Ascension Illinois Housing and Health Alliance

About Ascension Illinois Housing and Health Alliance

Ascension Illinois Housing and Health Alliance is a recovery home provider in Chicago, Illinois, operating state-licensed recovery housing in Cook and Lake Counties.

Who the Alliance Houses

Ascension Illinois Housing and Health Alliance houses adults who are experiencing homelessness, or at risk of it, and who have a qualifying medical condition. The organization's mission joins those two needs inside a single program, which is a deliberate choice: housing programs and medical programs are usually run apart from one another, and a person carrying both needs at once is the one who falls between them.

An Open Admissions Policy

The Alliance admits without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability or income. That policy is published by the operator itself, so an applicant or an advocate can hold the organization to a written standard rather than to an assurance.

Two Licensed Homes in Chicago and Waukegan

Ascension Illinois Housing and Health Alliance runs Bonaventure House in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood and The Harbor in Waukegan. Both the Chicago and Waukegan locations offer highly structured housing, independent permanent housing, transitional living environments and aftercare programs, and the Alliance's recovery homes are licensed by the state of Illinois. A licensed home answers to a state agency for how it operates, which is a different kind of oversight from a voluntary standard an operator adopts for itself.

Recovery Housing Across Cook and Lake Counties

Chicago sits in Cook County and Waukegan in Lake County, so this provider's footprint spans recovery housing on both sides of that county line in northeastern Illinois. Waukegan is the Lake County seat and stands on the Lake Michigan shore north of the city, which puts one address in a large county's administrative center and the other in a North Side Chicago neighborhood. The Lakeview location for Bonaventure House keeps medical care, recovery services, employment opportunities and public transit within comfortable distance for residents.

Aftercare Check-Ins Every Three Months

The Alliance runs aftercare programs with check-ins every three months. Aftercare on a fixed schedule extends the provider's relationship with a resident past the point of moving out, and a quarterly interval keeps that contact regular without turning it into a condition of ordinary life.

Support at The Harbor in Waukegan

At The Harbor, the Alliance provides peer and recovery support from licensed Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors, along with case management, occupational therapy and spiritual care. Those supports are published for the Waukegan home specifically.