Housing Forward to receive $2M grant to rehab The Write Inn

The Village of Oak Park, acting as the fiscal agent for Housing Forward, has been awarded a $2 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for our work to update and improve the former Write Inn Hotel. For nearly four years, the Write Inn has been home to our Interim Housing and RISE Center Medical Respite Programs, and we are looking forward to investing in the property and making it a permanent home for these two programs.

We are grateful to the Village of Oak Park, Illinois for their continued support and guidance throughout this process and we look forward to what is to come.

Read more about our work at 211 N. Oak Park Ave. in the Wednesday Journal or below. 

The Village of Oak Park, as the fiscal agent for Housing Forward, was awarded a $2 million grant in state funds to rehabilitate the property at 211 N. Oak Park Ave., formerly known as The Write Inn.

The property, which Housing Forward intends to rename, is a temporary shelter site for individuals and families experiencing homelessness that provides interim housing as well as medical respite. Oak Park and Housing Forward applied for the $2 million in state funds this summer.

Interim housing is a temporary housing environment that allows people experiencing homelessness a safe place to stay while looking for permanent housing, according to Housing Forward. Medical respite provides care and a safe place to recuperate for patients who need to recover from illness or injury off the streets, but who are not sick enough to need a hospital.

The $2 million grant is from Community Development Block Grant – Coronavirus funds. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity allocated a minimum of $15 million in those funds to shelter construction in “urban entitlement areas,” which Oak Park is.

In February, village officials said the total budget to rehabilitate The Write Inn was estimated at $7.7 million. Officials have since said it could be closer to $9.4 million, but Housing Forward is still working to finalize a project budget and Erik Johnson, Housing Forward’s major gifts officer, said they haven’t asked for an updated estimate recently.

In addition to the $2 million grant, Oak Park’s village board designated $1 million for the renovations. Half came from unspent American Rescue Plan Act funding, and the other half is from CDBG returned funds. Trustees Lucia Robinson and Cory Wesley voted against the motion to allocate ARPA dollars at the time, saying they wanted the funding to come solely from CDBG or other funds.

Housing Forward has also received $3 million from Illinois for this project, and Johnson said they are working on other funding sources. The nonprofit purchased the property at 211 N. Oak Park Ave. in November 2023 with support from Cook County for $6.5 million. It has served as a temporary fixed shelter site since September 2020.

“The COVID-19 crisis hit us all fast and furious back in March of 2020,” Johnson said. “Housing Forward had the great good fortune to be able to very, very quickly, over the course of a weekend, move individuals who were using our emergency shelter into motel rooms in western Cook County.”

In June, village officials said the property is intended to offer 45 rooms for adults, couples and small families in addition to 19 rooms for medical respite care. Johnson said Housing Forward is working with a general contractor now to put together the plan, but no contracts have been signed yet. The units also need rehabilitation to meet accessibility standards, according to village officials.

The remodeled property is also expected to have case management services that can provide continuity of care and wraparound services. Housing Forward also plans to renovate common spaces on the property, improve laundry areas and office space, and add space for group meals.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson said Housing Forward saw firsthand how individuals experiencing a housing crisis who had a stable place to sleep and did not have live each day on “survival mode” were able to achieve more of their goals and work toward permanent housing stability.

“The shelter [was] an excellent opportunity for people who had no place to sleep at night,” he said. “But when you are experiencing homelessness, even navigating a day of simple things like ‘Where am I going to get my next meal? Where am I going to use the restroom? How am I going to take care of my hygiene? … All of those things become something that take a great degree of planning and forethought.”

With that stability, more individuals were willing and able to participate in case management and wraparound services, he said. And having a safe place for medical respite goes hand in hand with that, too.

On average, Johnson said about 76% of individuals go on to live in more permanent housing from Housing Forward’s interim housing at 211 N. Oak Park Ave. In 2023, it was 89%, he said. But over 28 years of operating Housing Forward’s emergency shelter, he said the average was about 23% to 25%.

The start date for rehabilitation of the property is not yet definitive, but Johnson said Housing Forwards hopes to start in 2025.

The State of Illinois called a meeting in early October in Springfield with grant recipients, where Johnson said he expected Housing Forward will learn more about the particulars of accessing the funds. Only certain entities such as local and county governments could apply for these funds, he said, but most, if not all, of the recipients were serving as fiscal agents on behalf of nonprofits.

“[The village was] a true partner in creating this application and working to get everything put together,” Johnson said. “So, we celebrate their participation in helping support our success.”

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