AnnaMaria Mattey is the Founder and President of Lighthouse Housing Alliance, a nonprofit serving families facing housing instability across Lake County and the northwest suburbs of Cook County.

Before launching Lighthouse, AnnaMaria spent nearly ten years in pastoral ministry at Willow Creek Community Church, where she focused on caring for people, building community, and helping individuals grow into more of who they were created to be—within the context of authentic, supportive relationships. She later served as the Director for Lake County, McHenry County, and the NW Suburbs of Cook County for Safe Families for Children. There, she repeatedly met parents doing everything they could to keep their children out of foster care, yet held back by homelessness and a lack of supportive community. And as she paid closer attention, she realized local shelters were often full, the gap in affordable housing was rapidly widening, and homelessness among families was steadily increasing. These years opened her eyes to how deeply housing instability and isolation fuel family crisis.

Her passion for this work is also shaped by her own story. Twelve years ago in Lake Zurich, during a painful season while her husband sought help for addiction, AnnaMaria and her two boys had to move out of their home. They secured a small apartment only days before school began — a place that wasn’t ideal, but it kept her sons in their schools, the one steady thing they could count on amid so much change, and it provided a roof over their heads when homelessness was a very real possibility. What carried her through that season was her faith alongside a healthy community and a local church who helped shine a light of hope in a dark season, bridging the gap to long-term stability for her and her family.