Rising to the Challenge: COVID-19 Pandemic Relief

As the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in the spring of 2020, our members acted quickly to maintain your business operations and support your customers across Illinois and Wisconsin. You navigated the uncommon uncertainty by looking beyond yourselves and recognizing strength lies within the communities you serve.

But our members and your communities were not alone in the fight. The profound impact of the pandemic caused strain not only on communities and businesses but also on financial markets. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBank Chicago) adapted alongside our members to adjust the way we work by doing so virtually and without interruption to continue to deliver our products and services you rely on. However, we knew more assistance was necessary in order to support our members and your communities during this challenging time.

On April 27, 2020, we launched our COVID-19 Relief Program, a one of a kind program providing all of our members with access to two special offerings—the COVID-19 Relief Advance, a zero-rate advance to meet your immediate liquidity needs, and the COVID-19 Relief Grant, a grant up to $20,000 to assist small businesses and nonprofits affected by the pandemic in your communities.

“Our customers loved the program and were so appreciative of those funds at a time when they were shut down and needed them most so they and their employees could survive. The funds provided needed payroll funding to support the employees and the local community. It’s all a waterfall effect. Employees continue to get paid, continue purchasing from local stores, and continue using local services. The COVID-19 Relief Program not only helped our clients, it helped the community at large.”
Kevin Day, President and CEO, State Bank, Waterloo, Illinois

While our COVID-19 Relief Advance helped members with the shifting market and balance sheets, members used our COVID-19 Relief Grant to meet the needs of more than 5,000 beneficiaries across Illinois and Wisconsin including food pantries, social service organizations, local shops and restaurants, first responders, and many more. An astounding 98% of members took advantage of at least one of these offerings, which totaled more than $2 billion in advances and $13.1 million in grants in just four weeks.

“We worked with the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness, a nonprofit that focuses on black families and the women that lead them. The pandemic disproportionately impacted these women, and the funding provided relief and stability to over 200 families during a time of critical need.”
Jaimes Johnson, Director of Community Partnerships, University of Wisconsin Credit Union, Madison, Wisconsin

As the pandemic carried on, we too recognized the disproportionate impact the pandemic was having on the most vulnerable members of our communities and the importance of having conversations about how its effects differed across demographics in Illinois and Wisconsin.

Our Office of Diversity and Inclusion and African American Employee Resource Group (ERG) launched an internal educational series titled “COVID-19 in Communities.” The series of articles explored the impact COVID-19 presented in different populations, including rural and urban neighborhoods, people of different generations, historically disenfranchised communities, and more. These articles were followed by engaging discussions by FHLBank staff and a signature event featuring guest speakers with experience working with these populations. The speakers included Maggie Rzechula, Vice President, City National Bank of Metropolis, Metropolis, Illinois; Steve Vogt, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, City National Bank of Metropolis, Metropolis, Illinois; Maria Kim, President and CEO, Cara, Chicago, Illinois; Grace Chan McKibben, Executive Director, The Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, Chicago, Illinois; and Terry Peterson, Vice President, Corporate and External Affairs, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.

“The ongoing conversations at our Bank and with our members and community partners guide our work and enable us to direct support where it is most needed. We are humbled by our members’ community relief efforts and thank them for the opportunity to partner with them in this important work.”
Katie Naftzger, Vice President, Community Investment Officer, FHLBank Chicago

View our COVID-19 Relief Program video to hear the stories of how beneficiaries across Illinois and Wisconsin benefited from your work and generosity.

Adapting Together – Transitioning to a Virtual Bank

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck Illinois and Wisconsin in March 2020, we took immediate, prudent steps to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of our members, employees, and community partners. We seamlessly transitioned to operating as a virtual Bank in an effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

Within a matter of days, FHLBank Chicago employees swapped their desks for home offices and converted to a completely virtual environment. And while our physical settings changed, our focus remained on our members and continuing to provide uninterrupted, reliable access to solutions and liquidity during a very challenging time.

“During 2020, our bank experienced many changes as we moved to doing more business in a virtual manner during this ongoing pandemic. We took comfort knowing FHLBank Chicago would stand by us all the way, whether it was urgent funding needs due to the PPP Loan program, unusual shifts in liquidity due to government stimulus programs, or the creative partner grant programs. FHLBank Chicago was always ready, willing, and able to cover our needs.”
Dan Peterson, The Stephenson National Bank & Trust, Marinette, WI

We also recognized the importance of staying connected as a team while operating virtually for an extended period of time. As in-person meetings transitioned to video chats, we launched weekly, all-staff informational calls hosted by our Bank’s Executive Team featuring employees across the Bank to share key updates from their respective business areas.

The calls soon became a staple for our employees as they provided transparency on the state of the Bank as well as filled a gap that was vacated by no longer seeing one another in office. A total of 34 all-staff informational calls were held in 2020, which included guest speakers from our Board of Directors like John Reinke, Chair of the Board of Directors, FHLBank Chicago.

“Ensuring our employees felt comfortable and confident during uncertain times and were equipped with technology to continue to deliver products and services to our members was our highest priority. As we continue to navigate the pandemic as a virtual Bank, we are able to apply all that we have learned as a virtual operation to continue to provide innovative solutions to our members.”
Eric Geiger, Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, Transitions Strategy Team, FHLBank Chicago

The lessons we learned while adapting with you throughout 2020 and continuing through today has evolved our organization into a stronger and better equipped partner. Our improved technology, operation efficiencies, and new ways of working together are long-term investments in you and your institutions. What started as a fast but effective transition to respond to a crisis, now allows us to continue to build from what we learned as we continue to evolve our organization in support of you and your communities.

Committed to Action and Making an Impact

In the weeks following the conclusion of our COVID-19 Relief Program, our District continued to battle the pandemic and its economic impact. The negative effects were felt in every community, but it soon became more apparent that some populations had been disproportionately affected by the crisis, including Black, Latino, Native American, elderly, rural, and low- and moderate-income communities.

In conversations with our members, many expressed a shared interest in addressing racial and economic equity disparities in their cities and towns. Although a remarkable 98% of our members participated in the COVID-19 Relief Program earlier in the year, our members recognized an additional opportunity to invest in their communities where support was needed most.

On August 10, 2020, we announced the creation of a Targeted Impact Fund. This program provided all of our members with access to up to $20,000 in grant funding to support populations hardest-hit by COVID-19. Beneficiary categories supported Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) and/or Women's Business Enterprises (WBEs), the advancement of Black and Latino Communities, empowerment services for populations hardest hit by COVID-19, and affordable housing sustainability. Members were able to maximize their available grant funds by committing to match some or all of the base grant dollars.

At the conclusion of the program on November 10, 2020, 76% of our members had participated in the Targeted Impact Fund helping more than 1,300 beneficiaries. In total, $9.8 million grant funds were provided throughout Illinois and Wisconsin, which included $1.5 million in member matching.

View our video to learn how our members committed to creating impactful change in your communities through the Targeted Impact Fund.

Creating Change Through Conversations

In response to the nationwide protests and conversations about race, our Office of Diversity and Inclusion, African American ERG, Women’s ERG, and Baby Boomers ERG, hosted panel discussions for Bank employees to have candid conversations about race throughout 2020.

In a three-part virtual series titled “Getting Real about Race,” FHLBank Chicago employees were able to share their candid personal experiences and reflections on race and racial equity in America and discuss how we can work together to create meaningful change. The moderated panels shared their unique experiences with one another and answered questions from their colleagues. The positive impact of these conversations also encouraged employees to continue the discussions with their own teams. Groups watched films, read books, and explored other perspectives throughout the year to learn from each other and how to create change.

The success of the series and ongoing dialog led to the development of an FHLBank System-wide “Conversation on Race” virtual discussion on October 23, 2020, with 896 people in attendance from across the United States.

Supporting Local Students through Our Work-Study and Apprenticeship Programs

Since 2011, FHLBank Chicago has partnered with Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School in Chicago, Illinois, for our Corporate Work-Study Program. The program places work-study students in grades 9 - 12 in teams across our Bank including Information Technology (IT) Risk and Compliance, IT Security, Audit, and Facilities to contribute to short-term projects. Due to the pandemic, once per week onsite workdays were paused in the spring of last year.

For the 2020-2021 school year, we are proud to continue our partnership with Christ the King by resuming the program through creating a virtual, half-day format. We are thrilled to be joined by seven students as they gain valuable on-the-job experience.

In addition to completing projects and assignments with our teams, several of our employees serve as mentors to the students playing a critical role in each student’s experience and professional development.

While our Bank continued our partnership with Christ the King, we also developed a new partnership in 2020 with the City Colleges of Chicago and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Beginning in 2021, we launched our new FHLBank Chicago Apprenticeship Program, which provides entry-level employment opportunities to qualified students pursuing their associate degree. Apprentices are part of a one-year development program as part of our MPF Service, Audit, Legal and Government, and IT Support teams at the Bank, and have the opportunity to begin a career at FHLBank Chicago upon completion of the Apprenticeship Program.

Helping Homeowners in Need

Homeowners faced challenges of their own in 2020. As the economy and job market remained volatile, homeowners struggled to make on-time mortgage payments and even faced foreclosure. In light of these challenges, your institutions worked tirelessly to help your customers in a time they needed it more than ever.

In partnership with you, we worked to help homeowners in your community by providing accommodations through our Mortgage Partnership Finance^® (MPF^®) Program. These accommodations included 360 days of forbearance, streamlined payment deferrals, and modifications of government loans without repurchase.

Capital Credit Union—a community credit union headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin—heard the concerns of homeowners and homebuyers facing unique problems due to the pandemic. Capital Credit Union’s member-focused staff found ways to help these individuals and families.

“Our team was contacted by a retired woman on a fixed-income struggling to make mortgage payments and refinance her home that was set an a high interest rate. We spent time working with her and answering questions to her unique situation and making sure she felt confident in her options. Eventually, we were able to refinance her home at a 5% lower interest rate, saving her money and significantly improving her financial situation.”
Laura Busch, Vice President – Mortgage Lending, Capital Credit Union, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Your efforts helped countless homeowners and their families, and we look forward to continuing to find ways to work together to help them in the future.

Adapting Technology to Enhance Your Member Experience

Our IT team worked diligently to help our employee’s transition to a remote working environment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To allow all of our teams to continue serving our members, IT implemented planned technology changes, refined important processes, and even integrated new technologies to support our new way of working. Even more than ever before, in 2020, IT illustrated what it means to be strategic yet agile in order to meet the evolving needs of our business in support of you and your communities.

In addition to implementing improvements to our internal systems, we maintained our unwavering commitment to enhance your member experience through new, innovative technology solutions. On March 23, 2020, we launched enhancements to our advance products, transaction processing, navigation, and reporting on eBanking. Highlights of the enhancements included the ability to easily rollover certain advances, a new dashboard for funding details, shortcuts to the Qualified Collateral Report (QCR), and the availability of up to seven years of historical data on demand.

As a result of the efforts by our IT and our Member Product Support teams, members enjoyed user-friendly and secure systems while providing easier access to uninterrupted liquidity, and employees were able to leverage new technology to continue to support our members each and every day.