A couple of weeks ago, Community Foundation of East Central Illinois and United Way of Champaign County announced the formation of a Champaign County COVID-19 Relief Fund to support community-based organizations providing direct relief for local individuals and families.
They’ve already stepped up in two different ways: housing support and school supply funding.
The housing assistance grant is a $20,000 grant to “provide housing assistance to those most impacted by lay-offs and reduced work hours due to the Coronavirus pandemic.”
Eligibility:
- Lives in Champaign County
- Renters without housing subsidies (i.e. renters receiving subsidized housing are not eligible)
- Renters with earned income prior to Stay at Home order
- Renters who have applied for unemployment insurance as a result of COVID-19 wage losses and do not qualify for unemployment insurance
- Income up to 250% federal poverty level
Inquiries can be made to the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission by calling 877-548-4205, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The RPC will screen and connect individuals with Cunnigham or Champaign Township for a one-time assistance payment.
The fund, with the help of a $1000 contribution from C-U School Foundation will also be providing $5000 in school supplies for close to students in Champaign and Urbana Schools who don’t have access to home learning supplies. They will receive loose-leaf paper, composition notebooks, pencils, manual pencil sharpeners, pens, folders, colored pencils, crayons, rulers, glue sticks and note cards.
They will also be giving $2000 to Rantoul schools.
If you’d like to donate to the relief fund, you can do so here.
Image from Community Foundation of East Central Illinois Facebook page.