Illinois Shelter Alliance Asks Pritzker for $100 Million More in State Homelessness Funding

Illinois shelter providers and advocates are asking the state for a $100 million increase in funding to prevent homelessness and provide shelter to people without homes. The request would come on top of the $290 million the state is spending this year on homelessness services. The coalition, known as the Illinois Shelter Alliance, says homelessness is rising in the state.

The coalition sent a letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker in December, ahead of the January inauguration of the new General Assembly. Finding new state money for any program will be difficult this year, because the state faces a $3.2 billion shortfall for the fiscal year that begins in July. Pritzker, speaking at a news conference in his office, said advocates regularly ask for more funding “for virtually anything you can imagine.” He added that “in the context of a more challenging budget, it’s always difficult to meet everybody’s demands.”

Federal data released this month showed that the number of people experiencing homelessness in Illinois more than doubled between 2023 and 2024. Most of that increase was tied to migrants who arrived in Chicago, many on buses chartered by Texas state agencies, and that influx has since subsided. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also reported that homelessness increased in most of the rest of the state. The federal report attributed that growth to a lack of affordable housing, increased shelter capacity, extreme cold that brought people into shelter when the count was conducted last January, and a rising cost of living after federal pandemic aid ended.

Many shelter providers say the shortage of affordable housing has kept people from moving from the streets to shelters and then into more permanent housing. Last month, Pritzker created a new position in his administration tasked with increasing the supply of affordable housing. He also revived the SmartBuy program, which provides financial assistance for student loan relief and affordable mortgages for home buyers. Pritzker noted that his administration increased funding for Home Illinois, a collaboration between state agencies and service providers that aims to end homelessness, by $90 million in fiscal year 2024 compared with the previous year. His spokesperson, Alex Gough, said in a statement that the partnership “will work to find solutions so that every Illinoisan has access to essential housing and support.”

Before the pandemic, few permanent homeless shelters operated in Illinois outside Chicago, Rockford and Aurora, according to Doug Kenshol, executive director of South Suburban Public Action to Deliver Shelter, or PADS. That left the work of providing pop-up overnight shelter largely to churches and temples, a role that welcomed strangers into their care (Matthew 25:35).

The pandemic required less congregate and more isolated shelter to slow the spread of the virus. Organizations such as PADS used federal funding from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, along with other grants, to purchase properties and create non-congregate housing across the state. Kenshol said the new approach improved residents’ mental and physical health and safety, and their ability to find resources for employment, job training and more.

When federal pandemic money for shelters was about to run out two years ago, the Pritzker administration used state money to continue those services. Kenshol said the state “stepped up and saved the day by providing an $85 million increase in homeless service funding two years ago,” so that “we didn’t fall off a cliff and lose all of that shelter capacity.”

Last month, the coalition asked Pritzker to include another $100 million in his upcoming budget proposal. The coalition said the money would help address a statewide shortage of 4,236 emergency shelter beds and help prevent people from losing their homes.

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