Thank you, Greg Ford, affordable-housing advocate for families

Greg Ford has retired from the FamilyForward Board of Directors and become a board member emeritus. He leaves a legacy of affordable-housing advocacy and other important work to assist and empower families in need across the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Greg Ford, FamilyForward Board Member Emeritus

After serving on the FamilyForward Board of Directors for 21 years, Greg Ford has retired from the board and become a board member emeritus. We are deeply grateful to Greg for his many years of leadership and service.

Greg was elected to the Board of Directors of Faith Community Homes, now FamilyForward, in 2005. He joined the board shortly after his retirement from the Village of Arlington Heights, where he served as assistant village manager. He was interested in and concerned with the reduction of affordable housing in the village.

Taking the lead on affordable housing

“After retirement, I decided to look for an organization that I felt did important work and made an impact on my community,” Greg said. “I had some involvement with housing issues due to my position in local government. FamilyForward gave me an opportunity to express my concerns and work toward local solutions to community housing problems.”

Leveraging his experience, one of Greg’s initial roles on the board was to lead advocacy efforts for housing affordability within the village. Greg remained active in the advocacy area at FamilyForward for most of his time on the board.

Helping families, working with staff

While a board member, Greg and his wife, Dale, served as volunteer mentors for several of the organization’s families. Greg still believes that mentoring — with a “non-judgmental advisory approach to helping families improve their employment situation and living arrangements” — is the most significant way FamilyForward improves people’s lives. During his time as a mentor, he learned that, in addition to working with parents to improve their financial literacy and skills and offering lots of supportive guidance, “sometimes providing a good dose of realism may be necessary in counseling families on how they might move toward economic and housing stability.”

Greg provided expert assistance with human resources matters for FamilyForward, including practical guidance for replacing or hiring additional staff members and conducting staff reviews. He also served as vice chair of the board for many years, always willing and able to assist the board chair and offer meaningful and wise advice on key matters.

Guiding growth while offering support

You could always count on Greg to be involved and present at all organization fundraising activities — not only with his presence, but also with his financial support. Greg has not only been an active board member for 21 years; he has also been a vital part of the growth of the FamilyForward organization, and for that we are most thankful.

As he moves into his new role as board member emeritus, Greg offers this advice: “Problems facing affordable housing have become even more serious and difficult to solve since I joined FamilyForward. Housing costs have skyrocketed, along with other cost-of-living problems for people on the economic edge of sliding into poverty. I see a need for even more collaboration with other like-minded agencies.”

And the work continues. Thank you, Greg, for your many years of deeply caring commitment and your work to equip FamilyForward to meet current and future challenges.