Northwest Center (formerly Northwest Side Housing Center) is a left-of-center advocacy group and housing-counseling center located in Chicago. It was founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Background

Northwest Center was founded as Northwest Side Housing Center (NWSHC) in 2003 in the Chicago community of Belmont Cragin and surrounding areas. ¹ It was conceived as a task force to fight predatory lending to homeowners and future borrowers in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and the foreclosures leading up to it. ²

The organization was founded by Christine Schrey under the guidance and with the support of the Northwest Neighborhood Federation. In 2021 NWSHC changed its name to Northwest Center to reflect the fact that it was no longer limiting its activities to housing but responding to changing needs in its community. ³

Activities

Northwest Center is a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-certified housing counseling agency that helps clients navigate their housing situations, whether they are first-time homebuyers or homeowners trying to save their houses from foreclosure. It aims to provide security through individual and group counseling, education, and advocacy. ⁴

In June 2021, Northwest Center’s board of directors published a page on its website stressing its commitment to the critical race theory-influenced concept of racial equity. It mentioned the “racial uprisings” that responded to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and “countless other Black Lives at the hands of police” as the reason the board felt compelled to reflect on its commitment. The board resolved to work on educating themselves continually regarding racism, dominant/white-supremacist culture, and systemic discrimination; to ensure the board and staff members are diverse; and embedding equity into its work. The board positioned itself against “the long history of racial inequity in this country” and stated its intention to work on racial equity initiatives in Chicago and beyond. ⁵

Declaration for American Democracy

Northwest Center is a member of Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD), a coalition comprised of over 250 groups that support its proposed Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. The act, named after deceased congressman John Lewis (D-GA), would essentially federalize all elections, strengthen the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and remove many conventional election integrity measures. It would require states to allow early voting, mass vote by mail (not only for absentees), and lenient voter ID laws, emergency measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, as universal and permanent aspects of every future election in the United States. It would additionally make Election Day a federal holiday, introduce automatic same-day voter registration, and establish federal protections to prevent state and local election officials from receiving “undue partisan influence and control.” ⁶

DFAD claims as a guarantee that the Freedom to Vote Act would ensure what it considers fair redistricting nationwide and promises allegedly nonpartisan election oversight from the FEC. Furthermore, it would require super PACs, 501(c)(4) groups, and other organizations to disclose all donors and would effectively shut down donor-advised funds. The aim of this would be to restrict campaign speech by overturning the First Amendment protections for associational and business speech confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. It also aims to set up a fund to finance ongoing innovations in democracy and election infrastructure. The fund would be replenished by penalty fees paid by states who commit infractions against new election laws. Each state would get a disbursement from the fund to finance “eligible democracy and election-related investments.” ⁷

Funding

In 2020, Northwest Center had total revenue of $3,666,203, total expenses of $3,005,558, and net assets of $1,564,082. ⁸

Leadership

As of 2023, James Rudyk was the executive director of Northwest Center. He joined the organization in 2012 after serving as the director of community organizing for Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People, a housing counseling agency. ⁹

Northwest Center’s board of directors includes Francisco Ramirez, co-owner of Chimbly Communications; Sasha Ongtengco, director of staffing firm Cara Connects; Angela Fontes, director of Behavioral and Economic Analysis and Decision-Making (BEAD) program at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago; and Tom Naset, lead large bank examiner in the supervision and regulation department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. ¹⁰

1. “Mission & Values.” Northwest Center. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://www.northwestcenterchicago.org/about.
2. “Mission & Values.” Northwest Center. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://www.northwestcenterchicago.org/about.
3. “Mission & Values.” Northwest Center. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://aqua-denim-s75k.squarespace.com/news/board-racial-equity-statement.
4. “Housing.” Northwest Center. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://www.northwestcenterchicago.org/housing.
5. “Our Board’s Commitment to Racial Equity.” Northwest Center. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://aqua-denim-s75k.squarespace.com/news/board-racial-equity-statement.
6. “Declaration for American Democracy.” DFADCoalition.org. Accessed February 4, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230204223830/https://dfadcoalition.org/.
7. “Declaration for American Democracy.” DFADCoalition.org. Accessed February 4, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230204223830/https://dfadcoalition.org/.
8. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Northwest Side Housing Center. 2020. Part I, lines 12, 18, 22.
9. “Team & Board.” Northwest Center. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://www.northwestcenterchicago.org/team-board.
10. “Team & Board.” Northwest Center. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://www.northwestcenterchicago.org/team-board.