REALTORŪ Hometown Hero

Option builder

BY CHRISTINA HOFFMANN SPIRA

Donna L. Thomas, GRI, LTG, creates options—the kind that allow seniors to stay in the communities they’ve raised their kids in.

“So many people are aging in place. They don’t need or can’t afford their single-family home, but where can they go to remain a viable part of the community? Many are running out of options,” says Thomas, the executive director of the not-for-profit North West Housing Partnership in Palatine, Ill., a Chicago suburb.

The organization, under Thomas’ leadership, provides options in the form of affordable housing: 227 units over the past 10 years with another 200-unit project in pre-development.

That Thomas was mayor of Inverness, another northwest Chicago suburb, for eight years makes her an effective advocate for affordable development. For instance, she knows politicians dislike developers telling them, “We’re going to do this, because you need it.” Instead, she asks officials, “What can we do to help you? What will you do with those who are aging in place?” With that collaborative approach, she says, “We’ve never heard a no from the municipalities.”

Development is just one part of North West’s three-pronged approach to affordability. The organization also helps owners maintain their homes through rehab. Municipalities value the revitalization, and owners and real estate practitioners appreciate being able to sell property unfettered by code violations. In addition, North West operates an employer-assisted housing program in conjunction with a local hospital.

Thomas’s dedication to housing opportunity sprang from her work with first-time buyers at the start of her career in 1985. It was two years before she encountered a buyer with 20 percent to put down. At that point, she says, her mission was cast.

Through her work with North West, Thomas is raising local communities’ consciousness about affordable housing. She’s also helping real estate salespeople in Chicago’s northwest suburbs offer cash-strapped residents what they need most: options.

Dossier: Donna L. Thomas
North West Housing Partnership, Palatine, Ill.

E-mail	donnathomas@northwesthousing.org
Claim to fame	Oversees not-for-profit that counsels first-time buyers, rehabs single-family homes, and developes affordable housing for over-55s.
Also	Ownership Inc., which provides homeowner counseling and financing and teaches kids to make good credit choices
Lately	Thomas is drumming up interest among big corporations in North West's employer-assisted housing and single-family rehab programs.