Connections For The Homeless

Connections For The Homeless, a nonprofit organization based in Evanston, Illinois, operates as a federal grant recipient under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care (CoC) Program (CFDA 14.267), delivering emergency shelter, street outreach, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing, and case management services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness in suburban Cook County, Illinois.

The organization's federal footprint is entirely grant-funded and concentrated in HUD CoC awards. Across 113 total awards (prime and sub-award), HUD's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development accounts for 94 awards, or 86 percent of the portfolio, with the remaining four awards split among the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Nursing Research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Administration for Children and Families. Combined dollars obligated across all awards total $22.9 million. Connections For The Homeless acts as prime recipient on 89 awards (79 percent) and as a sub-recipient on 24 awards (21 percent).

Representative prime CoC grants include a $325,936 Project Grant (October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026) for operating an 80-bed 24/7 shelter with comprehensive services; a $290,774 Project Grant (October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025) for similar shelter and supportive services; and a $550,448 Project Grant (May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2025) supporting expansion from an 18-bed overnight shelter to an 80-bed 24/7 facility. Sub-award activity includes participation under the Alliance To End Homelessness as a sub-recipient in coordinated entry systems for general populations and unaccompanied youth; sub-awards from the City of Evanston and Cook County for emergency solutions funding, street outreach, homelessness prevention, and rapid re-housing; and a sub-award from Northwestern University (April 17, 2026) investigating effects of short-term rent subsidies on cardiovascular health outcomes in housing-insecure populations.

The organization operates three distinct program components: a daytime drop-in center averaging 60 visitors per day across two Evanston locations (Lake Street Church and Dewey Avenue), providing case management, showers, laundry, food, clothing, hygiene supplies, and benefits advocacy; an outreach team with three full-time staff conducting street engagement; and an 80-bed non-congregate 24/7 shelter. Staffing includes a full-time nurse and behavioral health specialist. Connections For The Homeless collaborates with the Alliance To End Homelessness, the City of Evanston, Cook County, and the Illinois Department of Human Services to coordinate entry systems and target services to youth ages 24 and younger, veterans, and families with children.

Activity has been consistent over the past five years (five to twelve awards annually), with only one award facing completion in the next twenty-four months, indicating minimal recompete exposure. The organization's grant posture is exclusively under HUD CoC mechanisms; it holds no federal contracts and sits on no contract vehicles such as GWACs, BPAs, or GSA Schedules.