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October News & Updates
Can we be cheesy for a second? Cool, thanks… It’s fall, y’all. Our team loves this season and the coziness associated with it.
Delicious warm drinks in hand while in our comfy sweaters, the work for housing justice continues!🍂☕
Our monthly newsletter has lots of information. The Open Communities team is:
- welcoming Reilly
- celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
- looking ahead to several workshops and community partnerships, including “Keys to Home” with Connections
- sharing some community fridge resources in Evanston and Skokie
- highlighting an affordable housing open wait list for people 55+ in Libertyville
- encouraging you to vote if you're able
- thanking our lovely volunteers
- supporting a housing proposal in Evanston
We are also gearing up for our 55th anniversary in 2027. For 55 years, we have been advocating for housing for all and welcoming communities. Mark your calendars for the celebrations we already have scheduled! Details below.
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Reilly joins Open Communities as our new Outreach AmeriCorps VISTA! He graduated from Michigan State University in 2025 with a degree in Urban Planning and is passionate about issues involving housing justice and social equity. In his free time, he loves to read, thrift, go to concerts, volunteer, and watch movies. Reilly said, “I chose to volunteer with Open Communities because I resonated deeply with their mission to make our housing systems more just and welcoming for all.”
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Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! | |
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Open Communities would not be who we are without the love, achievement, support, and brilliance of our Latine communities across the north and northwest suburbs. As we celebrate this year's theme, “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together" from September 15 to October 15, we are highlighting some wisdom from our Latine staff:
"My work at Open Communities goes far beyond celebrating Hispanic Heritage for a single month. To me, it represents an ongoing commitment to our community throughout the year.
I feel honored and privileged to be able to serve people who need our services and who often feel more comfortable expressing themselves in Spanish. Because it's not just about the language we speak; it's about really seeing people, listening to their stories, and trying to understand them from their essence, their experiences, and their needs.
At the same time, it is beautiful to see how in many parts of the country Hispanic Heritage Month becomes an opportunity to raise the visibility of our Hispanic community, honor our contributions, and recognize that we are a fundamental part of the history, present, and future of our country.
This year, more than ever, I want to raise my voice and tell my community: Let us not lose faith or hope. Together we are stronger."
- Mayra Moreno
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Come learn with us!
Email intake@open-communities.org or call Jes at 224-341-6081 if you have any access needs.
Reverse Mortgage Workshop in Rolling Meadows (English only)
Thursday, October 8, 2026 from 10:30am to 11:30am
Rolling Meadows City Hall
3600 Kirchoff Rd, 2nd floor
No registration required.
Are you 62 or older? Curious about aging in place and reverse mortgages? Sarah Buckley, HUD-certified Housing Counselor, is an unbiased expert not associated with any banking institutions. She will explain who is eligible, the financial obligations, benefits, risks, and considerations.
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Come chat with us about housing resources in Skokie!
We’ll be at the Niles Township Food Pantry on October 7 from 9:15am to 11:30am. Visit our table to get your housing questions answered and learn about resources while picking up pantry items. This is what we call feeding 2 birds with 1 seed 🍞🏡
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October Resource Fairs in Evanston
We’ll be at two resource fairs this month alongside many wonderful community partners. Come say hi and check out all our housing resources and services.
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Dreaming of Home: How to Become a Homeowner Workshop (English)
Thinking about buying a home? Want to learn how to access down payment assistance programs? Curious about all the steps and people involved?
We're hosting a free virtual workshop in English from 9:30am to 1:30pm on Saturday, October 17!
Registration is required.
| 📝 Vamos a presentar el mismo taller en español en nuestra oficina en Evanston el sábado 5 de diciembre. | | |
Key to Home Webinar: Yes, In God’s Backyard (YIGBY)
What if land already owned by religious institutions could help create more affordable housing? ⛪️
Thursday, October 29, Yes, in God’s Backyard (YIGBY) will be the first webinar in the Keys to Home learning series.
Speakers will explore YIGBY policies, real-world examples, and what’s possible when religious institutions’ land becomes part of the housing conversation.
Keys to Home is a series of four educational webinars, leading up to a one-day conference in October 2027.
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Evanston Community Fridges
For 5+ years, the Love Fridges in Evanston have been feeding neighbors without judgment. They offer a space to share food and work to meet the immediate needs of our neighbors while building the community we want to live in: abundant, connected, and life-affirming for all.
🆕 The newest fridge opened in late September at the Women's Club of Evanston.
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Hersh's Fridge in Skokie
There is also a brand new kosher outdoor community fridge open 24/7! It’s located at 8800 E Prairie Rd.
| | Affordable Housing for Older Adults in Libertyville | | |
Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH) has a pre-application open for an affordable, 34-unit development for adults 55 and older in Libertyville.
Eve B. Lee Place has 1- and 2-bedroom units with full kitchens, dishwashers, and walk-in showers. Amenities include a fitness room, computer center, library, laundry on every floor, on-site parking, elevator access, and personal storage lockers.
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It's time to vote!
Voting is one of the many tools in our tool belts to advance long-term housing solutions for our communities.
The National Low-Income Housing Coalition invites you to take 5 minutes to do one of the following:
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Check your voter registration... Even if you are sure you are registered! Recent address changes or inactivity can cause you to be removed from the voter rolls.
- Register to vote.
- Pre-register if you are 15-17.
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Make a plan to vote early and in-person: TurboVote will give you information on upcoming voting locations and key deadlines.
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Thank you to our volunteers!
There are so many people behind the scenes who care about equal, safe housing for all.
Special shoutout to the Mitzvah Group for helping out at the office in September! We’re grateful to your women’s group that is doing monthly service projects in our communities!
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Interested in volunteering with us?
Volunteers are vital in so many ways. We are currently looking for volunteers to:
- help table at community events
- attend meetings to advocate for better housing laws
- assist with administrative and office tasks
- compile and/or analyze research and data
- create content or help with communications and storytelling
If you'd like to chat with our volunteer coordinator, Eve Williams, to find out more, please fill out our volunteer interest form and tell us more about your skills and interests.
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900 Clark St & 72 Affordable Units
In September, the Land Use Commission in Evanston voted to recommend approval of the proposed development to City Council.
As Shereemer Chevannes told us, “Evanston continues to face a significant affordable housing shortage. Nearly half of Evanston renters are housing cost burdened, and community housing plans have identified a need for thousands of additional homes. Projects like 900 Clark will not solve the housing crisis on their own, but affordable housing production is cumulative. Each development that creates new affordable homes moves us closer to meeting the needs of residents struggling to find housing they can afford.”
She elaborated that “Affordable studio and one-bedroom homes help meet the needs of many current Evanston residents.”
So this step “is an important milestone” and “the process is not over.”
The proposal will now move to the City Council for final consideration.
We join Shereemer in thanking so many of you “for your commitment to ensuring that Evanston remains a community where people of all incomes can live, work, and thrive.”
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Celebrating 55 Years of Housing Justice
2027 marks Open Communities’ 55th anniversary!
Rooted in the Civil Rights Movement, Open Communities has spent 55 years working toward a future where everyone has equal access to safe, stable housing. As we celebrate this milestone, we’re honoring the people and movements that shaped our history, and recognizing that the call for housing justice remains just as important today.
Will you join us for our 55th year?
Throughout 2027, there will be many ways to get involved, including Beyond the Redline on April 24, 2027, Hope for Homes Day in July 2027, our 55th Anniversary Trivia Night in the Fall of 2027, educational opportunities, and more.
Businesses and organizations can become 55th Anniversary Corporate Partners and show our community your commitment to helping our neighbors have equal access to safe, stable housing.
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Not able to sponsor? There’s another meaningful way to be part of our 55th:
Become a High 5 Monthly Donor! Whether you can give $5.50 a month or $55/month, your regular support will help sustain us for the future.
Stay tuned, there’s much more to come as we celebrate 55 years and build toward the next 55.
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So what do fridges, waitlists, and voting have in common?
You! Community. And all the ways we care for each other.
Thank you, neighbor.
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Supporting Open Communities
With federal funding uncertain in these times, it is more important now than ever to stand together in the fight for housing justice.
| | Open Communities strives to create more inclusive communities by ensuring everyone has equal access to safe, stable housing. | | Communities we can all call home. | | |
Funding provided in whole or in part by AgeOptions.
Open Communities does not discriminate in admission to programs or treatment of employment in compliance with appropriate state and federal statutes.
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