Happy New Year!
Recently, I read an article that said 88% of people give up on their New Year’s resolutions before the end of January, leaving 5ks far from the finish line, books dog-eared on their second chapters, and craft bins overflowing with unfinished projects indefinitely (or until the new New Year comes around in 11 months).
45 years ago, drawing on the determination of housing advocates before them and a strong vision for the future, LCBH’s founders resolved to make Chicago a safe and equitable place to call home, and unlike the other 88% of people, they stuck with it. Today, though our tools may be a little different, our team continues to work toward this goal too, and I can proudly say we are closer to reaching it than ever.
In 2024, LCBH served more than 16,500 households through our legal and supportive services. We continued leading the charge to make eviction court more equitable through the Chicago Right to Counsel Pilot Project. Online, our team grew Rentervention’s knowledge base so more renters can address their housing problems before an eviction is filed. Our DEIB Committee worked on Phase Two of our project roadmap, bringing fresh trainings and policies to fruition so that staff can embody DEIB principles to better serve Chicago’s renters (read more here).
2024 wasn’t all-work-no-play, though — and I don’t just mean our team’s “sox-cessful” trip to watch the White Sox make history over the summer. This year, our Rentervention Team also received well-deserved kudos at the Clio Awards in Texas and rang the NASDAQ bell in New York, while our Legal and Policy Director, Michelle Gilbert, made her debut on the Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast. We hosted numerous “friend-raising” events, including an in-office exhibition of photographs taken by Civil Rights Activist and Photographer Bernie Kleina at the 1968 DNC in Chicago. More recently, Bernie sat down with us to discuss how the Chicago Freedom Movement shaped Chicago’s housing advocacy and the continued importance of Dr. King ahead of MLK Day (read more here).
You can read more about our ‘out’ing (pun intended) to Guaranteed Rate Field and our other favorite 2025 memories here.
With all this said, whether you’ve been with LCBH since the ‘80s or joined us recently, our successes in and outside of eviction court would not be possible without our supporters. As you read about our work in 2024, I hope you’ll see all the ways you contributed not just to last year’s victories, but also to our ongoing resolution to make Chicago a more equitable place to call home!
(Oh! And if you’re still working on your resolution, keep it up! Only a couple more weeks and you’ll be a 12%-er too!)