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Where ARRA Funds Are Being Invested |
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ARRA Funds Keep Family
Off Streets
 The federal stimulus package provides
funding to prevent people from becoming
homeless during this economic recession.
DCEO's Office of Community Development
administers ARRA Homeless Prevention Funds
via grants to 64 local governments and
not-for-profit organizations outside of Cook
County.
To
date, more than 2,120 clients have been
helped through this program, including Chad
and April, a couple from Centralia. They
were on the verge of being evicted in
December 2009. Chad had been laid off work,
and April was due with their fourth child
any day.
BCMW (Bond-Clinton-Marion-Washington)
Community Services
used some of its ARRA Homeless Prevention
funds to
pay two months of the
family's past due rent. This was enough to
catch the family completely up and stop the
process of eviction.
In
addition, Chad and April had already
received their low-income home energy
assistance program (LIHEAP) benefits
for the year, but still had a large enough
power bill that their electric was going to
be shut off.
BCMW was also able to
utilize emergency funds through the LIHEAP
program to pay their power bill and keep
power on.
"I really feel that without the help
and flexibility of the HPRP funds, Chad,
April, and their four children would have
been homeless. These funds helped them
get back on their feet," said Sarah Ford,
Chad and April's BCMW Case Worker.
Statewide,
DCEO has access to $19 million in
Homelessness Prevention Assistance funds.
Funds are being used by the local agencies
to provide rental assistance,
security/utility deposits, utility payments,
moving cost assistance, and motel/hotel
vouchers.
As of March, more than $2 million has been
disbursed to offset the effects of the
economic recession on the state's hardest
hit families.
These ARRA dollars are not intended to fight chronic homelessness,
but are for those
who have lost their home or are on the verge due to
recent economic circumstances beyond their control," said Lou Ann Williams, program manager in the Office of Community
Development at DCEO. "Sometimes a few months rent is
all someone needs to climb back from the brink."
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Tripling the Number of Weatherized Homes
DCEO and its partners are targeting homes
with the highest energy bills and the lowest incomes
with more than $97 million in ARRA funds coming
through DCEO’s Office of Energy Assistance this
fiscal year. Over a two-year period, a total of $242
million will be spent to help Illinois families.
Thanks to the influx, the state’s network of
Community Action Agencies is expected to
weatherize 22,000 homes before July 2010, more than
tripling
the 7,000 homes weatherized last year. In
addition to providing a long-term cost
savings to families, weatherization efforts
actually create healthier homes, sometimes
even life-saving.
 Eligible families must earn no more
than 200% of the federal poverty
level so the limits are $21,660 for
an individual, $29,140 for a couple,
$36,620 for a family of three and
$44,100 for a family of four.
First comes
a free
energy audit
which will
determine
which
services are
performed at
no charge,
such as air
sealing,
attic and
wall
insulation,
furnace
repairs or
replacements,
electric
base load
reduction
(lighting
and
refrigeration)
and window
and door
work. In
Chicago, the
Community
and Economic
Development
Association
has been
conducting
Energy
Audits.
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Nearly 17,000 Gain Skills & Work Experience through
Summer Youth Program
Thanks to $53 million in ARRA funding, 16,700
Illinois youth completed true apprenticeships this
summer in career pathways in our nation’s growth
industries: green building; sustainable agriculture;
trades such as plumbing, welding, carpentry, and
masonry; customer service; and small business
management. DCEO's 26 Workforce Investment Act
agencies worked in concert with the Department of
Natural Resources (DNR), Department of Central
Management Services (CMS), and Department of
Agriculture (DoA).
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Many youths also worked in the field of
conservation and historic site maintenance,
including a crew at Johnson Sauk Trail
Park. With little-to-no work experience,
the youth had to learn how to work together
and how to handle tools safely. And they
needed a leader. Dusty Hill of Sherrard was
severely wounded in Iraq, losing both hands
and sustaining multiple burns. Because of
his wounds, he could not go back to his
former occupation as a carpenter. The
Workforce Development Board of Rock Island,
Henry and Mercer Counties, Inc. (LWIA 13)
asked this natural born leader to take on
the youth crew. “The harder you work, the
better the
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reward you
receive," says Dusty. The youth bonded with
Dusty and consider him a role model. Despite
bad weather, broken tools, and a bad poison
ivy outbreak, the crew accomplished all of
their work at the Park.
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At the Center for Children’s Services in
Danville, the average work readiness score
of their youth participants rose 17
percentage points by the end of the summer.
One of the major projects was the
construction and management of an outdoor
café. Youth learned how to build it with hot
and cold running water, sewage run-off,
electricity, refrigeration/freezers, as well
as food preparation, cashier, and customer
service stations. Youth learned about the
service industry and food preparation,
serving approximately 200 lunches each day
from June 15 to July 31. As Café “business
partners,” youth utilized the Robert Rules
of Order to manage the |
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restaurant and settle personnel issues. The Café
project culminated in a sophisticated evening event
where 300 guests were served. A youth landscaping
crew also managed the gardens around the Cafe.
Thanks to ARRA, some projects are being extended up
to March 31, 2010.
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