Home First

Home First is a full-service housing development group, tasked with creating new models of housing for people with disabilities.

Community integrated, affordable, accessible housing

Intentionally located, affordable, accessible housing creates stability for communities. However, people with disabilities often face outsized challenges in accessing affordable housing that meets their needs. IFF’s Home First team develops community-based housing for people with disabilities across Illinois. Projects are located in communities with local supports and amenities, and buildings are new construction or fully rehabbed housing, providing stable long-term housing options for this population. Launched in 2011, to date over 300 units of housing, in nine distinct projects across Illinois, have been developed.

Development is made possible through governmental resources including low-income housing tax credits and supportive housing programs. Supplemental funding is provided by private foundations, competitive grants, and additional loans and grants. Projects are supported with rental assistance to ensure the units remain affordable to residents for the long term.

Project sites are selected to create high-quality housing on formerly underutilized sites including vacant land, foreclosed properties, and village-owned parcels. The resulting housing is deliberately low density, allowing residents the freedom to engage in their communities and supports as they choose.

In Development

Click the images below to learn more about each project.

Access Madison County

Location: Edwardsville, Illinois

A rendering of a multi-unit housing structure.

Access Madison County

Access Madison County will be a new affordable housing development for working families and people with disabilities located in Edwardsville, IL, within the St. Louis market area.

Aljunia Springs Apartments

Location: Mount Vernon, IL

Aljunia Springs Apartments

Aljunia Springs will be the first new LIHTC multifamily housing development in Mount Vernon in over 20 years.

Completed Projects

Click the images below to learn more about each project.

Access Health & Housing

Location: Maywood, IL

Access Health & Housing

IFF received a Permanent Supportive Housing grant from IHDA and partnered with Trinity Health to create 20 units of new construction, community-integrated housing.

Access West Cook

Location: Maywood, Bellwood, Berwyn and Forest Park, IL

Access West Cook

Financed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, loans, and grants, Access West Cook provides permanent supportive housing for people with all types of disabilities.

Community Living Initiative

Location: Chicago Suburbs, IL

Community Living Initiative

Home First developed and owns 24 units of housing in seven group homes across north suburban Illinois.

Access Housing

Location: Chicago

Access Housing

Home First developed 54 community-integrated housing units across 25 sites in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood.

Access Peoria

Location: Peoria, IL

Access Peoria

Home First leveraged grants from the Illinois Attorney General, IHDA, and the City of Peoria to develop 16 fully accessible units for people with disabilities in eight duplexes in Peoria’s East Bluff neighborhood.

Illinois Accessible Housing Initiative

Location: Chicago and Suburban Cook County

Illinois Accessible Housing Initiative

Using State of Illinois capital funds, Home First acquired 70 foreclosed condominiums within Chicago and suburban Cook County.

CILA Lease to Purchase

Location: Chicago Suburbs

CILA Lease to Purchase

IFF purchased six homes in Chicago’s Northwest suburbs and fully rehabbed them to serve as accessible six-bedroom group homes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Access South Cook

Location: Park Forest, Illinois

Access South Cook

Access South Cook is a 44 unit new construction, affordable housing development, with 20 fully accessible units on the ground floor.

Home First Has Been Recognized Locally and Nationally

2024 – Nonprofit Developer of the Year Award from the Cook County Land Bank Authority
2022 – Featured in the premiere issue of Accessible Living Magazine
2022 – Nonprofit Developer of the Year Award from the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association (HACIA)
2022 – Selected as a Pre-Qualified Development Team for the Housing Authority of Cook County
2021 – Featured in Chicago Architect Magazine and webinar, “New Chicago Housing”
2019 – Coalition of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) Program Award
2019 – Community Neighborhood Development Award’s (CNDA) Polk Bros Foundation Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award
2019 – Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award from the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition
2019 – Alan J. Rothman Award for Housing Accessibility from the American Institute of Architects and the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
2019 – Nonprofit Developer of the Year Award from the Cook County Land Bank Authority
2019 – Council of Development Finance Agencies National Conference Panelist: Innovative Financing Strategies
2018 – Housing Matters! Illinois Housing Council Annual Conference: “Designing for Accessibility”
2018 – Illinois Governor’s Conference on Affordable Housing: “Designing Housing for Independent Seniors and People with Disabilities”
2018 – Vision Award from the Urban Land Institute