Real Time Chicago (RTC)
Most Recent Series – Reimagining Housing Support and Access: Bridging Research, Action, and Community-Centered Process
The Real Time Chicago Lecture Series returns for Spring 2025, continuing its focus on Reimagining Housing Support and Access: Bridging Research, Action, and Community-Centered Process. This series explores innovative approaches to housing equity, preservation, and sustainability, bringing together experts, advocates, and community organizations to discuss solutions that empower residents and strengthen neighborhoods. Through engaging discussions, we highlight key initiatives working to ensure accessible, affordable, and resilient housing for all.
Sessions
First Session – Spanish Coalition for Housing: Providing Housing Services to the Community for 50+ Years
The Spring 2025 Real Time Chicago Lecture Series kicked off with an insightful session featuring the Spanish Coalition for Housing, a community-driven organization that has provided critical housing services for over 50 years. Emilio Carrasquillo, Program Manager, shared how the Coalition fosters equitable housing access through innovative programs and advocacy efforts. From financial counseling to foreclosure prevention and homebuyer assistance, this session highlighted the Coalition’s ongoing impact in Chicago’s housing landscape.
Sessions
2nd Session: Chicago Bungalow Association - Helping to Maintain, Preserve, and Adapt Your Older Home
The second session of the Real Time Chicago Lecture Series featured the Chicago Bungalow Association, a leading organization dedicated to preserving and adapting Chicago’s historic housing stock. Lia Rulli, Program Manager, and Carla Bruni, Preservation and Resiliency Specialist, provided expert insights into home repair resources, energy efficiency programs, and strategies for maintaining older homes. This session explored how historic housing preservation can play a crucial role in sustaining affordability and livability while adapting homes for modern needs.
Video from 2nd Session
Sessions
3rd Session: Digs with Dignity - Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness One Family at a Time
The Real Time Chicago Lecture Series continued its focus on Reimagining Housing Support and Access: Bridging Research, Action, and Community-Centered Process with an inspiring third session featuring Kim Hannay, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Digs with Dignity. In this session, “Digs with Dignity: Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness One Family at a Time,” Kim, along with members of the Digs with Dignity staff, shared how their organization has been transforming lives by helping families transition out of homelessness with dignity and stability. Through custom home furnishing using sustainable design solutions, Digs with Dignity continues to create welcoming, functional spaces that empowered families to build a fresh start.
Video from 3rd Session
Sessions
4th Session: NHP Foundation - Reinventing Affordable Housing One Community at a Time
The fourth session of the Spring 2025 Real Time Chicago Lecture Series featured leaders from the NHP Foundation and Operation Pathways, including Veronica Gonzalez, Eva Thibaudeau-Graczyk, Carmen Correa, Katrina Glasgow, and Rebecca Ely. They shared how their organizations are advancing affordable housing through a service-enriched model that promotes resident well-being and long-term stability. The NHP Foundation oversees over 8,000 affordable housing units across 16 states and the District of Columbia. Operation Pathways supports residents through programs focused on academic achievement, financial stability, healthier living, and aging in place. Speakers emphasized housing as a platform for upward mobility and equity, highlighting the value of local partnerships and data-informed services in building stronger, more resilient communities.
Video from 4th Session
Archived (Past) Real Time Chicago Lecture Series
As we continue the Real Time Chicago Lecture Series for Spring 2025, we also invite you to explore our archived lectures from past years, covering a wide range of critical urban issues. From environmental justice and infrastructure planning to economic development, housing, and social equity, these past discussions have brought together experts, policymakers, and community leaders to share their insights. By clicking on the hyperlinks below, you can access full recordings of each event and revisit these thought-provoking conversations. Whether you’re looking to deepen your understanding of Chicago’s evolving urban landscape or seeking inspiration from past discussions, these archived lectures offer a rich resource for researchers, students, and community members alike.
Spring 2021 – Community Data & National Parks in Urban Spaces
- National Parks in Your Neighborhood: The Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program
- Chicago Data Training: Using Microdata from the American Community Survey
Fall 2019 – The Role of the National Park Service in Cities
Fall 2018 – Environmental Justice & Sustainability
- Natives in Chicago
- RTCA: Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance
- A Sustainable Nation in Four Generations
Spring 2018 – Water, Environment, and Public Space
- The Reversal of the Chicago River: Bridging Environmentalism and Urban Development
- Parks, Plans, and Prejudice: The Environmental Politics of Outdoor Recreation
Fall 2017 – Infrastructure, Funding, and Urban Transformation
- Creative Funding Mechanisms: Paying for Large Infrastructure Projects
- The Impact of Infrastructure on Communities: Three Rail-to-Trail Projects
Spring 2017 – Racial Justice & Urban Policy
Spring 2016 – Alternative Economic Models & Worker Rights
Fall 2015 – Social Capital & Public Space
- Guanxi: Chinese Social Capital in Chicago
- Gender in the City: Street Harassment and Safety
- LGBTQ Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Providing for Services
Spring 2015 – Demographic Changes & Accessibility
- A Changing Back of the Yards: The Growing Latino Population
- Equal-Access City? 25 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Fall 2014 – Economic Development & Urban Land Use
- Commercial Revitalization
- Vacancy + Spatial Justice
- Innovation Districts
- Disruption Apps + the City
- Street Jobs + the Informal Economy
Spring 2014 – Housing, Homelessness, and Economic Development
- Confronting Homelessness in the Suburbs
- Affordable Housing in Affluent Communities
- Casinos as Tools for Economic Development in Suburban Chicago