
Rental Housing Support Program
About The RHSP
The Rental Housing Support Program (RHSP) was created by the State of Illinois in 2005 to provide rental assistance to households by subsidizing rental apartments and homes. HCP receives state funding to administer the program for suburban Cook County. Program participants must have a household income of 30 percent or less of the area median income (AMI) and will pay no more than 30 percent of their income towards rent.
HCP has been administering this program since 2011 and currently works with over seventy landlords and low-income families throughout Cook County. RHSP enables clients to pay only 30 percent of their income for rent, while giving the landlord the difference in the form of a subsidy. The difference between this subsidy and the traditional Section 8 or Housing Choice Voucher is that this subsidy is based on the unit—it is project-based, not tenant-based. That means that when one client vacates the unit, another low-income client moving into the unit would receive the same benefits.
HCP identifies eligible units for the program and conducts periodic outreach to low-income residents to fill vacancies as they come along.
The wait list is currently closed to new families, but HCP is always seeking new landlord partnerships. For more information, contact Mari Valero, Program Director at (312) 386-1009 x229, or via email at mvalero@hcp-chicago.org.