Success comes from stability. At McHenry County Housing Authority, we not only unlock the doors to affordable housing, we provide wraparound services needed in our community to keep people stably housed.
Working with our partners, we address the current and long-term needs of McHenry County residents through a number of programs, including housing, dental care, energy efficiency programs, rental assistance and home repair services.
The section 8 program would not exist without our partner landlords. The Housing Choice Voucher Program and its’ landlords help families afford decent, stable housing, avoid homelessness, and make ends meet.
We exist to assist low-income individuals and families to maintain an affordable, sanitary, and decent living environment, and to provide them with the means to avoid crisis situations and achieve economic independence.
The State of Illinois chartered the McHenry County Housing Authority in 1947. The first housing program, funded by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 1976, was the Section 8 Certificate Program, now known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Today the program provides rental assistance to over 987 households living in privately-owned housing throughout the county.
In 1983, the Housing Authority built 28 apartments for the elderly in Huntley, and in l989, an additional 20 apartments for the elderly were built in Richmond. This elderly housing was built using loans from the Farmer’s Home Administration.
In 1986, the County Board designated the Housing Authority as the Community Action Agency for McHenry County. We are the only housing authority in Illinois and one of a few in the nation that is also a community action agency. Being a community action agency enables us to provide a multitude of programs to serve the immediate needs of the community.
In 1987, the Housing Authority received a grant from HUD to purchase and rehabilitate homes for large low-income families. Currently, the agency has twenty-two three-bedroom public housing units providing housing stability to large families.
In 1997, through a County grant, FHLB grant, and a private loan, the agency added 20 additional apartments for the elderly in Richmond. These units gave us a total of 98 senior and disabled apartments, which allows low-income residents to live independently.
In 2017, the agency acquired Renaissance Apartments in Woodstock from the Illinois Housing Department Agency. The building provides eight units of affordable housing located just off Woodstock square.