Who We Serve
Eligibility & Medical Fragility
Hope Village is designed for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness who have significant medical needs. This page explains who qualifies and how medical fragility is defined in our model.
Who is eligible for Hope Village?
Hope Village serves adults who meet the federal definition of chronic homelessness and who have significant medical, behavioral health, or functional needs that make traditional housing options difficult to access or sustain. Eligibility is determined through Champaign-Urbana's coordinated entry system — not through self-referral.
Chronic Homelessness
An individual who has been homeless continuously for at least one year, or on at least four separate occasions in the last three years totaling at least 12 months, and who has a qualifying disability.
Medical Fragility
Individuals whose health conditions are significantly worsened by homelessness and who require stable housing as a prerequisite for effective medical management. See the full definition below.
Coordinated Entry Referral
All placements are made through the local coordinated entry system. Case managers, healthcare providers, and social workers submit referrals on behalf of the individuals they serve.
Priority Populations
Priority is given to individuals with the highest acuity and longest histories of homelessness, consistent with HUD guidelines and local community standards.
Eligibility Overview (PDF)
Download the full eligibility summary for case managers and referral partners.
Clinical Definition
What is Medical Fragility?
Medical fragility, as used in Hope Village's model, refers to a condition in which an individual's health is significantly and directly compromised by the absence of stable housing — and in which standard medical interventions are unlikely to be effective without housing stability as a foundation.
This is not simply a matter of having a chronic illness. Medical fragility describes a specific intersection: a person whose medical condition is actively worsened by homelessness, and whose health trajectory cannot meaningfully improve without a stable place to live.
Criteria used to assess medical fragility
Frequent emergency department use
Three or more emergency department visits in the past 12 months, particularly for conditions that could be managed in a stable housing environment.
Repeated hospitalizations
Two or more inpatient hospital admissions in the past 12 months for conditions exacerbated by homelessness, such as wound infections, hypothermia, or uncontrolled chronic disease.
Inability to manage medications or treatment without housing
Conditions requiring refrigerated medications, wound care, dialysis, or other treatments that cannot be reliably administered without a stable, private living environment.
Life-limiting or terminal illness
A diagnosis with a significantly shortened life expectancy where quality of life and end-of-life care are directly tied to housing stability.
Functional impairment due to medical condition
Physical or cognitive limitations — such as those resulting from stroke, traumatic brain injury, or advanced organ disease — that make independent living in non-supportive settings unsafe or unsustainable.
High-cost, high-utilization patterns
Individuals whose healthcare costs are disproportionately high relative to the broader homeless population, often due to preventable acute care episodes that stable housing would reduce.
Important note on assessment
Medical fragility is assessed holistically, in coordination with referring healthcare providers and case managers. Meeting one or more of the criteria above does not automatically guarantee placement — it establishes that an individual falls within the population Hope Village is designed to serve. Final placement decisions are made through the coordinated entry process in partnership with local service providers.
Medical Fragility Definition (PDF)
Download the full clinical definition document for healthcare providers and referral partners.
Ready to refer someone?
If you are a case manager, healthcare provider, or social worker working with someone who may qualify, we encourage you to connect with us through the coordinated entry system or reach out directly.