Cook County is offering $20 million for suburbs to help migrants — but finding few takers

Suburbs are not taking advantage of $20 million Cook County is offering to provide services for migrants being dropped off or making their way to their towns.

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As of now, only Oak Park and Ford Heights applied for the fund Cook County created last fall. The lack of effort is frustrating some non-profit leaders who see the need in their communities.

“Whether or not municipalities have the appetite, the agencies on the ground have the appetite,” said Carl Wolf, executive director of Respond Now, a nonprofit in the south suburbs. “This is very important. We want to see this money in the community so that the families that we serve will not end up on the streets.”

More than 38,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since August of 2022, many of them bused from the Texas border. While some migrants have shown up at suburban Metra stations, perhaps given a meal and clothes by volunteers, most suburbs have not housed or sheltered migrants. Instead, they’ve sent them to Chicago.

The Cook County Board created a $100 million disaster response and recovery fund last fall, and of that $20 million was earmarked for suburbs if they wanted to play a bigger role in helping migrants. The money can be used for a variety of services, from shelter and short-term rental assistance to helping migrants enroll their children in school or apply for public benefits, according to the application.

Suburbs can pass the money to other organizations, such as nonprofits or community health centers.

Wolf said Respond Now would use the money to help migrants in the area pay rent. Some are soon going to run out of the few months of rental assistance they got from the state.

Nonprofits want suburbs to pass the money on to them

During a drive around the southern outskirts of Cook County, Julie Solis, program manager for Respond Now’s homeless prevention program, illustrates what’s at stake.

She goes past an apartment complex where nearly 200 migrant families are staying. Solis says the rent is up to about $1,800 a month, too expensive for the migrants when their state rental aide runs out.

Solis described the hard conversations she’s had with the new arrivals who are worried about losing a home they’ve barely lived in.

Kristen Schorsch/WBEZ

“You have those that come in and say, ‘What am I going to do?’ They’re frantic and they’re frustrated,” Solis said. “Then you get those, they’re starting to talk, and they just start crying.”

She sometimes negotiates with landlords to give migrants an extra month to pay.

Why suburbs are hesitant to take the money

There are more than 100 suburbs in Cook County. The government has been spreading the word about the grant money available through local councils, said Ted Berger, executive director for the Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security.

But some suburbs say they’re already overwhelmed by their existing needs. In west suburban Forest Park, Mayor Rory Hoskins said his small fire department is stretched thin responding to mental health calls, overdoses and assaults.

“We are at our wits’ end just serving Blue Line riders, whether they’re from Venezuela or the South Side of Chicago or Indiana,” Hoskins said.

Forest Park residents have been encouraged to support neighboring Oak Park’s efforts to house and feed migrants, the mayor said. Oak Park has received about $365,000 from Cook County.

In Evanston, a city known for being progressive, Mayor Daniel Biss wants to apply for county funding to open a migrant shelter inside a vacant office building near Church Street and Oak Avenue close to downtown. But he’s getting pushback.

During a recent meeting, City Council members questioned the long-term plan for what happens when the county funding runs out.

“I represent a community that isn’t sure about this right now, what that means,” said Council member Krissie Harris. “We keep talking about tax dollars, and while it isn’t about money, it is. At the end of the day how will we sustain this?”

Council member Jonathan Nieuwsma wanted to explore other facilities. The proposed shelter location would be next to the future home of the Northlight Theater, which he said was key to revitalizing downtown Evanston.

“I’m afraid that if we put a shelter right next door to it, we would be putting a blanket over … that north star,” Nieuwsma said.

Council member Bobby Burns said there’s already an affordable housing crisis among Evanston residents, but he said he would help explore other options.

City staff are still working on ways to apply for the county grant, which may or may not include a trip back to City Council if they don’t end up pursuing a building.

But time is running out. The county’s deadline to apply for funding is Friday.

Kristen Schorsch covers public health and Cook County for WBEZ.