The Village of Oak Park was awarded $299,000 through the third round of the Supporting Municipalities for Asylum Seeker Services grant funding to aid both asylum-seekers and individuals experiencing homelessness.
The village was previously granted $400,000 through the first round of SMASS funding and more than $2 million through the second round. But those dollars were restricted to aiding asylum-seekers. This time around, the restrictions associated with the funding have been slightly expanded.
In late October 2023, the village began supporting many asylum seekers that arrived during a snowstorm. For months, these individuals and families were staying in village-sponsored shelters. By early April, Community of Congregations, in partnership with the village, was able to resettle all migrants under Oak Park’s care into stable living situations.
The Oak Park Resettlement Task Force, sponsored by the Community of Congregations, helped find available housing for the migrants and offered landlords a fully paid, 12-month lease. But those leases cost money.
Vanessa Matheny, the village’s community services administrator, said the village expects to use about $244,000 of the grant dollars to help fund the remainder of the one-year leases for these migrant households.
After those leases are up, the hope has been that the migrant households will have had time to get work permits, find jobs and save up money to support themselves. The village’s priority has been to make sure the migrants have access to housing through the end of those leases, Matheny said.
This round of SMASS funding does require that a certain percentage of the funds are used for migrant services, Matheny said. But it’s now possible to include the unhoused community.
“We also appreciate this new opportunity to help utilize some funds to support the unhoused residents that are in that are in the community, too, as they’re both really important populations that are in need of services,” Matheny said.
The rest of the grant money, about $55,000, will be used for rental costs associated with the St. Catherine – St. Lucy rectory, the site of Housing Forward’s emergency overnight shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness. The village and Housing Forward are also working to expand the shelter capacity from 20 to 40 beds.
The application for this third round of SMASS grant funding opened in July, Matheny said, and the village had a few weeks to apply. Oak Park officials asked and were awarded the exact amount they asked for, $299,000, based on actual projected costs for the lease payments and for the emergency shelter.
These state funds will be applicable through June 30, 2025, Matheny said, the end of Illinois’ state fiscal year. She said she does not anticipate another round of SMASS funds to become available before then.
“We recognize that … as much as the village is prioritizing helping to support the migrants and the unhoused, it also takes additional resources when we are helping to support a lot of initiatives in this community,” Matheny said. “Being able to have access to these additional funds … helps bridge the gap.”