5/8/2019
At a news conference today, Rock Island-based Community Housing Services CEO Susan Anderson relaunched Community Housing Services with a new name and a new look, recommitting the organization to the housing needs of Rock Island’s fixed-income retirees, persons with disabilities, victims of domestic violence, military veterans, refugees and lower-income wage workers. Going forward, the name of the organization will be Community Home Partners. Offering both rental and home-ownership opportunities, the organization helps meet the community need for affordable and “starter” housing options and resulting neighborhood revitalization that enhance the quality-of-life for Rock Island residents.
“The change is more than cosmetic,” Anderson says. “We feel the name Community Housing Services fails to reflect our true nature and purpose. We are much more than low-cost, public housing. We create homes, neighborhoods and entire communities. We believe putting the word ‘home’ at the center of our name more clearly represents our goal of creating viable and vibrant neighborhoods, neighborhoods of choice that ultimately promote a sense of place and pride.”
The 15-year-long mission of the organization has been to pursue new and creative ways to meet the frequently changing housing needs of the diverse populations of Rock Island.
“We’re proud of our past success,” Anderson says. “To date, we have invested $59 million into the City of Rock Island and its citizens and we are not done yet. As we celebrate 80 years of service to the people of Rock Island, we are recommitting this organization to develop neighborhoods that attract those who value diversity and vitality, help individuals and families accomplish economic independence and housing self-sufficiency and create communities people are proud to call home.”
Anderson led the re-branding effort in collaboration with Quad Cities-based marketing and communications firm, TAG, explaining why the new Community Home Partners logo is arranged in a stair-step design.
“Housing needs are fluid,” she explains. “Family size grows and contracts. Physical ability changes with age and illness. Community Home Partners recognizes this dynamic and offers individuals and families a variety of home options to suit changing circumstances. More importantly, we have the commitment to help our residents navigate the ‘stair-step’ of changing housing needs.”
To illustrate this point, CHP Board or Directors and Rock Island City Council members were invited to today’s event to compete in a home decorating contest. The contestants were each given one of ten uniquely styled birdhouses, including a Dutch-inspired house, a log cabin, and an A-frame chalet, among others. City officials were then asked to paint, and other otherwise decorate, these birdhouses in a manner as individual as the people of Rock Island. Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms judged the competition with praise for all, declaring a ten-way tie. The birdhouses will be hung in Community Home Partners-managed neighborhoods.