Story 1 Elizabeth N.

Elizabeth N. – 09/23/25

I know so many individuals that struggle with housing because in order to be approved you have to make 3x the rent. This is an incredible fin barrier. The job market is horrible, everything is more expensive and rent is higher. This makes no sense. If we want safety in our communities, we have to have housing-rent that is reasonable and job so we can pay for the rent

 

 

Story 2 Allison B.

Allison B. – 9/23/25

I am a 28 year old trans woman who has been pushed out of the “professional” rental market because of my low income and periodic unemployment prevents me from paying application and other fees. I am currently on SNAP, UI, and Medicaid benefits and searching for work, and I only have housing because of my luck in searching through listings on the queer message board Lex. I have a bachelor’s degree from the University Of Chicago, and am searching for jobs to rejoin the professional job market, but it is difficult in the current job market and I may be relegated to low-wage service work for many months before that search is successful. HB 3564 would give marginalized but potentially productive bunkers like myself the opportunity to navigate housing searches with dignity and security, not anxiety that keeps from thinking about my future.

 

 

Story 3 George H. Final 1

George H. – 09/23/25

I am a section 8 voucher participant,

I am on Disability,

I am on a fixed income,

I have had to deal with landlords slow about fixing things,

I have had to deal with Bugs, Mice, Roches in lots of places,

Almost every where I move to management companies, landlords want to charge move-in fees, application fees, key deposits or they want to charge a security deposit. These fees are too much.