Evanston Announces Community Member Relief Fund Designated For Undocumented Residents

Press release from the City of Evanston:

Undocumented residents who have emergency needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic are encouraged to apply for the City of Evanston's Community Member Relief Fund.

The Evanston City Council approved the creation of the fund on November 9, 2020 to provide relief to undocumented residents who do not qualify for General Assistance or Emergency Assistance programs.

Any undocumented Evanston resident who is struggling with eviction, utility disconnection, food insecurity or other emergency needs and meets the following criteria is encouraged to apply:

• Must be a resident of Evanston who is 18 years or older
• Must have a documented emergency situation
• Cannot be eligible to receive General or Emergency Assistance

The following documents are required for the application:

• ID with current address
• Proof of residency, such as lease agreement, mortgage documents, utility bills or other documents with the applicant’s name that verifies residence.
• Proof of income if applicable such as pay stubs with name and pay dates/periods.
• Current checking/saving account statements if applicable
• All household bills for the past 30 days, such as ComEd, Nicor, Evanston Water and delinquent notices for utilities pending disconnection.
• Current eviction notice or delinquent condo assessment notice from their condo association or management company. Notice must show amount owed, address, and the period the amount covers.
• Current lease or mortgage documents
• Proof of why the emergency occurred, such as loss of income, reduction in hours/wages or unemployment, illness, burial expense, house or car repairs.

Access to funds is limited to one time in a 12-month period and payments will be made directly to the applicants' vendors. Applicants to the program will not be subject to Public Charge.

For more information and to apply to this program, residents should visit cityofevanston.org/cmrf.

Donate to Support the Fund

Residents interested in contributing to the fund, can make a donation at cityofevanston.org/cmrfdonation.

A portion of the Community Member Relief Fund was made available through a $20,000 donation from Dynegy, the City’s community electricity aggregation supplier.

$25,000 in funding comes from the City's Human Services Fund, made possible by the declaration of a local emergency due to COVID-19.

For more information about the Community Member Relief Fund, visit cityofevanston.org/cmrf or call/text 847-448-4311. For convenience, residents may dial 3-1-1 within Evanston.

This press release was produced by the City of Evanston. The views expressed here are the author’s own.