title
PROPOSED CONTRACT
Department(s): Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security
Vendor: AidKit Inc., Denver, Colorado
Request: Authorization for the Chief Procurement Officer to enter into and execute
Good(s) or Service(s): Project Administrator - Cook County 2025 Storms Resident Relief Project
Contract Value: $16,311,000.00
Contract period: 07/01/2026-09/30/2027
Contract Utilization: The contract-specific goal set on this contract was zero.
Potential Fiscal Year Budget Impact: FY 2026 $15,000,000.00, FY 2027 $1,311,000.00
Accounts: 11292.1265.10155.580170.00000.00000
Contract Number(s): TBD
Summary: The Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security requests authorization for the Chief Procurement Officer to enter into and execute a sole source contract with AidKit, Inc., to serve as the Project Administrator for the Cook County 2025 Storm Resident Relief Project.
The program is designed to provide one-time financial assistance to residents who experienced verified damage from the severe storms and flooding that affected Cook County in July and August 2025. The County has allocated $15 million for direct resident assistance and administration costs for project administration.
The County’s damage assessments documented more than 8,500 instances of storm-related damage across both events. Many residents, including low- and moderate-income households, seniors and individuals with disabilities, experienced significant financial hardship. Because the County’s request and appeal for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Individual Assistance were denied, local relief is required to support recovery.
Eligible residents will be able to apply for a one-time $2,000 assistance payment. AidKit, Inc. has been identified to administer the project due to the Department’s need for specialized capacity to manage application intake, eligibility verification, fraud prevention, applicant support, communications and payment distribution. AidKit will build and manage the application platform, provide multilingual applicant support, implement verification workflows and issue payments through secure methods.
This procurement is a Sole Source Procurement pursuant to Section 34-139 of the Cook County Procurement Code.
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