Chicago REALTOR® Candice Payne Honored by Cook County

Last week, Bill Lowry of the Cook County Board of Commissioners sponsored a resolution in honor of Chicago REALTOR® Candice Payne, 5th Group Realty, who went viral for her efforts to house and feed the homeless through Chicago’s polar vortex in January. She has since founded Action for a Cause, which will use her real estate expertise to find homes and long-term solutions for care and careers for displaced Chicagoans. Candice’s work has caught local and national media attention; she was presented with a $50,000 check on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in early February. The proposed resolution opened with a quote by Shirley Chisolm: “Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.” “For us, it was a no brainer to honor Ms. Payne,” La’Mont R. Williams, Chief of Staff for Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry, said. “You can see how that small act of kindness, coming out of her own pocket to help the homeless, reverberated across the nation. We’re in a long line of people who want to recognize her for her amazing work. We really hope that by recognizing her, she continues in her mission to help the community. We want to continue to honor good people in our city.” The eve of the polar vortex, Candice called around to many hotels and only the Amber Inn in Chicago’s 3rd district was amendable. For helping people in the part of the city, Commissioner Lowry proposed and sponsored the resolution. Commissioner Deborah Sims signed on to the resolution, as well, since Candice lives in the 5th district. “Candice Payne is a true humanitarian who has consistently shown passion and generosity for the homeless,” Sims said.