Mission 

The mission of Chicago’s Department of Housing is to expand access and choice for residents and protect their right to quality homes that are affordable, safe, and healthy. ​  

We will accomplish our mission by ensuring . . . 

Vision 

The equitable distribution of resources across all 77 communities so that every Chicagoan can choose and remain in quality housing that is affordable, safe, and healthy. ​  

We are guided by the following values

Values 

The work of the Chicago Department of Housing is to develop and promote quality, affordable, safe, and healthy homes across all 77 communities, putting Chicagoans proximate to resources they need to thrive at every age. ​  

This work is radical. It demands that we challenge systems. It requires our action and collaboration. It means fighting historically racist lending and investment policies, local resistance to progress and deeply rooted patterns of segregation in our city. It creates public stewards committed to building community wealth and housing as a human right. ​  

Equitable​: We prioritize housing equity for Chicagoans who are marginalized by race, ethnicity, citizenship, ability, sexual orientation, arrest or conviction record, or income.  

Collaborative​: This is our work, but we do not work alone. We are part of a public system – with health, safety, education, transit and others – that works strategically and transparently with advocates, developers and elected officials to address housing challenges toward making Chicago a racially equitable city of choice for current and future residents.​ 

Dedicated​: We celebrate when Chicagoans access quality, affordable, safe, and healthy housing, and we fight for those who lack that stability. As empathetic professionals, we are compelled to use our collective knowledge across a full spectrum of housing types to care for and address residents’ needs and community wealth building opportunities with every unit. ​  

Resourceful​: We use everything we have – our professional insights, hands-on experience, and data-informed approaches – to influence our long-term planning and our ability to be nimble and responsive to Chicagoans, especially those whose housing stability is threatened.