Tara Peele, as Director of Home First Illinois, leads an initiative to develop and own permanent, affordable, integrated housing for people with disabilities. Her role includes creating a pipeline of projects and preparing for asset management of the resulting housing units. Previously she worked with Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), first as an Interagency Liaison charged with developing policies and programs to increase housing options for people with disabilities. In this role, she launched ILHousingSearch.org, established strong incentives to include integrated units for people with disabilities within properties financed by IHDA, and worked with advocates to set supportive housing production goals. In her most recent role as a Senior Development Officer at IHDA, Ms. Peele launched IHDA's first Permanent Supportive Housing Development Program, administered a $19 million Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program, and underwrote applications for rental housing financing.
