Casten’s Projects Would Bring More Than $16.2 million in Funding to Improve Lives Chicagoland Priorities
Casten's Projects Would Bring More Than $16.2 million in Funding to Improve Lives Chicagoland Priorities
"From addressing the mental health crisis, helping survivors of domestic abuse, and improving access to health care to cleaning up our air and drinking water, these projects will do so much for our community."
Downers Grove, IL (May 23,2022) – Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) today announced his Community Projects for Fiscal Year 2023, which could bring a total of $16,274,400 in federal funding to our Chicagoland community. The 14 projects Casten applied for will provide housing to victims of domestic abuse, address the mental health crisis, provide quality health care to those who might not otherwise be able to access it, deliver cleaner air and water, help underserved children, improve safety, and provide more economic opportunity.
See a full list of the 14 projects Congressman Casten requested funding for here and below. Last year, Casten delivered nearly $8 million in federal funding for 10 community projects in Illinois' 6th Congressional district.
Casten said, "After an extremely competitive community project submission process and some very tough decisions, I'm proud to advocate for funding for projects that will do so much to improve the lives of folks in Chicagoland. From treating students' mental health needs, helping survivors of domestic abuse, and improving access to health care to electrifying our local school buses, cleaning our air, and drinking water, these projects will do so much for our community."
FY23 Submitted Requests
Project Sponsor: WINGS Program, Inc
Requested Amount: $200,000
Project Description: This funding would be used for The funding would be used for Capital Rehabilitation of WINGS Safe Houses. For 37 years, WINGS has been helping women, men and children to escape domestic violence. WINGS provides safe emergency shelter, housing, counseling, mentoring and other supportive services to ensure that the cycle of violence ends for each family.
Project Sponsor: Worry Free Community
Requested Amount: $144,800
Project Description: This funding would be used to make capital improvements to support a larger spectrum of healthcare needs by hosting a community health worker call center and runing programs to support data collection and community needs assessment for underserved, uninsured and new immigrant communities in IL District-06 and surrounding areas.
Project Sponsor: B.R. Ryall YMCA of Northwestern DuPage County
Requested Amount: $2 million
Project Description: This funding would be used to repurpose, modernize, and expand program spaces. Specifically, the funds will be used to increase affordable infant/toddler care; ADA accessibility; and teen-focused areas for STEAM learning, health, and social programs
Project Sponsor: City of West Chicago
Requested Amount: $2 million
Project Description: This funding will be used for remediation of the Kerr-McGee Superfund. The Kerr-McGee site is one of four Superfund National Priorities List sites in the West Chicago area that had been contaminated with radioactive thorium wastes. The radioactive waste came from a nearby facility known as the Rare Earths Facility (REF). The REF produced non-radioactive elements known as rare earths and radioactive elements such as thorium, radium and uranium along with gas lantern mantles for private entities and federal atomic energy programs. With the last freight rail car containing contaminated waste being removed in 2019, and the final component of decontamination set to begin this year with groundwater remediation (uranium), the overall cleanup of the site has now plagued West Chicago for over three decades. As a means to transform the decontaminated area, an RFP was issued to retain a landscape architect to work with community representatives to design a park at the location. The anticipated project schedule for the transformation of the site is for design work to occur in 2022 with construction beginning in 2023. While community members need to be involved in its design, some potential park amenities include a therapeutic playground, walking paths, a monarch butterfly garden, a community gathering space for festivals, and public art. It will also include a path to a culvert under the Canadian National Railroad tracks that would link to Pioneer Park, and allow residents on both sides of the tracks to enjoy the amenities of both Parks.
Project Sponsor: Cooperative Development Fund of CDS / Prairie Food Coop
Requested Amount: $847,000
Project Description: This funding would be used to fill the funding gap for the Prairie Food Co-op. This project will revitalize downtown Lombard IL, support the growth of local microbusinesses, and create $1.5 million in revenues for local agriculture and local food businesses. This capital investment will construct and equip DuPage County's first community owned grocery in the heart of downtown Lombard, which will fulfill the objectives of the committee by: - creating 50-80 living wage jobs with opportunities for advancement and comprehensive - benefits, - creating steady income streams for over 300 local urban, suburban and rural Illinois farmers and producers - generating $13M in economic activity, and - stimulating the creation of 8-12 micro-businesses.
Project Sponsor: Glen Ellyn School District 41
Requested Amount: $250,000
Project Description: This funding would be used to start up on-site after school mental health support access programs for students and families.
Project Sponsor: Pace Suburban Bus
Requested Amount: $1 million
Project Description: This funding would be used to buy five new battery-electric paratransit buses to lower costs and combat climate change
Project Sponsor: DuPage County Health Department
Requested Amount: $1 million
Project Description: This funding will be used for the construction of a Central Receiving Center (CRC). CRCs are locations where individuals within a city or county can receive immediate care for their needs, including mental health and/or substance and opioid use disorders. The purpose of this facility, to be built on the DuPage County Campus at the site of the former county juvenile detention center, is to create an easily accessible location and single point of entry, for law enforcement, emergency personnel or families to bring an individual experiencing a mental health crisis. This facility will also take pressure off our hospital emergency rooms which is where the majority of these individuals are currently transported. Once at a CRC, individuals are assessed to identify the most appropriate level of treatment for their needs within 24 hours. Advantages of the CRC system includes: identifies and links best treatment options early; reduces hospital emergencies and incarceration; provides for a safe and efficient transfer of custody and comfortable holding area; offers collaboration with law enforcement, court system and public defenders; offers individual treatment and evaluation rooms and substance use disorder classrooms; and repurposes an unused county building (saving taxpayer resources).
Project Sponsor: Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
Requested Amount: $2 million
Project Description: This funding will be used for the construction of a wildlife rehabilitation clinic and visitor center. Improvements will transform wildlife care at the center and make it the District's first net-zero building. The centerpiece of the project is a 27,000-square-foot wildlife rehabilitation clinic and visitor center that would replace the current 42-year-old Glen Ellyn building. Plans include new outdoor and indoor animal rehabilitation areas, interactive educational exhibits about the wildlife rehabilitation process, an outdoor classroom, an interpretive trail with wildlife observation areas, and outdoor activity spaces that demonstrate how to attract and live in harmony with native wildlife. The new clinic and visitor center are expected to open to the public in mid-2024 and completed by 2025 with wildlife rehabilitation continuing throughout construction. Net-zero means the energy produced from renewable resources exceeds the energy consumed by a building. We are requesting support for the net-zero enhancements to this project, including ground- and roof-mounted photovoltaic panels and a geothermal heating and cooling system. The new clinic and visitor center will also integrate energy-efficient features throughout such as minimized window to wall ratio; strategically placed windows and vaulted ceilings to increase daylight in the building; water-efficiency strategies; and LED high-efficiency lighting; and LEED commissioning of the building.
Project Sponsor: Village of Hawthorn Woods
Requested Amount: $1.5 million
Project Description: This funding would be used to fund a utilities extension to serve an underserved population currently on well and septic systems.
Project Sponsor: DuPage County
Requested Amount: $1.5 million
Project Description: This request would fund preliminary engineering for a 4-mile section of the East Branch DuPage River Trail. The 4-mile section of the trail will connect trail users (pedestrians, bicyclists, runners, etc.) from various communities and existing Illinois Prairie Path and Great Western Trails to local and reginal attractions including downtowns, DuPage County Forest Preserves, parks, Morton Arboretum and ultimately to destinations in neighboring counties. The COVID pandemic has stimulated an increase in healthy lifestyle choices, resulting in a surge in trail users by walkers, cyclists, joggers, and a demand for more alternatives to driving. This new north-south trail segment has already garnered widespread community and citizen support both within and outside DuPage County.
Project Sponsor: Wayne Police Department
Requested Amount: $54,000
Project Description: This funding will be used to purchase new patrol radios and updated computers for department squad cars. This will help the department equip new patrol officers and aid in communication and delivery of police services.
Project Sponsor: City of Wheaton
Requested Amount: $1,123,200
Project Description: This funding would be used for the rehabilitation of the City of Wheaton's public library. The funding would rehabilitate the entrance of the library and expand it; allowing a greater number of outdoor events that provide additional opportunities for residents engage with and use services provided by the Wheaton Library. When not in use for outdoor events, this space would function as an extension of the library's existing cafe and serve as an outdoor reading and social area for visitors.
Project Sponsor: Wheaton Sanitary District
Requested Amount: $2,655,400
Project Description: This funding will be used for Secondary Clarifier Upgrades that will include the installation of new mixed liquor piping (to alleviate hydraulic bottlenecking & flat watering), a new splitter structure, replacement of all clarifier mechanisms and components, and modifications to the sludge conveyance system to allow for increased return flows.
These project requests are submitted to the House Appropriations Committee for funding consideration in the Fiscal Year 2023 spending bill. Each member of Congress may submit up to fifteen Community Project Funding requests to benefit state or local government grantees or eligible nonprofits. From there, the Appropriations Committee will consider Member requests when writing the annual spending bill.
To ensure public transparency and accountability, Members of Congress must certify that they and their immediate family have no financial interests in the projects they request. There is a ban on directing Community Project Funding to for-profit entities.
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