Our Mission
CHH honors every person’s right to a home and health care, by bridging the housing and health care systems, to improve the lives of Chicagoans experiencing homelessness.
Our Vision
Every person has a place to call home that helps them reach their full potential.
Our History
The origins of the Center for Housing and Health (CHH) are connected to the Chicago Housing for Health Partnership (CHHP) program, which provided permanent supportive housing and intensive case management for people who were experiencing homelessness and hospitalized. The results generated from CHHP data inspired the creation of the Center in order to pursue more CHHP-type projects and other similar innovations to address the barriers that people experiencing chronic homelessness face. This pursuit evolved into the establishment of CHH as a separate 501(c)(3) supporting organization of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago in February 2010 to extend its work beyond HIV/AIDS by promoting effective housing options for people experiencing homelessness and living with a wide range of chronic illnesses.
Since then, CHH received its first grant from the Chicago Community Trust in 2011, which supported housing and outreach for the 100,000 Homes Campaign, and the organization went on to receive its largest grant to date in 2013 through HUD. In 2014, CHH established the Better Health through Housing (BHH) Collaborative, an alliance of 28 supportive housing agencies across Chicago and Cook County dedicated to bridging the gap between the housing and health care sectors. CHH was selected as the lead agency and convener for this new project, and, in 2015, CHH secured its first contract for The BHH Collaborative with the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System. By 2017, CHH grew to having a budget of $5 million from a $100,000 budget six years earlier, while continuing to support Chicago and Cook County residents experiencing homelessness to find better housing solutions.
Staff

Whitney Rasco
Landlord Engagement Specialist

Antwanette Standberry
Housing Specialist

Chiayu McGill
SOAR Specialist

Melanie Paul
Manager, Housing Supportive Services

Abbie See
Senior Manager, Flexible Housing Pool

Carolyn Bloom
Substance Use Care Coordinator

Amiel Cain
Housing Supportive Services Specialist

Torri Clay
Housing specialist

Brandi Calvert
Senior Director, Housing Operations

Jessie Beebe
Director, Integrated Health Programs

Ann Barron
Housing Supportive Services Senior Specialist

Sherise Alexander
Director, Supportive Housing

Laurie Wettstead
Chief Financial Officer

Peter Toepfer
Executive Director

Ben Darby
Program manager

Rachel Sanchez
Housing Specialist

Aviance Dorsey
Landlord Engagement Specialist

Liza Duchesneau
Program manager
Board
Stephanie Altman, Shriver Center on Poverty Law
Member
Jennifer Nelson Seals, Human Resources Consultant
Member
Richard Powell, Planned Parenthood of IL
Member
Christy Prahl, Crown Family Philanthropies
Member
Alejandro Segura, JP Morgan Chase
Member
Peter Toepfer, Center for Housing and Health
Executive Director
Joanna Trotter, Chicago Community Trust
Member
Kuliva Wilburn, Wilburn Strategic Solutions
Chair
Chad Thompson, Lyceum Leadership Consulting
Treasurer
Simone Koehlinger, AIDS Foundation Chicago
Member
Chris O’Hara, Thresholds
Member
Partners & Funders






































