Family







In This Issue
Directions
Staff News
Housing News
WIRC-CAA Offering Scholarships
TCR&WMC Paint Update
No Reuse-a-Shoe in 2010
Flood Relief Applications
New Stalking Laws
Staff News
 There were a few milestones that 
 took place this year, so it is with 
 congratulations to the following 
 staff that celebrated special 
 employment anniversaries in the 
 2009 year:

 One Year
 Tracy Camden
 (October)
 Fiscal Director

 Ten Years
 Lana Bryan
 (October)
 DAPP/LIFT Facilitator

 Terry Amenell
 (November)
 Data Client Intake Specialist

 Fifteen Years
 Karen Culver
 (August)
 Fiscal Clerk

 Twenty-Five Years
 Teresa Cadle
 (November)
 Clothing Center Manager/
 Clerical Support

 Thirty Years
 Suzan Nash
 (December)
 Executive Director

FLOOD RELIEF
APPLICATIONS
Flood Illinois has been allocated  $17,341,000 in supplemental  Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for disaster recovery.  The federal disaster declaration that is relevant to this supplemental appropriation is number 1771.  The Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008, approved June 30, 2008, appropriates CDBG funds for necessary expenses related to  disaster relief, long term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure in areas covered by a declaration of major disaster under title lV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act as a result of recent natural disasters.

Interested communities in Hancock and Henderson counties are encouraged to contact WIRC's Community Development staff at (309) 837-3941 as soon as possible to begin planning for the development of a flood relief applications.


WIRC-CAA OFFERING
SCHOLARSHIPS
Student

The WIRC-CAA will offer five $1,500 scholarships to individuals desiring to further their educational training through an Illinois community college, vocational school, college or university.  Applicants should be pursuing employment in a high need field and must be a resident of Hancock, Henderson, McDonough, or Warren counties.  Scholarship recipients may apply the $1,500 towards tuition and fees, textbooks and supplies, or campus room and board.   Read more...

TCR&WMC
Tri-County County Resource & Waste Management Council

Paint Update
paint cans 2
The collection of unused residential paint is still on hold. The fund sweep of June 2009 depleted all excess dollars in the state's Solid Waste Management Fund.  The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is not sponsoring any 2010 solid waste programs previously funded from the Solid Waste Management Fund including: Partners for Waste Paint Solutions; one day Household Hazardous Waste collections; I-RID (Illinois Removes Illegal Dumping); and the Delegated County Agreements (where a county does the work of local inspections for the IEPA).


TCR&WMC
Tri-County County Resource & Waste Management Council

No Shoe Collection
in 2010

Many times you don't know what you have until it is gone.  Due to the lack of funds, the annual and successful Reuse-a-Shoe Collection will not be conducted this year.

Dear NetWIRC readers,

netwirc web logo Please distribute this newsletter to your City Council, Village Board and/or County Board.

Your help is very much appreciated. 
Sincerely,
 
Patti Sullivan-Howd
Western Illinois Regional Council
Public Relations Manager/Newsletter Editor

TopNetWIRC Newsletter - Volume 21/Issue 1
DIRECTIONS - Suzan Nash, Executive Director
The Western Illinois Regional Council-Community Action Agency (WIRC-CAA), which serves the four counties of Hancock, Henderson, McDonough and Warren, has operated a food pantry since 1985.  It first began operations as a distributor of food products through the Federal Surplus Food Commodities Program.  In those early years, the Agency had several sites around the region that staff hand distributed commodities to eligible households.  In later years, the Agency was designated as an Emergency Food Organization, meaning that it was one of a few regional centers in the state that received and distributed food to other food pantries around the region.  Read more...
Housing News
hammer 2
CDAP Applications Submitted

On January 15, 2010, the Western Illinois Regional Council (WIRC) submitted four Community Development Assistance Program grant applications to the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity.  The grant applications are for the rehabilitation of single-family owner-occupied homes in a targeted area of each community.  The WIRC submitted the applications on behalf of the following communities:

  •  City of Canton
  •  City of Monmouth
  •  Village of Smithfield
  •  Village of Tennessee

For Canton, Smithfield, and Tennessee, these were the first grants of their kind submitted by the WIRC. The WIRC is requesting approximately $1,240,000 on behalf of the four communities.  Notification of funding is expected in May.

Illinois Housing Development Authority Funding
The Illinois Housing Development Authority recently announced that the City of Canton and Fulton County will receive funding through the HOME Program.  The City of Canton was awarded $501,000 and Fulton County received $821,000.  The funding is from the HOME Single-Family Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation Program.   These are two-year programs and will rehabilitate approximately 33 homes.



New Stalking Laws Expand Victim Protection
Stalking 2
Victims of stalking and their advocates have long been concerned that the laws were not keeping up with the crime of stalking, how it is often committed, who are victims, and that specific threats are not always indicated.  Following round table discussions in early 2009 led by Attorney General Lisa Madigan and her staff, new laws to expand and update Illinois' stalking laws took effect
January 1, 2010. 

Under the new law, a person commits stalking when he or she engages in any course of conduct that causes a reasonable person to fear his or her safety of another person, or to suffer emotional distress.  The reasonable person is defined "as a person in the victim's situation," which requires the courts to consider the victim's knowledge of the offender and the context of the stalker's behaviors.

The new law criminalizes a broader definition and covers many stalking tactics commonly experienced by victims.  They include: stalking directly, indirectly or through third parties; following, monitoring, observing, surveilling, threatening; moving with or staying in proximity to the victim; interfering with or damaging a person's property or pet; or using technology to stalk.  Examples of the latter include e-mail, text messages, social networking and GPS systems.  

The new law also simplifies identifying and proving stalking and cyberstalking.  Previously, Illinois law required two or more incidents of following or surveillance plus an explicit or implicit threat of serious injury to the victim or someone in his or her family.  The new law covers any of the stalker's non-consensual conduct such as conduct initiated or continued without the victim's consent; staying in the physical presence or sight of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in public places or private property; appearing at the victim's workplace, residence or property; or delivering objects to the victim or victim's property.   Read more...

Western Illinois Regional Council
223 South Randolph St.
Macomb, IL 61455
(309) 837-3941
[email protected]
http://www.wirpc.org