Housing and Case Management Program

ICDI’s community-based housing and case management program is a trauma-informed care model that is a globally recognized replacement to immigration detention. Community Placement methods not only cost less to operate, but also recognize the dignity of individuals and empower them to live fulfilling lives.

For the last 8 years, ICDI has coordinated with diverse bodies of communities to offer housing, financial assistance, and case management to those who would have otherwise been detained in cruel and traumatizing conditions. Below you will find information regarding our community placement model where we train and empower groups and individuals to join together to create a holistic replacement for detention.

Becoming a welcoming society begins with you.

What is community-based housing?

There are three community-supported components that make the community placement model work. Communities may be matched with other communities to pool resources that include:

Housing

Independent no-cost housing is essential to giving people privacy and agency. We want to provide our guest with a space that promotes healing in a neutral setting and encourages independence in their new home. We are always looking for apartments, studios or houses available.

Mentors

Mentors are volunteers willing to be trained and ready to provide assistance to people seeking asylum for one year. Their roles is to let our participants feel welcomed, accepted, and loved in their new home.

$500/Month

If you are able to commit to ANY amount of monthly donations, we will happily work with you! Financial sponsors are needed to provide $500 per month toward participant expenses. Remember: 100% of all donations go directly to people seeking asylum.

“My reason of coming to the U.S. was a matter of safety… because I was advocating for the human rights of LGBTQ+ people.” (ICDI Past Participant)

ICDI is addressing the specific need for LGBTQ+ focused services for asylum seekers.

Learn about LGBTQ+ Housing

Do you know an asylum seeker that needs housing?

If you or someone you know is an asylum seeker recently released from immigration detention who is in need of our services, please contact Ryan Smith, Director of Housing and Case Management, at rsmith@icdichicago.org

*If our housing is not available, and you are experiencing homelessness, call 311 to reach the Chicago Homelessness Hotline to look for emergency homeless shelters in Chicago.