Officials Break Ground on New Affordable Housing Unit in Glen Ellyn

Officials broke ground on a $1.5 million construction project for a new six-unit affordable housing complex in Glen Ellyn on Thursday.

This project is the Community Housing Advocacy Development's latest development to provide more quality affordable housing throughout the western suburbs of Chicago. This unit will house at least six individuals and officials hope to have the project completed by November so tenants can move in early next year.

The groundbreaking ceremony was a long time coming. The first phase of the project began in 2006, but when the economy floundered, funding dried up. However earlier this year Executive Director of Community Housing and Development Paul Chedda said he was informed Illinois Housing Development Authority secured additional funding to complete the six-unit complex, which will be located just off Roosevelt Road on Greenwood Avenue near the Brandon Court units also operated by CHAD.

The project was financed almost equally by the Illinois Housing Development Authority and DuPage County. IHDA provided $785, 000 and the county provided another $750,000.

CHAD, formerly Community Housing Association of DuPage, is a non-profit organization that provides rental housing across DuPage county. Currently, the organization maintains 400 units in DuPage County, providing housing for more than 1,100 people. 

CHAD residents typically pay 30 percent of their rent and the remaining 70 percent is subsidized by the county health department, Chedda said.

Chedda said he was concerned about the stigma some people attach to the idea of affordable housing. People quickly assume that people in affordable housing are homeless or working the system, he said. The majority of the people in affordable housing programs are hard working people who can’t afford to pay rent or a mortgage, Chedda said.

“People may say these are only six units and that’s just a small number when you consider the needs of housing, but this is about more than a building, it’s about the people who will live in this building,” Chedda said. “Lives are changed when people have a stable place to come home to…when their children can stay in the same school year after year.”

Chedda said it’s important to raise the awareness of the need for affordable housing in prosperous DuPage County.

“I’ve met people whose bed is the backseat of a car… and whose bathroom is a public restroom. It’s not just about people who are homeless, it’s about affordability,” he said. “These people are our neighbors.”

Glen Ellyn is currently home to 22 CHAD units. When construction is complete on the new project, Glen Ellyn will be home to 28 CHAD units.

Glen Ellyn Trustee Carl Henninger said he was excited the development was going up in town. He praised Glen Ellyn as a great community, and said affordable housing would add greater diversity to the community. Touting a new Money Magazine report placing Glen Ellyn in the top 100 best places to live in the United States, Henninger said he is sometimes worried that the price of housing in Glen Ellyn is prohibiting a more diverse population.

“We are excited about having these CHAD units in Glen Ellyn and that the people who will move in here will become Glen Ellyn residents,” Henninger said.