By Mavis Bates, Kane County Board member, District 4
Good news is coming for Kane County renters.
Kane County will soon receive a grant of $15 Million to help renters who are behind in paying their rent. The money will come from the most recent federal COVID-19 relief package that was approved by Congress in late December 2020. The grants will go first to low income families and be a maximum of $5,000 per household. The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) will administer the grants, and Kane County will notify residents when applications for the grants become available.
According to Jarett Sanchez, the chair of the Kane County CARES Act Allocation Committee (CAAC), “The Illinois Housing Development Authority has offered to run the program for the counties. They will need some time to prepare and set up their systems to handle the applications and distribute the funds. Applications should be available in late February. We are very grateful to IHDA for their help and we will be updating our residents as soon as we have more information from IHDA.”
It is a wonderful program that will help keep a lot of residents in their homes, and keep many families safe. It will help landlords, who are feeling the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis in loss of rental payments and their own difficulty in paying the mortgages on their properties.
Although $15 Million is a lot of money, it is not enough for everybody. It helps to understand the magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis if we do the math. Kane County has about 180,000 households, and one-quarter, or about 45,000, are renters. The County estimates that one-third to one-half of those renters are behind on their payments. That means that 15,000 to 20,000 families, or more, are in need of help, but there only will be enough money for about 2,800 renters from this COVID relief package. Looking at the big picture, Kane County may need five times this amount, nearly $75 Million, to make our families secure in their homes. Fortunately, another federal stimulus package should be on the way soon.
If you need help paying your rent, please be looking for the applications when they become available, and tell your friends and neighbors who need rental assistance. To stay informed about Kane County, please go to www.kanecountyconnects.com to sign up for our daily newsletter, KaneCountyConnects. Or, please call me, Mavis Bates, Kane County Board member, District 4, at 630-605-9244.