Five suburbs will share $16 million to ‘improve climate resiliency’

Five suburbs, including three in the south and southwest suburbs, will share nearly $16 million for the purpose of improving their climate resilience.

The Cook County’s Department of Environment and Sustainability is providing the funding to Lynwood, Markham, Justice, Bellwood and Franklin Park.

Between April and May, suburban municipalities were able to submit plans for how they would use funding to increase their ability to respond and protect against possible weather disasters. There were 26 applications and the five were chosen after interviews.

“Recent extreme weather events have again reminded us that the climate is changing quickly and communities must act now to be prepared,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “Resiliency plans help ensure residents and businesses can thrive in the face of these changes.”

The climate resilience funding comes at a time when Chicago and Cook County are dealing with the aftermath of severe rains which resulted in President Joe Biden on Tuesday approving a disaster declaration for the County. Flooding prevention was top of mind for community leaders.

Lynwood Mayor Jada Curry helped secure funding for her town by explaining her town’s need to better pump a pond that often overflows during severe rains.

“Our water levels have been getting dangerously high and it’s causing streets to flood,” Curry explained, going on to describe how they are renting their pumping systems but more is needed. “If we keep going at the current pace and we experience rainfalls as we’ve been experiencing it could lead to catastrophe.”

Communities were only eligible if they did not have an existing Climate Resiliency Plan or if their plan had not been updated in the past six years, according to a news release from the county. The Climate Resilience Plan program aspires to help communities better respond to disasters by “transforming infrastructure, implementing nature-based solutions and ensuring social structures are adaptable.”

It is unclear how the money will be divided, and Curry confirmed she was not given a specific figure.

“We were told that there is a formula that they are using based on need and the project,” Curry said.

But that won’t deter Curry from her excitement with being a part of the resiliency program.

“It will allow us to address some issues that have gone by the wayside,” she said. “My entire group is elated.”

Justice Mayor Kris Wasowicz said he was told his town has been awarded $2,500, a small fraction of the $16 million allotted for the five communities. Although that is less than 0.1% of the money if it were divided equally between the five communities, Wasowicz says he is not “looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

“We can do a lot of good things with that money,” Wasowicz said.

Justice is one of the lowest towns in the area and therefore is often threatened by flooding, he said.

“That is what we are awarded and we are grateful for it.”

The five communities should see their weather disaster responses improved by 2026. Then, the next two years will be taken to implement the plans with the funds provided.

Debra Kutska, lead of the Climate Resiliency Planning for Communities program, said the next step is for the county to hire a partner to work directly with the selected communities to identify goals and prioritize projects.

“We’re thrilled to play a role in providing resources and expertise to support these five communities in building resiliency,” said Deborah Stone, director of the county’s Department of Environment and Sustainability and chief sustainability officer, in a statement.

As climate change continues to threaten communities around Chicago and Illinois, how the $16 million is spent could prove to be life saving.

“The plans will be developed through engagement with residents and community leaders and designed with an equity lens to ensure the most vulnerable populations are not left behind,” Preckwinkle said in a statement.

For those who didn’t apply or did apply and did not receive a share of the funding, Kutska says that “improvements in these communities also have the ability to benefit neighboring areas as well.”