The Oak Park Regional Housing Center was founded in 1972 to promote and sustain an integrated community in Oak Park.
In the 1960s Oak Parkers began a concerted effort to avoid the destructive racial housing practices occurring in nearby communities. Steering and block-by-block panic peddling caused rapid racial change on Chicago’s west side, including the Austin Community Area adjacent to Oak Park. Whites fled west side neighborhoods based on bogus concerns of property value losses and crime increases. Businesses fled as well. Meanwhile, residents in other communities engaged in hostile acts and behaviors to exclude people of color, especially African Americans, from moving in. Cowardly actions that violated civil rights laws largely kept people of color from these communities until the 1990s.
The Village of Oak Park passed a fair housing ordinance in 1968 (in the same year as the federal Fair Housing Act) to ensure equal access to housing in the community. In 1972, the Oak Park Housing Center was founded by Roberta (Bobbie) Raymond to promote integration in the community by ensuring equal access and discouraging white flight.
Over the years, the Housing Center took on a more regional approach and officially changed its name to the Oak Park Regional Housing Center in 1992.
Today, while a majority of our work continues to take place in Oak Park, the Housing Center works to promote diverse and integrated communities throughout the region. The Housing Center provides a model to promote the affirmative furthering of fair housing through community-based action. It is a pro-active model that engages housing seekers during their search for a home, whether it be a rental or a purchase.
The Housing Center operates on an aspirational model of an inclusive community of opportunity. Our work to promote an integrated housing market provides the foundation for equal access and opportunity in our school systems, employment prospects, social networks, and other quality-of-life aspects.
