Heartland Human Care Services Comprehensive Housing Justice Project

The goal of the FY 2020 Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Human Trafficking Program is to support housing assistance for victims of all forms of human trafficking throughout the United States, as defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, as amended. Funding through this solicitation supports programs that provide 6 to 24 months of transitional housing with support services to victims of human trafficking who are in need of housing as a result of human trafficking. Funding will be provided over a three-year project period. Under this project, Heartland Human Care Services (HHCS) will expand the Freedom from Trafficking Program’s Housing Justice Project (HJP)—providing trauma-informed, survivor-centered housing assistance through two main components: rental assistance and transitional housing for foreign-born and domestic survivors of human trafficking. These services will be provided in Cook, Will, DuPage, and Lake Counties in Illinois. HHCS will expand its existing Housing Justice Project (HJP) to reach a broader array of human trafficking survivors. With 10 additional transitional scattered site housing placements for a 24-month period and short-term housing rental assistance for six months for six survivors over the course of the award period, the Housing Justice Project will house both foreign born and domestic survivors of labor and sex trafficking who strive to reach stability after difficult lived experiences of exploitation. The project will: provide rental assistance to six survivors in their existing units for a period of six months; offer support to an additional 5 survivors per year who are in need of assistance navigating the housing and homeless system in their community; provide transitional housing for 10 households per year for a period of 24 months; and conduct four in-person trainings per year with housing/homeless service providers in the proposed region to identify and build capacity to respond to the needs of human trafficking survivors. CA/NCF