Allstate announces new employer-assisted housing benefit for workers at their Vernon Hills Service Center.
Workers at the Allstate Insurance Co.'s call center in Vernon Hills soon will
become eligible for a potentially life-changing perk.
The Northbrook-based insurance giant will join a small but growing number of
Chicago area companies offering employees an incentive to buy a home closer to
where they work.
In this case, the offer could translate to as much as $15,000 for an eligible
worker to use as a down payment on his or her first home. The sizable stipend is
needed to offset the high cost of housing in Lake County that puts homeownership
out of the reach of many working families, supporters say.
"We're able to help employees who never would have the opportunity to own a
home," said Lilly Eng, Allstate's director of diversity for work life. "They
would have to struggle, especially if they're the only ones (in a family)
working."
Company officials and others involved in the affordable housing issue say the
program could have other benefits, such as relieving traffic congestion, which
is consistently noted as a deterrent to business in Lake County.
Employees who are less stressed from fighting traffic also would be able to
perform better at work and may be more likely to stay.
"We look at this as a retention strategy (and) also attracting good
employees," Eng said. "We'll see employees that are more motivated."
Allstate becomes the 19th company offering the program
since System Sensor in St. Charles pioneered the concept in 2000. The idea of
employer-assisted housing originated with the Metropolitan Planning
Council
, a nonprofit group of
influential business and civic leaders.
"We've really seen a huge boost in interest the last year
or two," said Samantha DeKoven, housing associate for the council. "More and
more, they're realizing housing is the flip side of transportation."
Click
here for more information about employer-assisted housing.