Selected families have received their first payments from the Evanston Equitable Recovery Fund, according to a Wednesday news release.
The first of ten $300 monthly payments has been distributed to the families, who were selected to receive $3,000 each through the fund.
The Evanston Equitable Recovery Fund was funded by the national nonprofit Family Independence Initiative, and provides families the money with no strings attached on how to spend the funds. This is a direct contrast to the city’s Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program, which stipulates that the money can only be used for home purchase, improvement or mortgage assistance.
“I’m just grateful that this came about. It put me in a position where I can meet my responsibilities and still hold on to my dignity and I think that’s important,” a fund recipient said in the news release.