to at-risk homeowners in St. Clair and Champaign Counties and to administer the mediator payment system for all foreclosure mediation provided by organizations under this grant.
Resolution Systems Institute ($169,347)
To provide mediation services to at-risk homeowners in Kane County, to support foreclosure mediation programs in Winnebago and Boone Counties and to take a limited number of mediation referrals from other jurisdictions as needed.