Chicago Westside Father Keeps His Eyes on the Prize

Thanks to donors like you, Rodney Davis has piece of mind.  Rodney knows that his children are in a safe learning environment when they are at Mercy Housing’s After School Program.

Rodney is a truck driver with an entrepreneurial spirit.  He is working on creating a device to aid in the cooling and insulation of parts for semi-trailers, which he hopes to patent.

To help make ends meet, Rodney and his wife and two children live in one of Mercy’s affordable rental homes in the Austin community of Chicago.  Living at Mercy helps the Davis family manage costs.  In addition, the children take advantage of the after-school academic programs.

Rodney says that having his children in Mercy’s after school program “has helped tremendously!”  According to Rodney, the program “gives me and my wife peace of mind knowing that our kids are in a safe learning environment. And I have definitely seen improvement in my daughter’s behavior since attending the program.”

Rodney says that the day his first child was born “the realization of the responsibilities that were ahead of me made me become more focused and stable.”  He wants other fathers to know that it is important to “stay focused with your eyes on the prize!”

This Father’s Day, honor your dad by sending an eCard and making a donation to help dads like Rodney.  Your support will help a vulnerable family better support and educate their children.

https://www.mercyhousing.org/ecards

 

Moving Forward Together Campaign Update

During the first four and a half years of the Moving Forward Together Campaign, you and   like minded supporters have helped build or preserve 2,854 affordable homes, sustain 5,437 jobs, and enable 7,024 people to live in hope.

In 2014, your support made it possible to advance the Campaign through the following achievements:

• In January, Mercy Housing Lakefront utilized financing from PNC Bank to acquire and preserve 105 affordable rental homes at River West Commons in Elgin;
• In April, Mercy Housing Lakefront secured an allocation of Low Income Housing Tax Credits to begin development of 56 affordable rental homes for working families at Greenwich Park in Milwaukee;
• In April and May, Mercy Housing Lakefront closed on $4.7 million in financing to renovate 212 affordable rental homes in the Austin community of Chicago; and
• Mercy Housing Lakefront was named a finalist for the 2014 Affordable Housing Finance Readers’ Choice Award for the preservation of 210 affordable rental homes at Pullman Wheelworks.

With your continued support, we will ultimately fulfill the ten-year campaign goals to build or preserve 7,500 affordable homes, create 8,000 jobs, and prevent homelessness for 20,000 people.

2014 Moving Forward Together Leadership Conference

On May 20th, over 125 corporate, nonprofit, government, and philanthropic leaders came together at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to network, learn, and share ideas to help create more affordable housing and provide supportive services to enable thousands of people to live in hope.

Daniel Sullivan, Director of Research and Executive VP at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, provided introductory remarks regarding the state of the economy as well as the housing market.  Participants then broke off into facilitated group discussions around multifamily innovations, acquisition strategies, healthcare & housing, financial capability and neighborhood stabilization.

We want to thank everyone for their participation. Your input and creativity are essential as we continue to work together to fulfill the goals of ten-year Moving Forward Together campaign. Collectively, we can make a difference.  Mercy Housing’s mission is to help build healthy communities, but no organization can build healthy communities alone.  It will continue to take all of our collective efforts, working together, to revitalize communities throughout the region.