General Info

1977 CRN is founded by a dozen community based housing organizations. CRN's founders share a vision of grassroots based development of safe, affordable housing as a powerful tool for the stabilization of their communities. They create the Network as a forum to exchange information, to provide technical assistance to community developers, and to advocate for resources and policies to support affordable housing. 1981 CRN publishes the Development Without Displacement policy statement. Development Without Displacement outlines a vision for grassroots based development by and for low and moderate-income families, in contrast to the massive renewal projects of the then recent past. This vision will define CRN's efforts as an advocate and technical assistance provider for the next 23 years. 1983 CRN advocates for creation of the Tax Reactivation Program ( TRP ) to enable easier transfer of tax delinquent properties to developers of low-income housing. During the 1987 Scavenger Sale alone TRP restored 1, 682 units of housing to the tax roles as affordable housing, and by 1997 the city of Chicago used TRP to acquire 1, 500 properties to redistribute in furtherance of its redevelopment plans. 1984 CRN negotiates a landmark CRA agreement, creating the Neighborhood Lending Program. First Chicago, Northern Trust and Harris Bank agree to invest $170 million in disinvested communities. When the program is slow to take off, CRN steps in to identify borrowers and package loans. By 1989 reinvestment expert Calvin Bradford reports the Neighborhood Lending Program has financed construction or preservation of almost 5, 000 units of housing in disinvested tracts, and only 4 or the 572 loans defaulted. 1992-4 CRN rallies 270 organizations to participate in the Chicago Affordable Housing and Community Jobs Campaign. The 2 year campaign convinces the city of Chicago to increase its commitment to affordable housing by $750 million over five years. More importantly, the city agrees to set concrete production goals by income level served, specially targeting Chicagoans who can least afford housing on their own, and to make quarterly reports on its progress toward its goals. Today the city's Department of Housing is still the only city agency that publicly reports its spending and production, and CRN continues to monitor its progress toward its annual production goals. 1994 CRN founds the Urban Developers Program, the nation's first masters level program in community development. Housed in its first year at Spertus College, the Urban Developers Program is currently hosted at the University of Illinois at Chicago. CRN continues to work with UIC to identify the best practitioner instructors in the field, recruit students and monitor the program. 1996 CRN initiates the Community Development and Empowerment Workshop Series. Each year, the Empowerment Series provides a broad based introduction to affordable housing development and management. The four-month certificate program is led by a team of senior community development practitioners, and covers the entire development process, from the nuts and bolts of project planning, financing, and development and culminate in tenant services, property and asset management. 1998 As a founding member of the Chicago CRA Coalition, CRN helped negotiate landmark CRA commitment from Bank One. The agreement was remarkable for winning commitments to calculate lending targets based on market share, and an access account for checking and saving with relaxed credit score standards and substantial financial literacy education support. 1998 CRN works with Chicago Department of Housing to renew its 5 Year Affordable Housing Plan. CRN helps plan a comprehensive Environmental Scan process that brought input from all sectors of Chicago's community development and housing industry as well the testimony of national experts on issues from public housing to special needs populations. In the resulting 5-year plan, the city committed to i