Lake County channels millions toward expanding housing options; ‘It's a major way for us to continue our goals'

Chicago Tribune

08-07-2025

The Lake County Board approved nearly $5 million in funding recommendations for 2025, channeling millions in federal grant dollars into housing-related programs and organizations.
The applicant list included organizations such as PADS Lake County, Community Partners for Affordable Housing and the Lake County Housing Authority. While not new, the funding highlights an ongoing challenge for the county — housing.
'This is the largest grant that we get for funding,' board member Paras Parekh said. 'It's a major way for us to continue our goals around affordable housing, the at-risk homeless population, lower- to middle-income individuals, and those organizations that support those types of folks.'
The board also approved nearly $500,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care Housing Program grant, which will go to rental assistance for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
While this year is set, the recent passing of the federal spending and tax bill, known colloquially as the 'big beautiful bill,' has thrown some uncertainty into future housing-related funding, Parekh said, although he didn't say there will be definite cuts.
'There's a lot more open-endedness to this than we've had in the past,' he said.
As part of affordable housing efforts, he said the county will hold the first meeting of the new Attainable Housing Task Force, which will take a bigger picture look at the challenges facing the county, and how to collectively address them.
It's a perspective that is sorely needed, Parekh said, with the rules varying from municipality to municipality.
'Affordable housing, in theory, everyone desires,' he said. 'But then, in practice, you need to have the right mechanisms to attract it and the zoning to allow it.'
It's also a move that reflects comments made by Amanda Orenchuk, director of community development for Mundelein. Previously, she had talked about wanting the county to take a 'broader, regional look' at a housing plan to help address housing concerns.
'I'll be trying to fight for the same resources and the same developers and those things,' Orenchuk said. 'There are other places … where there's an organization that has multiple jurisdictions that are all together as an economic development force.'
Lake County's housing challenges are laid out in a 2023 report by Lake County Partners, which found the county is facing a shortage and lack of diversity in housing stock. These shortages, along with a declining working-age population, present economic challenges for Lake County's future.
The report said barriers to affordable housing include overly restrictive zoning too focused on large-lot single-family housing, as well as high land and construction costs. Lake County is also seeing housing prices rise beyond the pace of income, the report said, with almost a quarter of households earning less than $50,000 a year.