Central IL housing counseling agencies receive grant to improve financial education

CENTRAL ILLINOIS (WCIA) — $6 million will be parceled out to housing counseling agencies across the state to improve financial education. In Central Illinois, several counseling agencies will be getting a slice of that money.

The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) announced last week that the grant funding will expand pre-purchase homebuyer education, and foreclosure prevention counseling services for thousands of Illinois families. 

In Central Illinois, this includes:

Housing Counseling Agency	Service Area
Community Investment Corporation of Decatur, Inc.	Decatur, Macon, Christian, and Logan County
Embarras River Basin Agency Inc.	Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Jasper, Lawrence, and Richland County
Justine PETERSEN	Champaign, Madison, and St. Clair County
METEC	Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Stark, Knox, Fulton, and Mason County
Mid Central Community Action	McLean and Livingston Counties
Navicore	Peoria County (All IL Counties virtually)

You can find a full list of the grant recipients here.

The grant allows the housing counseling agencies to equip Illinoisans with tools to:

• Build credit readiness and financial literacy
• Access down payment assistance and affordable mortgage programs
• Understand property taxes and insurance and gather helpful tips on maintaining your home
• Protect their homes through foreclosure prevention counseling

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBank Chicago) created and funded the Housing Counseling Resource Program (HCRP) to help improve housing counseling services for underrepresented households. Since 2022, HCRP has helped 37,000 Illinois households — including more than 3,500 first-time homebuyers — purchase a home.

“The Housing Counseling Resource Program has played a huge role in helping the Embarras River Basin Agency (ERBA) continue to support individuals and families looking for safe, stable, and affordable housing,” said Sandy Deters, Housing Counseling Coordinator at ERBA. “With IHDA’s support, we’ve been able to provide the kind of counseling that really makes a difference, helping people understand their options and make confident decisions about their housing. This funding will allow us to deepen our impact over the next two years, reaching more households and strengthening the communities we serve. Additionally, because of the HCRP grant, we were able to leverage these funds as a match to secure two additional grants bringing $130,000 in home repair assistance to families in our area.”

You can find the contact information for each organization on the IHDA’s website.