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Economy

Help for Illinois Homeowners Hurt By COVID

Illinois Housing Development Authority

The state of Illinois wants to help homeowners who've been hurt financially by the pandemic. Monday it's launching the Illinois Homeowner Assistance Fund.

The Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation is one of the local organizations that can help people apply, according to Vice President Beth Payne.

"They could have temporarily lost their job or had to take care of a loved one and weren't able to work at that time. A lot of it could be medical-related and they can't afford their mortgage payment as it is right now."

Grants of up to 30,000 dollars are possible - for people who owe house payments, property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and rent for mobile homes.

"The Treasury and state have made it clear that this is not a bandaid program they really want to make sure this is going to make a long-term solution to help people, whether that is helping them with budgeting or really working with their new financial circumstance."

People can apply directly online, to the Illinois Housing Development Authority, or get help from local agencies.

To be eligible, a family of four can earn up to 84,000 dollars a year.

Economy
A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois. While a graduate student in the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield (then known as Sangamon State University), he got his first taste of public radio, covering Illinois state government for WUIS. Here in the Quad Cities, Herb worked for WHBF Radio before coming to WVIK in 1987. Herb also produces the weekly public affairs feature Midwest Week – covering the news behind the news by interviewing reporters about the stories they cover.