years-long CHA – Faith Hernandez says the Chicago Housing Authority’s handling of her relocation and disability accommodations turned a move meant to escape abuse into years of dangerous waiting—broken elevators, health setbacks, and time-consuming transfers—while hundreds of
Faith Hernandez moved out of an abusive home and into the Chicago Housing Authority’s Dearborn Homes in 2019. hoping a change would bring safety and stability.. Instead. she says the same struggle followed her—months when nothing seemed to happen. delays that left her trapped at home. and requests for disability accommodations that stretched for years.
Hernandez waited a month for the CHA to find her an apartment so she could get away from her abuser.. After moving to a new home, she waited a year for grab bars to be installed.. Then. she said. it took the city agency another two years to relocate her to a place closer to the hospital where she was receiving treatment for multiple disabilities.
During the waiting, Hernandez’s health worsened. She described spending weeks stuck in her apartment with her infant son, unable to leave because of poor building conditions.
“I literally felt like I made a mistake, like I shouldn’t have left,” Hernandez, crying, said. “And that’s a horrible feeling, feeling like I shouldn’t have left my abuser for this situation.”
Her experience is part of a broader backlog affecting other CHA residents, according to records.. Nearly 400 households are currently on waitlists to move, the records show.. About 150 of the requests are labeled an “emergency” by the CHA.. Another 241 transfer requests are intended to accommodate disabilities.
The paperwork reflects the severity behind many requests. Records list other reasons CHA residents sought emergency transfers as “infestation … mold … fire.” The records also show 103 transfer requests cite the Violence Against Women Act, and 24 are described by the CHA as “not habitable.”
In February, a CHA employee filed a whistleblower complaint accusing the agency of failing to follow its reasonable accommodations process for residents with disabilities.
At the same time, the CHA faces a housing supply problem of its own: about 18% of the CHA’s roughly 21,400 public housing units—3,978 apartments—are vacant, most of them because they are uninhabitable, records show.
CHA officials declined an interview request.. In a written response to questions. a housing authority official said: “The majority of CHA’s vacant units are pending comprehensive rehabilitation to ensure residents have the reliable housing that enables them. and Chicago communities. to thrive.” The agency said that work will cost tens of millions of dollars.. The CHA supports 65. 000 households. is the biggest owner of rental housing in Chicago. and operates with a yearly budget of $1.4 billion.
In December 2021. Hernandez said. after negotiations over her HUD complaint. the CHA offered her an emergency housing voucher to use to find a privately-owned place to live.. Records show that her effort took about six months. as she said she struggled to find a landlord willing to accept the government housing subsidy.. Hernandez said Illinois law prohibits discrimination against a renter based on source of income. but she said many property owners are reluctant to take housing vouchers.
She remembered standing in her doorway—where she said she got better cellphone reception—when she heard HUD had sided with her complaint. “I couldn’t believe it,” Hernandez said. But she is still waiting for the CHA’s negotiations with HUD to be resolved.
Hernandez filed a complaint in 2020 to the U.S.. Department of Housing and Urban Development after months of inaction following her move to Dearborn.. She accused the CHA of violating Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. the Fair Housing Act and the Violence Against Women Act.. Section 504 bars discrimination against people with disabilities in programs that get federal funds.
In a 2024 letter. HUD said the CHA violated Section 504 and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide Hernandez with reasonable accommodations.. HUD told the housing authority to provide Hernandez with monetary relief. reform its reasonable accommodations policies and comply with federal law.. Those steps are to be outlined in a voluntary compliance agreement between the CHA and HUD, records show.
The federal agency is still investigating Hernandez’s fair housing and domestic violence claims, according to Julie Pautsch, a Legal Aid Chicago lawyer who wouldn’t discuss the status of the voluntary compliance agreement, citing ongoing negotiations.
The CHA and HUD have been negotiating a voluntary compliance agreement tied to issues raised in a 2018 complaint similar to Hernandez’s, public records show. The CHA previously operated under a compliance agreement from 2006 to 2013 for Section 504 and ADA violations.
CHA spokesperson Matthew Aguilar said no voluntary compliance agreements are currently in place and the agency has not received new drafts from HUD. HUD officials wouldn’t comment.
In February, the housing authority established what it calls a Reasonable Accommodations Task Force to review its practices and find ways to improve its process working with residents who have disabilities.
The delays also land in a period of broader instability for the agency. Keith Pettigrew recently came on as CEO after the agency had gone 17 months without a permanent leader. The CHA has faced high turnover among its top ranks and frustration from residents who describe dire property conditions.
The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities declined to comment, referring the matter to the CHA.
Hernandez said the CHA repeatedly told her it would accommodate her needs at Dearborn Homes. but never did. leaving her feeling like she was “fighting them this whole time.” When the housing authority offered her a different unit in 2020. she rejected it. saying it was near her abuser’s house and at least an hour by public transit from her hospital.
“This pattern is clear in the timeline Hernandez described: months for initial relocation. then a year for grab bars. then two more years before the move that brought her closer to the hospital—while the agency’s records show hundreds of households still waiting. including requests labeled ‘emergency. ’ disability accommodations. and transfers tied to conditions like ‘infestation … mold … fire’ and ‘not habitable’ units. ” the reporting lays out from the record and Hernandez’s accounts.
Chicago Housing Authority Faith Hernandez disability accommodations Section 504 Americans with Disabilities Act Violence Against Women Act HUD Dearborn Homes public housing vacancies Legal Aid Chicago reasonable accommodations