Webinar: Affordable Housing in Champaign County: What are the Challenges? December 14

This online event was part of LWVCC's Keeping It Local series, a monthly League program to discuss local issues.  The video of this session is available on the LWVCC YouTube site. 

You probably have read recent reports about the nationwide crisis in affordable housing. Is there a similar crisis in Champaign County?  What steps are being taken to make more affordable housing available locally? 

On Wednesday, December 14 from 7:00 – 8:00 pm Lily Walton, Executive Director of the Housing Authority of Champaign County and Sheila Dodd, Interim Executive Director of Urbana’s Department of Community Development Services, addressed these issues.  

Lily Walton is the Executive Director of the Housing Authority of Champaign County. She was raised in Northern Illinois and earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration from Eastern Illinois University and a master’s degree in Public Administration and Policy from Purdue.  Lily has led the resource development strategies for the Housing Authority of Champaign County, where she has raised over two million dollars in alternative sources of funding through grants and private donations.

​Sheila Dodd has over 30 years’ experience in community development and affordable housing.  She worked for 20 years for the City of Champaign in the Neighborhood Services Department and retired in 2011 to become the Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County. She returned to local government in 2018 when she became Grants Manager for Urbana. She also serves as the Interim Community Development Services Director for the city.

View the video