Evanston’s reparations program has ramped up its operations and met with 76 eligible recipients to go over the benefits of the program and help them navigate the process, bumping the number of disbursements to 59.
For months, the program seemed to be at a stalemate, having only served 16 Ancestors – those who were directly harmed by racist housing practices in the city from 1919 to 1969 – of the hundreds of applicants.
Reparations Committee Chair Robin Rue Simmons asked city staff in June to prioritize meeting with applicants choosing direct cash payment, the newest option available after the committee voted to include it back in March. Direct payments take less time to process than those for people who choose to get their benefit through home improvement benefits, down payments or mortgage assistance. The city is working with Community Partners for Affordable Housing, a nonprofit that is only capable of handling one case a month, slowing the process down considerably. Concerns surrounding applicants eligibility for state and federal assistance programs also slowed the process but Simmons said those not on these programs could be helped.
“This is really exciting news,” Simmons said during the Aug. 3 Reparations Committee meeting. “We were at 16 for like 10 years it seemed like.”
According to updated disbursement records from the city, 22 recipients have chosen the direct cash benefit option representing the most popular selection. 17 chose home improvement benefits, 13 chose mortgage assistance and seven recipients split their benefit between the available options. The remaining 17 requested extra time to consider their options.
Simmons added that the committee requested recipients be paid with checks hand delivered by city staff or by giving them the opportunity to come to the city manager’s office to collect them, giving a bit of a personal touch to recipients.
“I would like to congratulate the recipients and the committee for finally doing cash payments,” resident Tina Paden said. “I’ve been an advocate for the cash payments since the beginning and I’m glad it’s an option now.”
The increase in disbursement has decreased the amount of money in the fund per city records, dropping from $1,063,220 to $877,434. The fund took in nearly $186,000 in July, according to city records. Assistant to the City Manager Tasheik Kerr informed the committee as of Aug. 1 that $2,226,616 has been transferred into the fund from real estate transfer taxes and $45,327 has been donated to the fund. Data regarding the amount of funding received from cannabis tax is still unavailable per state statute that provides confidentiality to the businesses as less than five exist in the city.