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Center for Disease Control
Clark County Health Department
Illinois Department Of Health
Illinois COVID-19 Hotline and Email Address If you have questions about Coronavirus- Call the Illinois Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Hotline 1(800) 889-3931 or, Send an email to: DPH.SICK@ILLINOIS.GOV Anytime, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Clark County Health Department
Illinois Department Of Health
Illinois COVID-19 Hotline and Email Address If you have questions about Coronavirus- Call the Illinois Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Hotline 1(800) 889-3931 or, Send an email to: DPH.SICK@ILLINOIS.GOV Anytime, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Business Resources
US Chamber of Commerce
U.S. Chamber Resources:
EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) is launching a $150 million program with $5,000 grants to provide emergency rental assistance to Illinois tenants who are unable to pay their rent. The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA) is expected to reach approximately 30,000 renters who are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The program will launch in August 2020 and run through the end of the year. Governor Pritzker will extend the ongoing residential eviction ban through July 31 to provide a smooth transition into the assistance program.
To address housing instability due to COVID-19, renters who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic will be prioritized in the grants process. Eligible tenants must already carry an unpaid rent balance from March through present day and certify that the reason they were unable to pay rent was due to a COVID-19 related loss of income on or after March 1, 2020. The assistance will be paid directly to a property owner or landlord on behalf of the tenant and as a condition of accepting the assistance, landlords must agree not to evict the tenant for the duration of the ERA. Assistance will be available on a first-come, first-approved basis until the funds are exhausted.
EMERGENCY MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
IHDA is also launching a separate $150 million program for eligible Illinois homeowners with grants of up to $15,000 to provide support with mortgage payments. The Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (EMA) is expected to assist approximately 10,000 eligible homeowners who are unable to pay their mortgage. The program is also expected to launch in August 2020 and provide assistance through the end of the year.
Building upon efforts to mitigate housing instability, homeowners who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic will also be prioritized in the grants process. Homeowners' income prior to the pandemic cannot exceed 120% of the area median income (AMI). Therefore, only homeowners with mortgage arrearages, or in forbearance, on or after March 2020 through present day may be eligible to apply. Eligible homeowners must be able to certify that the reason they could not pay their mortgage in full was due to a COVID-19-related loss of income on or after March 1, 2020. The assistance will be paid directly to the mortgagor's loan servicer on behalf of the homeowner. Assistance will be available on a first-come, first-approved basis until the funds are exhausted.
Restore Illinois
With the new 11 region format, the Central Economic Development region is now within two Restore Illinois regions. However, all regions are currently in Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan. Please remain vigilant to keep us at this phase as we have seen the numbers start to rise across the state. Guidance documents and tool kits for Phase 4 can be found on our website here. The Illinois Department of Public Health also has numerous guidance documents and other information on their website at http://dph.illinois.gov/covid19 including guidance for places of worship, funeral homes, and swimming facility guidelines. Additionally, the Illinois Department of Finance and Professional Regulation has information and guidance for industries regulated by that office. You can access their website here. If you or anyone in your community has questions on these guidance documents or wants clarification on the guidelines, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Department.
Program Updates:
If you want to receive updates from the Department as we send out information, you can fill out this form and you’ll be added to our Department contact list. This will include additional information on the new COVID-19 relief programs as well as other important information. I also encourage you to follow us on our social media channels for real time updates.
Coronavirus Response:
Downstate Small Business Stabilization Program
We continue to accept applications under this program. This program will offer small businesses with at least one employee (not including the owner) and up to 50 employees the opportunity to partner with their local governments to obtain grants of up to $25,000 for 60 days of working capital. Grant applicants should use the most current Guidebook for this program (4/14/20 version) as well as streamlined the GATA budget form for this program. Both documents can be found on our website here. A recording of the webinar from April 3, 2020 is available on our website. You can link to the webinar recording here. We also conducted a webinar focused to local governments. The recording of that webinar may also be found on the website. If you have questions about this program, do not hesitate to reach out to me or two the Office of Community Development grant manager for your county. Their contact information may be found here. Applications that have been submitted are under review and we will continue to make announcements.
Local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency (Local CURE) Support Program
Through the Local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency (Local CURE) Support Program, the State will take steps to deploy $250 million to local governments in the coming months. The additional state relief funds will help local governments secure reimbursement on eligible costs associated with the emergency response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In the coming weeks, DCEO will administer funds from the Local CURE program to reimburse units of local governments in counties across the state outside of Cook, Lake, Will, Kane, and DuPage Counties. These counties have received funding directly through the federal CARES Act. In rules filed with the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, DCEO has developed a per capita and needs-based formula for allocating the Local CURE funding.
DCEO has posted updated information on this program on our website including the recording of the July 29, 2020 and August 12, 2020 webinars and presentation slides. Additional information on this program will be sent out in the upcoming couple of weeks.
Costs eligible for reimbursement are defined by the US Treasury and are those incurred due to the public health emergency response to the COVID–19 pandemic. These costs include public safety, public health, PPE materials, and more. Examples of eligible and ineligible costs are outlined on our website. To prepare for this program, you can do the following:
Other DCEO Programs
Get Hired Illinois
DCEO in conjunction with IDES launched the Get Hired Illinois. This is a new portal designed to connect workers with available job and career training opportunities across the state. Governor Pritzker also announced that beginning in June, Illinois residents will have free access to online workforce development courses via a partnership with Coursera. Residents and employers may access Get Hired at www.illinois.gov/gethired . This portal blends IDES and DCEO resources to provide a one-stop-shop for both job seekers and employers – providing information on job opportunities as well as unemployment resources. The portal is designed to be user-friendly for job seekers of all levels and backgrounds and allows employers to upload jobs, virtual career fairs and training opportunities. Please check this out whether you are a job seeker or an employer.
Rebuild Illinois Opportunities
Fast Track Public Infrastructure: Applications submitted under this program are currently under review.
Shovel-Ready Sites: Local governments, economic development organizations, non-profit organizations, and private companies will be eligible to apply for grants of up to $2 million for most projects and $1 million for brownfield rehabilitation on a rolling basis. These funds will support investment in sites with great economic development potential that require additional investment in order to become shovel-ready, which includes costs such as site acquisition, environmental site assessment, architectural planning and engineering design, demolition, utility work, and other construction work related to site preparation and improvement. DCEO will seek strong grounding of proposed projects in the Governor’s Five-Year Economic Plan along with any regional economic plans or site-specific plans available. DCEO will accept applications for shovel ready sites on a rolling basis. For additional information on these funds, prospective applicants can visit DCEO’s website here. This link will take you to DCEO’s website where you will find the guidebook and Q&A documents for this program. Interested parties can send questions to ceo.ocd@illinois.gov.
Community Development Block Grant Program
Information regarding the 2020 Community Development Block Grant program is now available on the DCEO website. The 2020 Guidebook, application information, and workshop presentations can be found here.
UPDATE: The application deadline for the Public Infrastructure and Housing Rehabilitation programs has been extended to Wednesday, September 30, 2020.
Other News and Notes:
Illinois Broadband
The Illinois Office of Broadband has issued the first edition of Illinois Broadband Connections, a bi-weekly newsletter of broadband news and events specific to Illinois. This is a collaboration between the Illinois Office of Broadband and the Evanston-based Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Please follow this link to subscribe – and feel free to help us spread the word.
Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and other donations
If businesses have personal protection equipment (PPE) that they would like to donate, they can send an email to the State of Illinois’ Covid-19 Donation Intake Team (ppe.donations@illinois.gov). Please note that all items should be in the manufacturer's original packaging and unopened, as they cannot accept open products or homemade items. For non-PPE related donations, businesses may reach out to businessdonations@illinois.gov.
If businesses have PPE that they are interested in selling to the state, they can send an email to the State of Illinois’ Covid-19 PPE Procurement Team (covid.procurement@illinois.gov). In the email, they should indicate the following:
PContact Information
General Resources: visit coronavirus.illinois.gov
PPE Equipment:
Business Assistance:
Other Resources:
Restaurants:
https://www.restaurantstrong.org/apply-for-grant/index.html
Social Security for Seniors:
Social Security’s COVID-19 web page at www.socialsecurity.gov/coronavirus/
Restaurant Information
https://dceocovid19resources.com/assets/Restore-Illinois/businessguidelines3/restaurantbars.pdf (from DCEO)
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/restaurants-and-bars-decision-tool.html (from CDC)
https://foodcodepro.com/knowledge-base/step-2-develop-procedures/procedures-on-social-distancing/ (from foodcodepro)
the tabs on the right hand side have A LOT of information. Step 3 and Step 5, I recommend.
https://www.annuity.org/financial-literacy/investing-business/
https://www.annuity.org/financial-literacy/covid-19-financial-guide/
U.S. Chamber Resources:
- U.S. Chamber Coronavirus Resource Website
- U.S. Chamber Disaster Help Desk
- Resources to Help Your Small Business Survive
- U.S. Chamber’s Coronavirus Emergency Loans Small Business Guide and Checklist the guide
EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) is launching a $150 million program with $5,000 grants to provide emergency rental assistance to Illinois tenants who are unable to pay their rent. The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA) is expected to reach approximately 30,000 renters who are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The program will launch in August 2020 and run through the end of the year. Governor Pritzker will extend the ongoing residential eviction ban through July 31 to provide a smooth transition into the assistance program.
To address housing instability due to COVID-19, renters who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic will be prioritized in the grants process. Eligible tenants must already carry an unpaid rent balance from March through present day and certify that the reason they were unable to pay rent was due to a COVID-19 related loss of income on or after March 1, 2020. The assistance will be paid directly to a property owner or landlord on behalf of the tenant and as a condition of accepting the assistance, landlords must agree not to evict the tenant for the duration of the ERA. Assistance will be available on a first-come, first-approved basis until the funds are exhausted.
EMERGENCY MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
IHDA is also launching a separate $150 million program for eligible Illinois homeowners with grants of up to $15,000 to provide support with mortgage payments. The Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (EMA) is expected to assist approximately 10,000 eligible homeowners who are unable to pay their mortgage. The program is also expected to launch in August 2020 and provide assistance through the end of the year.
Building upon efforts to mitigate housing instability, homeowners who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic will also be prioritized in the grants process. Homeowners' income prior to the pandemic cannot exceed 120% of the area median income (AMI). Therefore, only homeowners with mortgage arrearages, or in forbearance, on or after March 2020 through present day may be eligible to apply. Eligible homeowners must be able to certify that the reason they could not pay their mortgage in full was due to a COVID-19-related loss of income on or after March 1, 2020. The assistance will be paid directly to the mortgagor's loan servicer on behalf of the homeowner. Assistance will be available on a first-come, first-approved basis until the funds are exhausted.
Restore Illinois
With the new 11 region format, the Central Economic Development region is now within two Restore Illinois regions. However, all regions are currently in Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan. Please remain vigilant to keep us at this phase as we have seen the numbers start to rise across the state. Guidance documents and tool kits for Phase 4 can be found on our website here. The Illinois Department of Public Health also has numerous guidance documents and other information on their website at http://dph.illinois.gov/covid19 including guidance for places of worship, funeral homes, and swimming facility guidelines. Additionally, the Illinois Department of Finance and Professional Regulation has information and guidance for industries regulated by that office. You can access their website here. If you or anyone in your community has questions on these guidance documents or wants clarification on the guidelines, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Department.
Program Updates:
- The Downstate Small Business Stabilization Grant Program is still accepting applications and funding is still available. DCEO has released the second round of grant awards for this program totaling $1.94 million that will help an additional 93 businesses across the state. We are continuing to review applications that have been submitted and will be making additional announcements soon.
- Local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency (Local CURE) Support Program: Through this program, the State will take steps to deploy $250 million to local governments in the coming months to help local governments secure reimbursement on eligible costs associated with the emergency response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. DCEO has posted updated information on our website here. The recording and presentation slides from the webinar that was held on July 29, 2020 and August 12, 2020 are now on the website as well.
- The first round of the Business Interruption Grant program recipients was announced this week. This round released $46 million in small business grants to 2,655 small businesses located in over 400 individual cities and spread across 78 counties. The grants are being awarded to a diversity of businesses, as well as business communities hit hardest by COVID-19 related closures. View the list of grant recipients online here. To ensure ongoing support for Illinois small businesses, the State of Illinois has planned future rounds of funding. Details on the future rounds will be released when they become available.
If you want to receive updates from the Department as we send out information, you can fill out this form and you’ll be added to our Department contact list. This will include additional information on the new COVID-19 relief programs as well as other important information. I also encourage you to follow us on our social media channels for real time updates.
Coronavirus Response:
Downstate Small Business Stabilization Program
We continue to accept applications under this program. This program will offer small businesses with at least one employee (not including the owner) and up to 50 employees the opportunity to partner with their local governments to obtain grants of up to $25,000 for 60 days of working capital. Grant applicants should use the most current Guidebook for this program (4/14/20 version) as well as streamlined the GATA budget form for this program. Both documents can be found on our website here. A recording of the webinar from April 3, 2020 is available on our website. You can link to the webinar recording here. We also conducted a webinar focused to local governments. The recording of that webinar may also be found on the website. If you have questions about this program, do not hesitate to reach out to me or two the Office of Community Development grant manager for your county. Their contact information may be found here. Applications that have been submitted are under review and we will continue to make announcements.
Local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency (Local CURE) Support Program
Through the Local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency (Local CURE) Support Program, the State will take steps to deploy $250 million to local governments in the coming months. The additional state relief funds will help local governments secure reimbursement on eligible costs associated with the emergency response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In the coming weeks, DCEO will administer funds from the Local CURE program to reimburse units of local governments in counties across the state outside of Cook, Lake, Will, Kane, and DuPage Counties. These counties have received funding directly through the federal CARES Act. In rules filed with the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, DCEO has developed a per capita and needs-based formula for allocating the Local CURE funding.
DCEO has posted updated information on this program on our website including the recording of the July 29, 2020 and August 12, 2020 webinars and presentation slides. Additional information on this program will be sent out in the upcoming couple of weeks.
Costs eligible for reimbursement are defined by the US Treasury and are those incurred due to the public health emergency response to the COVID–19 pandemic. These costs include public safety, public health, PPE materials, and more. Examples of eligible and ineligible costs are outlined on our website. To prepare for this program, you can do the following:
- Make sure your unit of local government is registered with SAM.gov.
- Review the program's administrative rules
- Start collecting receipts for COVID-19 related expenses & digitize them; the department will seek PDFs and other electronic forms of back-up for reimbursements.
- In addition, carefully consider descriptions and rationale on how expenditures were necessary in the local government’s response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
- Begin organizing year to date expenditures into the categories listed in the “eligible for reimbursement” section.
Other DCEO Programs
Get Hired Illinois
DCEO in conjunction with IDES launched the Get Hired Illinois. This is a new portal designed to connect workers with available job and career training opportunities across the state. Governor Pritzker also announced that beginning in June, Illinois residents will have free access to online workforce development courses via a partnership with Coursera. Residents and employers may access Get Hired at www.illinois.gov/gethired . This portal blends IDES and DCEO resources to provide a one-stop-shop for both job seekers and employers – providing information on job opportunities as well as unemployment resources. The portal is designed to be user-friendly for job seekers of all levels and backgrounds and allows employers to upload jobs, virtual career fairs and training opportunities. Please check this out whether you are a job seeker or an employer.
Rebuild Illinois Opportunities
Fast Track Public Infrastructure: Applications submitted under this program are currently under review.
Shovel-Ready Sites: Local governments, economic development organizations, non-profit organizations, and private companies will be eligible to apply for grants of up to $2 million for most projects and $1 million for brownfield rehabilitation on a rolling basis. These funds will support investment in sites with great economic development potential that require additional investment in order to become shovel-ready, which includes costs such as site acquisition, environmental site assessment, architectural planning and engineering design, demolition, utility work, and other construction work related to site preparation and improvement. DCEO will seek strong grounding of proposed projects in the Governor’s Five-Year Economic Plan along with any regional economic plans or site-specific plans available. DCEO will accept applications for shovel ready sites on a rolling basis. For additional information on these funds, prospective applicants can visit DCEO’s website here. This link will take you to DCEO’s website where you will find the guidebook and Q&A documents for this program. Interested parties can send questions to ceo.ocd@illinois.gov.
Community Development Block Grant Program
Information regarding the 2020 Community Development Block Grant program is now available on the DCEO website. The 2020 Guidebook, application information, and workshop presentations can be found here.
UPDATE: The application deadline for the Public Infrastructure and Housing Rehabilitation programs has been extended to Wednesday, September 30, 2020.
Other News and Notes:
Illinois Broadband
The Illinois Office of Broadband has issued the first edition of Illinois Broadband Connections, a bi-weekly newsletter of broadband news and events specific to Illinois. This is a collaboration between the Illinois Office of Broadband and the Evanston-based Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Please follow this link to subscribe – and feel free to help us spread the word.
Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and other donations
If businesses have personal protection equipment (PPE) that they would like to donate, they can send an email to the State of Illinois’ Covid-19 Donation Intake Team (ppe.donations@illinois.gov). Please note that all items should be in the manufacturer's original packaging and unopened, as they cannot accept open products or homemade items. For non-PPE related donations, businesses may reach out to businessdonations@illinois.gov.
If businesses have PPE that they are interested in selling to the state, they can send an email to the State of Illinois’ Covid-19 PPE Procurement Team (covid.procurement@illinois.gov). In the email, they should indicate the following:
- What PPE is for sale
- The quantity of these items
- The price of these items
- The location of these items
PContact Information
General Resources: visit coronavirus.illinois.gov
PPE Equipment:
- Donations: PPE.donations@Illinois.gov
- To Manufacture PPE in Illinois: ima@ima-net.org
- To Sell PPE: Covid.procurement@illinois.gov
- To Volunteer: visit serve.illinois.gov or email dph.serveillinois@illinois.gov
Business Assistance:
- Essential Business inquiries: contact 1-800-252-2923 or CEO.support@illinois.gov
- IL Small Business Assistance: email CEO.support@illinois.gov (DCEO) or click here.
- Federal Small Business loans visit: https://disasterloan.sba.gov.
- Business insurance coverage: contact the Department of Insurance (DOI) to file an online complaint: https://mc.insurance.illinois.gov/messagecenter.nsf.
Other Resources:
- IDFPR list of licensees and consumers impacted by COVID-19 visit:https://www.idfpr.com/COVID-19.asp
- Unemployment insurance eligibility and the application process call Claimant Services at (800) 244-5631.
- Tax Relief related to COVID-19 visit https://bit.ly/346uzuo
- If you feel sick or are concerned about infection visit DPH website, click here.
- Resources for people with disabilities, please visit www.DDD.Illinois.gov.
- School related inquires visit https://www.isbe.net/covid1
Restaurants:
https://www.restaurantstrong.org/apply-for-grant/index.html
Social Security for Seniors:
Social Security’s COVID-19 web page at www.socialsecurity.gov/coronavirus/
Restaurant Information
https://dceocovid19resources.com/assets/Restore-Illinois/businessguidelines3/restaurantbars.pdf (from DCEO)
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/restaurants-and-bars-decision-tool.html (from CDC)
https://foodcodepro.com/knowledge-base/step-2-develop-procedures/procedures-on-social-distancing/ (from foodcodepro)
the tabs on the right hand side have A LOT of information. Step 3 and Step 5, I recommend.
https://www.annuity.org/financial-literacy/investing-business/
https://www.annuity.org/financial-literacy/covid-19-financial-guide/
Local Resources
Senior Diners: delivering food, and in need of volunteer drivers to deliver lunch from Harlan Hall to the seniors homes. If you are interested in delivering lunch please contact Harlan Hall at 217-826-2498
Marshall Food and Clothing
ERBA: The Embarras River Basin Agency is the community action agency for the region. The non-profit administers several short term, emergency assistance programs. Other support from the agency can include referrals to government resources, education, and much more. They help thousands of unemployed and Illinois families facing a crisis every year. The agency operates across Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Jasper, Lawrence, and Richland County.
United Way of the Wabash Valley
Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation
Marshall Food and Clothing
ERBA: The Embarras River Basin Agency is the community action agency for the region. The non-profit administers several short term, emergency assistance programs. Other support from the agency can include referrals to government resources, education, and much more. They help thousands of unemployed and Illinois families facing a crisis every year. The agency operates across Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Jasper, Lawrence, and Richland County.
United Way of the Wabash Valley
Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation