HRA, Hamilton Habitat awarded IRRR grant

Local housing organization Hamilton Habitat has a busy year ahead. As they wrap up their current builds, they, along with the Cook County Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA), announced on March 3 the receipt of grant money from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRR) for the next Hamilton Habitat homes.

Anna Hamilton of Hamilton Habitat previously told WTIP about the Homestead lots, and said if the application her organization and the HRA made to the IRRR was awarded money, the grant would be applied toward infrastructure costs for two lots across the street from the Homestead Cooperative on 11th Ave W. If all goes as planned. That project will build two single-family homes.

In a press release dated Feb. 25, the IRRR announced their award of $112,000 to the HRA, who applied for the grant on behalf of Hamilton Habitat. The press release read that the funds were awarded “to extend utility infrastructure to two sites that have been acquired, cleared and prepared for future construction of two single-family homes. There is a waiting list of long-term residents eager to purchase the completed homes.”

In their own press release from March 3, the HRA and Hamilton Habitat wrote that at the IRRR meeting, the Homestead lots project was defined as “workforce housing.” Hamilton has previously stated that her primary goal is to build houses for working people who otherwise are not able to break into the housing market in the area.

The press release quoted Hamilton as saying, ““Hamilton Habitat is very grateful to both the HRA and the IRRR for this opportunity as it allows us to build on lots we could not otherwise have afforded.” She previously told WTIP that the infrastructure costs for the lots were prohibitively expensive without grant support.

HRA Executive Director Jeff Brand has been on the job for less than a month, making this award the first grant from the IRRR awarded during his tenure. He was quoted in the HRA and Hamilton Habitat press release, saying,  “We will continue to work along non-profit and for-profit entities that want to help us solve the housing puzzle in Cook County. And when we have the ability to do so, we are going to go up to bat with grant applications to the IRRR and elsewhere in an effort to make the final project as affordable as possible.”

Kirsten Wisniewski March 8, 2025