Lynda Schueler has worked at Housing Forward for nearly 27 years. Never before has she seen attacks like the ones her nonprofit, and others across the nation, are currently facing, the housing agency’s CEO said.
“The whole industry right now is feeling under attack,” said Schueler.
With Trump administration executive orders, budget freezes and funding cuts looming, local nonprofits have been forced to confront what the changes in policy could mean for their organizations – and for the people they serve.
While Schueler’s Housing Forward, an organization designed to prevent homelessness and respond to housing crises, has not yet experienced funding cuts, a number of immediate changes stemming from executive orders or budget freezes have left the nonprofit feeling rattled.
Currently, the largest challenge Housing Forward is facing is the threat to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding that was promised to the nonprofit.
HUD funding has historically been the most stable form of funding for Housing Forward and makes up a large portion of the funding they receive. HUD funding can also be accessed immediately to fund services, according to Schueler, a contrast to other public funding streams which nonprofits have to wait to be reimbursed for.
Any change to this funding would impact Housing Forward’s 2026 budget significantly, Schueler said, and would “mean a loss of housing for those that [they] serve.”
“Threats to that particular component of the continuum of housing that we offer would be devastating, and those individuals would absolutely return to homelessness because there are no other alternative types of housing,” Schueler said. “All housing right now is being threatened… and this is at a time when homelessness is increasing.”
The political turmoil has put Housing Forward in a “defensive position,” Schueler said. The organization is working to develop a contingency plan, a task that has proven difficult, with a high degree of uncertainty defining the current political moment.
Housing Forward is now waiting to hear directly from HUD and will use the information they receive to determine how they can sustain the housing they currently offer. Without federal funding though, the public funding from the state and county will not be enough to sustain the nonprofit.
“It’s traumatizing for those on the front lines who are hearing what’s happening at the federal level and seeing what’s happening on TV…” Schueler said. “We’re feeling under attack at all levels and not being able to have the resources to support the need that is out there.”
For concerned community members, Schueler said Housing Forward is in need of support now more than ever.
“There is no doubt there will be cuts to the services and housing that we offer,” Schueler said. “This is a time for communities to really step up and make an impact on the neighbors that are in greatest need.
John McIlwain, executive director at The Children’s Clinic in Oak Park, said his organization is experiencing similar difficulties. For The Children’s Clinic, which provides pediatric health care regardless of insurance status or ability to pay, changes to Medicaid will likely have the largest impact on how they can serve their patients.
Above all, McIlwain said, the uncertainty of what threats will materialize is causing the most stress.
“There’s a lot of fear, and I have it myself, but I don’t know how accurate or real some of it is,” McIlwain said. “That kind of stuff, just living in a state where everyone is in absolute fear… is terrifying and difficult.”
For now, The Children’s Clinic, and nonprofits across the country, are biding their time, waiting to see if, or more likely, when, federal budget cuts will begin to affect the work that they do. In the meantime, McIlwain encourages people to remain hopeful about the future.
“We have to really wait and see,” McIlwain said. “I think everybody has to keep pushing and keep advocating, keep resisting and keep protesting, doing it peacefully… because this nastiness in the human condition in America right now is going to change.”