Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation soon plans to turn Cahokia Heights properties where derelict homes were once boarded up into a new low-income housing development called Vivian’s Village.
SIHF Healthcare purchased the properties at 5708, 5710 and 5712 Bond Avenue for Vivian’s Village in 2020 and 2023, according to St. Clair County property records. They are located next to Touchette Regional Hospital, which SIHF Healthcare operates.
The total cost of the properties was $143,000.
The hospital system broke ground on the development Monday.
This phase of construction will include 16 one-bedroom units that come with income eligibility requirements. It will offer homes to residents who earn 30% or less than the area’s median income through vouchers provided by the St. Clair County Housing Authority.
The development will also include an office for virtual health screenings and other health services, according to SIHF Healthcare.
“This partnership represents a pivotal moment for the area for improving the living standards of residents and the overall community,” St. Clair County Housing Authority Executive Director Vera Jones stated Friday in a news release about the development.
SIHF Healthcare explained in promotional material for the development that it is interested in housing as a “critical component of a person’s health and well-being.”
“Housing instability, caused by lack of affordability, often forces families to choose between paying for rent, utilities, food, or medical care, affecting families’ mental and physical health,” the hospital system stated. “A growing body of evidence shows that quality, affordability, and stability of housing, as well as the surrounding community, are directly linked to positive health outcomes and well-being.”
The Illinois Housing Development Authority is helping to finance the project.
The agency stated in its 2023 annual housing plan that it would give $4.9 million to Vivian’s Village:
- $3,433,888 from the National Housing Trust Fund
- $1,516,112 from the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Financing underway for further expansion
Earlier this year, Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Housing Development Authority announced that SIHF Healthcare would receive a 9% annual low-income housing tax credit for Phase 2 of Vivian’s Village.
The second phase of the project includes construction of 36 units, according to information SIHF Healthcare submitted to the state.
Andrew Field, a spokesperson for the state housing development agency, said it expects the tax credits to generate $13.2 million in equity for the next phase of development.
The Illinois Housing Development Authority has also issued an additional $2.9 million in gap financing for a total investment of $16.1 million. But financing is still underway for Phase 2, so Field said the numbers could change.
SIHF Healthcare declined to release additional details about Phase 2 at this time.
Where the development gets its name
Vivian’s Village is named in honor of Vivian Cash, who lived in St. Clair County for 64 years. She died in 2020 at age 86.
Cash was involved in community organizations concerned with housing, according to information provided by SIHF Healthcare.
She was the founding member of the Ernest Smith Sr. Apartments Resident Council, which formed in the early 1990s. And she was appointed as a commissioner for the St. Clair County Housing Authority in 1999.
Cash held the position of treasurer for the resident council and served as an officer in multiple positions for the housing authority until her death.
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the Belleville News-Democrat. Lexi Cortes is a reporter for the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
