The Center for Housing & Health (CHH) applauds Cook County, led by President Toni Preckwinkle, for their commitment to fund the Flexible Housing Pool at $3.2 million within Cook County Health’s budget for Fiscal Year 2026. At a time when people experiencing homelessness are being criminalized and the programs and subsidies that have kept people housed and healthy are under attack by the Trump regime, we are grateful for the partnership, dialogue, and ongoing support that Cook County has offered the Flexible Housing Pool.  

The Flexible Housing Pool is a collaborative effort between Cook County, the City of Chicago, and other entities which started in 2018. Cook County has been at the table with CHH since the beginning, when this program was just an idea: to end homelessness among people cycling through public crisis systems by establishing a partnership between cross-sector stakeholders. Since then, the Flexible Housing Pool has:  

  • created affordable housing units and related supportive services throughout Cook County;  
  • saved public crisis systems over $1.4M;  
  • helped keep people out of jail;  
  • improved individual health outcomes; and 
  • decreased utilization of emergency services and hospitalizations by connecting people to stable housing and supportive services. 

Since 2018, and thanks to tremendous support and leadership from Cook County, FHP has kept people housed, healthy and alive. We look forward to continuing this partnership with the County to ensure that all its residents are able to thrive. 

The Center for Housing and Health (CHH) is a subsidiary organization of AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC). Operating as a separate 501 (c) 3 while sharing some core operations, CHH supports a core element of AFC’s mission: ending homelessness.