Illinois will distribute $31.5 million in grants over the next year to local nonprofits, faith- or community-based organizations and governmental bodies to address issues in historically underserved parts of the state.
The money for these grants comes from 25% of the tax revenue the state collects from recreational marijuana sales.
It鈥檚 part of Illinois鈥� Restore, Reinvest and Renew program, known as R3, which aims to fund local projects around civil legal aid, economic development, re-entry from prison, violence prevention and youth development.
This initial funding is one of the first indications of how Illinois plans to help address longstanding issues in underserved communities, which was key to the success of passing cannabis legalization.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the spirit of this program, to shift resources and power back into communities that have suffered historically from the war on drugs,鈥� said Quinn Rallins, state director of justice, equity and opportunity initiatives at a last week.
To , Illinois used data from rates of gun injury, unemployment, child poverty and incarceration and areas of the state already identified as being disproportionately affected by historic economic disinvestment. In the Metro East, that means areas in and around East St. Louis, Alton, Granite City and parts of Collinsville.
The funding is flexible and centers on addressing the individual needs of communities in the state, Rallins said. He added that Illinois tried to remove restrictions on how groups can use funding, as long as they鈥檙e addressing at least one of the five areas the R3 program identifies.
鈥淥ur communities have the best understanding of their own need,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e know that organizations have had ideas baked for a long time that they necessarily didn鈥檛 have the resources for or got some funding but haven鈥檛 been able to get to scale.鈥�
Grant applications are reviewed by people who live in the same community as the applicant. While applications are closed, the state is still looking for them.
鈥淭he whole process of allowing a community to choose is the genius of the program,鈥� said state Sen. Chris Belt, D-Cahokia. 鈥淚t allows people in those communities who know where the pitfalls are in their home to decide where the money should go for the programming.鈥�
Emphasizing local involvement from the community sets this grant opportunity apart from other kinds of programs or projects in the past, said Wyvetta Granger, executive director of Community Lifeline in East St. Louis.
鈥淚t looks like this will provide some groundwork to start to reshape some of the disparities that have formed in our community,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o many times in impoverished communities, people have come in and tried to do things to us, instead of doing things with us.鈥�
Granger鈥檚 organization applied for an R3 grant to target legal aid issues, violence prevention and youth development in the area. She explained she wants to help young adults get to a place where they can find fulfilling employment, which is often blocked by minor charges on their record.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that other kids don鈥檛 do them or other populations don鈥檛 have the same issues,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 that ours are recorded more. It starts this pattern where it builds a record up against you.鈥�
Addressing and correcting the issues that stem from systemic disinvestment is challenging and takes time, Granger said.
鈥淚t takes more than a year to three years to change mindsets,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t might take us 10 years before we start to really see the investment that鈥檚 been made.鈥�
In the past, community development programs have seemed to end before she could see if they were working, Granger said. R3 is also different in this regard, because the state will continue to distribute money each year, up to $125 million depending on the growth of the state鈥檚 cannabis market, according to the .
That鈥檚 a good commitment, but capital alone is not enough, Granger said. She said the people of East St. Louis need to feel like they have ownership over their community.
鈥淚n order to stop crime, in order to stop violence in our community, the community has to own it,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey have to say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e part of this.鈥欌��
Eric Schmid covers the Metro East for 漏 2024 外网天堂 as part of the journalism grant program: , an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Follow Eric on Twitter:
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