FHLBank Chicago and Wintrust Celebrate Opening of Poupard Place

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 1, 2026--

Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBank Chicago) and Village Bank & Trust, a Wintrust Community Bank, celebrated the opening of Poupard Place, a new 48-unit affordable and supportive housing development in Northbrook, Illinois, supported by a $1 million Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260701307485/en/

The development expands housing options for individuals and families, including those with disabilities, in Chicago’s northern suburbs.

The $1 million AHP grant was awarded by FHLBank Chicago in partnership with Wintrust’s Village Bank & Trust and Housing Opportunity Development Corporation (HODC) to support construction of the development and expand access to affordable housing.

Village Bank & Trust’s investment in Poupard Place is part of Wintrust’s ongoing commitment to supporting affordable housing and community development initiatives. Poupard Place is the fifth affordable housing development that Village Bank & Trust has helped finance for the Housing Opportunity Development Corporation. In 2025, Wintrust invested $340 million in affordable housing across the markets it serves.

"Creating affordable housing requires strong partnerships and a shared commitment to meeting community needs," said Stephanie Molster, Vice President at Village Bank & Trust. "We're proud to work alongside FHLBank Chicago and HODC to bring Poupard Place to Northbrook and expand housing opportunities for local residents."

Poupard Place is a four-story development featuring 48 affordable rental apartments for households earning up to 60% of area median income (AMI). The property offers supportive services coordinated by HODC and offers a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Amenities include a community room, outdoor gathering spaces, and energy-efficient appliances. Located near transit, healthcare, school and other services, the development helps residents stay connected to essential resources.

"Poupard Place is where people can put down roots, build community, and feel at home," said Richard Koenig, Executive Director of Housing Opportunity Development Corporation. "Today we celebrate the families and individuals who will call this building home, and we are proud to have partners who share our belief that everyone deserves a stable, welcoming place to call their own."

AHP grants support the acquisition, construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental or owner-occupied housing. Delivered in partnership with FHLBank Chicago, member financial institutions such as Wintrust Community Banks, and local housing organizations, these forgivable grants help expand housing supply across Illinois and Wisconsin.

In 2025, FHLBank Chicago awarded $52 million in AHP grants to support housing initiatives serving more than 1,600 households across Illinois and Wisconsin. The 2026 AHP grant awards will be announced this fall.

"AHP provides critical gap financing that helps developments move forward," said Katie Naftzger, SVP and Community Investment Officer at FHLBank Chicago. "Investments in projects like Poupard Place expand affordable housing supply and create new opportunities for residents and families."

Representatives from the offices of Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) participated in the grand opening and highlighted the importance of continued investment in affordable housing and the partnerships that help expand housing opportunities throughout the region.

“Stable housing is about more than having a roof over your head. It provides a foundation for independence and long-term security. Poupard Place in Northbrook embodies that promise through its commitment to accessible, permanent supportive housing,” said Rep. Schneider. “I am proud to have this wonderful development in the 10th District and look forward to seeing it help individuals and families achieve the sense of belonging that comes with having a place to call their own.”

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Village of Northbrook has a median rent cost of almost $2,500 making developments such as these ever more important. "Affordable housing remains one of the most pressing challenges facing communities across our region," said Rep. Schakowsky. "Poupard Place demonstrates what can be accomplished when organizations come together to create housing opportunities that support residents and strengthen communities."

Poupard Place was developed through a partnership between Housing Opportunity Development Corporation, Wintrust Community Banks, FHLBank Chicago's Affordable Housing Program, the Village of Northbrook, the Illinois Housing Development Authority, the Housing Authority of Cook County, National Equity Fund and other partners.

Learn more about FHLBank Chicago’s AHP Program at fhlbc.com/AHP.

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago

FHLBank Chicago is a regional bank in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. FHLBanks are government-sponsored enterprises created by Congress to ensure access to low-cost funding for their member financial institutions, with a focus on providing solutions that support the housing and community development needs of members’ customers. FHLBank Chicago is a self-capitalizing cooperative, owned by its Illinois and Wisconsin members, including commercial banks, credit unions, insurance companies, savings institutions and community development financial institutions. To learn more about FHLBank Chicago, please visit fhlbc.com.

About Wintrust

Wintrust is a financial holding company with approximately $71 billion in assets whose common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Guided by its “Different Approach, Better Results” philosophy, Wintrust offers the sophisticated resources of a large bank while providing a community banking experience to each customer. Wintrust operates more than 200 retail banking locations through 16 community bank subsidiaries in the greater Chicago, southern Wisconsin, west Michigan, northwest Indiana, and southwest Florida market areas. In addition, Wintrust operates various non-bank business units, providing residential mortgage origination, wealth management, commercial and life insurance premium financing, short-term accounts receivable financing/outsourced administrative services to the temporary staffing services industry, and qualified intermediary services for tax-deferred exchanges. For more information, please visit wintrust.com.

Representatives from FHLBank Chicago, Wintrust, Housing Opportunity Development Corporation (HODC) and community partners gathered to celebrate the grand opening of Poupard Place, a new affordable housing development in Northbrook, Illinois, supported by a $1 million Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant.

GHENT, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 1, 2026--

Azalea Vision, a Belgian healthtech company building the first medical-grade smart contact lens, today announced it has been selected for the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator, the European Union’s flagship program for breakthrough, market-creating deep tech. Azalea is the only Belgian company selected in this round and will receive up to €7.5 million, including a non-dilutive €2.5 million grant and a planned €5 million equity investment from the EIC Fund, to advance its medical-grade smart contact lens platform into clinical development.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260701144267/en/

Beyond the funding, the award is a strong external endorsement of Azalea’s technology and long-term vision. Built on its proprietary smart contact lens platform, Azalea’s smart lens is designed to improve the quality of life of the millions of people living with irregular corneas, higher-order aberrations and presbyopia. The same device also opens the door to a biosensing platform that can measure a broad range of biomarkers in tears, one of the body’s purest fluids. The EIC’s endorsement marks it as one of the most promising medical-device opportunities emerging from Europe.

Europe’s most selective innovation funding

The EIC Accelerator, part of the EU’s Horizon Europe program, supports the start-ups judged most likely to create or disrupt global markets, and fewer than 5% of applicants make it through its expert and jury review.

Because the EIC Fund invests its own equity alongside the grant, selection signals genuine confidence in a company’s technology, vision and market, and de-risks the opportunity for private co-investors. Azalea Vision ranked among the highest-scoring applicants in its cohort and begins the funded program immediately.

The funding is directed at the clinical work ahead, alongside the final engineering steps needed to bring the platform to patients. With core platform functionality established and technical validation nearing completion, the EIC award accelerates the transition from proven technology to a certified medical product.

“This is one of the toughest funding programs in the world to win, and it validates everything we have been building — our technology, our vision, and the size of the market in front of us,” said Andrés Vasquez Quintero, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Azalea Vision. “Our technical validation is nearly complete and the core platform works. This award gives us the resources to prove it clinically, and to do it from Europe. We intend to move fast.”

With the EIC’s endorsement secured, Azalea Vision is opening conversations with strategic and financial investors across Europe and the United States to co-invest alongside the EIC Fund in its upcoming financing round. The company sees the award as both a launchpad for clinical execution and a clear signal to international capital that a category-defining medical-device company is being built in Europe.

About Azalea Vision

Azalea Vision is a Belgian healthtech company developing the first medical-grade smart lens platform designed to sense, adapt and connect in real time. Its lens-embedded system integrates adaptive optics, custom microelectronics, liquid-crystal technology and connectivity to address vision conditions and enable tear-based health monitoring. Founded in 2021 as a spin-off from imec and Ghent University, Azalea Vision is advancing smart lens technology toward clinical translation.

Azalea Vision Co-founder and CTO Andrés Vásquez Quintero undergoing an on-eye evaluation of the ALMA smart contact lens.