On Wednesday evening, Cook County residents gathered at Kennedy King College, where they were invited to weigh in on which programs they want to see extended after COVID-19 relief dollars are gone.
The meeting was part of a series of “Community Voices Events” hosted by the Cook County government. The meeting was led by Mykel Selph, Cook County’s deputy chief of staff of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She helped facilitate the meeting, which ran nearly two hours and featured participants gathering in intimate groups where they were able to give recommendations and voice concerns as the dollars from the program dwindle.
State and local governments received money through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021. Cook County received $1 billion from ARPA to fund over 70 initiatives, including a medical debt relief initiative to erase medical debts of Cook County residents, community safety and violence prevention efforts and a $500 a month guaranteed income pilot program.
Funding from the ARPA must be allocated by the end of the year and used by the end of 2026. Cook County government leaders are seeking public feedback on which programs residents would like to see continual support for after the funding comes to an end.
During the meeting, residents voiced support for mental health services as well as support for homeownership programs and individual building owners.
Pamela Mack, founder of Knotty Luxe Arts Foundation, a nonprofit based in the south suburb of Markham, Illinois, who trains kids in the performing arts, said she would like to see programs for violence prevention that center young children and teens.
“When people think violence prevention, they’re thinking ultimately it is ‘stop the guns,’ but it’s engaging them, showing them something other than their three-mile radius, small block,” Mack said. “I’d love to take some kids on a college tour, bounce them around to some PWIs [predominately white institutions] and some HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] to let them see the opportunity is endless.”
Mack also said she would like to see more focus on the South Suburbs as Chicago already has many support programs. “The organizations out in the Southland are scrambling,” Mack said.
Richard Lawrence, community outreach and engagement specialist for the North Lawndale Employment Network, said he would like to see more programs for formerly incarcerated people.
“We got a bunch of clients who need housing so we started funneling those clients to Cook County. Then all of a sudden they made it seem like it was a lottery that the clients had to go through,” Lawrence said.
Cook County launched the Cook County Reconnect initiative in 2023 which provided support for those recently released from prison to find rental housing and provided rental assistance, among other services. About $23 million from the ARPA funds were used for the initiative that Cook County says will end in 2026.
The nonprofit Project Simeon 2000, which focuses on providing real-world instruction for alums of Simeon Career Academy on the South Side, received over $1 million in ARPA funding, according to the organization’s vice president Ysmin Johnson.
Johnson said she would like to see more operational support for those who are new to receiving such grants in the future, including more guidance and do’s and don’ts for how to sustain funding over time.
“There needs to be more support as far as how to operate because we’ve been in existence for over 20 years, but this is the first time we’ve gotten funding. So it changes things a little bit because there’s a lot of reporting that you have to do,” said Johnson.
Prince Jimmar, the co-founder of the youth-led initiative Rebels for Peace, said he learned of the ARPA meeting through some members of his team and wanted to learn more about the funding as he had not seen the impacts of the money but heard about the county spotlighting mental health.
“What I support is mental health and I support the youth. So I would just want to see more mental health services available for people in underserved communities and also make sure that we prioritize the juveniles,” Jimmar said.
Jimmar also suggested that the Cook County government host more community events and “make them more accessible so that we know that it exists.”
Those who work and live in Cook County are also encouraged to give their feedback on programs in a survey. The results were said to be published early next year.
The last community input meeting will be on Sept. 11 at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois.
