Cook County announces $12 million grant program for groups working on health, food insecurity

A new grant program will award $12 million to grassroots companies that aim on issues these types of as foodstuff insecurity, psychological wellbeing and COVID-19 avoidance, Prepare dinner County Board President Toni Preckwinkle introduced Tuesday.

The Building Nutritious Communities Grant Software is open up for business enterprise and apps can be stuffed out at the Cook dinner County Wellness website.

Grants of amongst $50,000 and $300,000 will be awarded this tumble.

The revenue will go to assist COVID-19 education and learning, prevention and therapy, mental wellness, food items insecurity, youth development and chronic ailment self-administration for older grown ups.

“I stimulate local community-primarily based corporations to applyfor funding so we can collectively advancesolutionstoward racial and wellness fairness in the county we all phone home,” Preckwinkle reported Tuesday during a digital information meeting.

“We’re accomplishing this since fairness is at the main of anything that we do,” she said, noting the money will assistance the county’s most susceptible inhabitants.

Teams serving suburban citizens will acquire a whole of $11 million, whilst corporations serving Chicago share $1 million.

Everyone fascinated in making use of for a grant is encouraged to sign up and participate in virtual informational periods becoming held April 19, 20 and 21.

Funding for the grant application arrives from the American Rescue Plan Act, the Facilities for Condition Regulate and Avoidance and the Illinois Department of General public Health.

“We know that group-based companies have a special standpoint in serving our communities. They have designed trust in the neighborhoods that they serve and are best positioned to make modify happen in the communities where by our clients reside,” explained Israel Rocha Jr., CEO of Prepare dinner County Wellness.