Through JCUA’s deep organizing, education, and community-building, we advanced solutions that keep families housed, protect immigrant communities, expand mental health care, and ensure a safe Chicago and Illinois for all people. Grounded in Jewish values and led by members across generations, our work in 2025 showed what’s possible when communities come together to build the future we deserve.

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Transformative Organizing

• We kept housing affordable and prevented displacement for families living near the Obama Presidential Center. The Jackson Park Housing Ordinance, passed through City Council in September 2025, provides millions for property tax debt relief and building repairs, reserves city-owned lots for affordable housing, establishes a leasing preference for residents who were formerly displaced, and gives tenant unions the right of first refusal when their buildings are put up for sale.
• We passed legislation that makes Illinois a safe and welcoming place for immigrant families. JCUA and our ICIRR partners had a fruitful year in legislative advocacy: this summer, we passed The Safe Schools Act, which ensures that all children have the right to a K-12 public education in Illinois, regardless of citizenship status, and we ensured $40 million in funding for immigrant services. In the fall, we built on these wins by passing the S.A.L.T. legislative platform, which expands protections for public college and university students, for children in daycare and their parents, and for hospital patients; and bans civil arrests at or near courthouses.
• We created a revolving loan fund for green social housing. The Green Social Housing Ordinance, which passed through City Council in May 2025, allots $135 million for a revolving loan fund for social housing, the largest of its kind in the United States. The fund will provide low-cost financing for environmentally sustainable and permanently-affordable housing developments. The ordinance also incorporates provisions for tenant governance of developments that receive loan fund financing.
• We strengthened Chicago’s mental health infrastructure. Our coalition’s organizing led to the re-opening of public mental health clinics and expanded services in Roseland, Garfield Park and Pilsen. Additionally, we expanded Chicago’s emergency mental health crisis response program from one North side district to six additional districts on the South and West sides.

Empowering Leaders

• We empowered young Jews with the tools and mentorship to become leaders in their communities. Through JCUA’s Or Tzedek program and Youth Organizing Caucus, we trained more than 30 teens from across the city and suburbs in the theories and practices of community organizing through a Jewish lens.
• We provided interactive education and training programs for JCUA members, congregations, community partners, and elected officials. Over the course of the year, we trained more than 650 individuals in community organizing, combatting antisemitism, racial justice, restorative justice, and nonviolent direct action.
• We convened rabbis and cantors to speak up for our Jewish values. In April, we convened clergy to publish an open letter in the Chicago Tribune speaking out against attacks on democracy being carried out in the name of Jewish safety. In October, we convened clergy to publish an open letter in the Chicago Sun-Times speaking out against the escalating ICE campaign in Illinois.

Showing Up in Solidarity

• We took action to defend our neighbors. Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, JCUA has mobilized more than 300 members and partners to participate in Know Your Rights workshops, canvassing, and rapid response.
• We participated in direct actions. JCUA members and partners showed up regularly outside the Broadview Detention Center and participated in local mass mobilizations opposing ICE and Border Patrol abductions.
• We expanded member leadership. Over the course of the year, we grew participation in JCUA’s Kol Or Jews of Color Caucus and Queer Caucus. We also created our Sephardi & Mizrahi Caucus.

Strengthening Neighborhoods

• JCUA’s Community Ventures Program (CVP) provides interest-free financing for affordable housing and community development projects. In 2025, CVP provided a $200,000 loan to Cornerstone Community Outreach to transform the Sylvia Center in Uptown into a newly non-congregate, fixed-site, shelter for families experiencing homelessness.
• Additionally, Chicago’s first-ever all-affordable church redevelopment project (LUCHA and Humboldt Park United Methodist Church) broke ground in December. The project received early funding from CVP and includes 22 affordable units.
• Since its inception in 1991, CVP has provided nearly $10 million in interest-free loans, leading to the creation or preservation of approximately 5,300 affordable housing units and 1,600 quality jobs.