When 150 housing clients faced transition, AFC and people-of-color-led partners provided uninterrupted support

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) successfully transferred 150 supportive housing clients from a partner agency refocusing their work in this arena to six organizations that would continue to provide individualized support. The AFC Housing team worked for 8 months to prepare new case managers to support their new clients and ensure that clients could stay in their homes.  

“Our goal was to make the transition seamless for program participants,” said Senior Director of Housing Operations Brandi Calvert. “We were able to achieve that by maintaining open lines of communication with all agencies involved in the transition.”  

This project, spearheaded by Calvert and Director of Supportive Housing Sherise Alexander, was led with a personal approach. All program participants affected by this transition remained in their existing apartments, thanks to strong communication between AFC’s Housing team and case managers and supervisors from all agencies involved in the transition process.   

In the transition, the AFC Housing team prioritized expanding or creating new partnerships with  organizations located in Chicago’s South and West Side neighborhoods and led by people of color. This led to increasing capacity with existing partners (The Boulevard, Christian Community Health Center, Facing Forward, Housing Opportunities for Women and Alexian Brothers Housing and Health Alliance (AMITA)) and creating a new partnership with Featherfist. Three of these organizations have Black leaders, highlighting AFC’s commitment to racial equity.  

“We are extremely thankful to these six organizations for stepping in at a critical time to ensure program participants continue to receive caring supportive services, remain stably housed and to keep them on a path to achieving stability in their lives for themselves and their families,” said Alexander. 

This accomplishment could not have happened without the support and diligence of AFC’s Program Development and Finance teams. They handled the logistics and backend work for this project with a fast-approaching deadline, yet were dedicated to complete the transition with care.  

Click here to learn more about AFC’s housing programs.