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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
PROPOSED RESOLUTION FOR THE TRANSFORMING PLACES EQUITY FUND INITIATIVE TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
WHEREAS, in October 2021, the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed Resolution No. 21-5542 creating a special purpose fund for Equity and Inclusion (“Equity Fund”) dedicated to addressing historical disparities and disinvestment in communities that are marginalized or have experienced other social and economic disparities; and
WHEREAS, through the Equity Fund, intentional investments from government resources are allocated to address historical and continued disparities and disinvestment, particularly in Black and Latine (as defined in the Equity Report) communities, and to bring advocates, service providers, and other partners to the table as thought partners and decision-makers; and
WHEREAS, the vision behind the Equity Fund was to create safe, healthy, and thriving communities in Cook County by reimagining and transforming systems around justice, public safety, health, housing, economic opportunity, community development, and social services to benefit Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities and proactively invest resources in solutions and supports to achieve equitable outcomes; and
WHEREAS, efforts have been undertaken with various Cook County departments to determine the spending and program allocation for $50M of the budgeted FY 2022 - FY2023 Equity Funds addressed herein; and
WHEREAS, guiding principles to determine the allocation of funding included aligning programs with the Cook County Policy Roadmap to promote coordination and ease of implementation; center equity to address the structural barriers, systems, policies, and practices that harm Cook County’s most marginalized residents; advancing a more comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to government resource allocation; avoiding duplication of resources and leverage existing efforts and infrastructure where possible; and allocating future savings generated from policy changes and operational reforms back to community investments; and
WHEREAS, in May 2022, the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed Resolution No. 22-2779 that approved the spending plan and use of $50M in Equity Funds, including an allocation of up to $15M for the “Transforming Places” place-based initiative.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby approves the Bureau of Economic Development (BED) to enter into a multiyear Subrecipient Agreement, subject to annual appropriation by the Board, with United Way of Metro Chicago (UWMC) in an aggregate amount of up to $15,000,000 to implement the Transforming Places Place-Based Initiative, which will identify high vulnerability communities and co-design a process to meet community-defined needs for economic development, community building, community safety, public health, education or social services. This effort will build on UWMC’s existing Neighborhood Network model of place-based investment. Cook County will partner with UWMC to support participating communities over a sustained period to ensure implementation and capacity-building and help attract additional public, private, and philanthropic funding.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Cook County Board of Commissioners recognizes that time is of the essence and authorizes the Chief of the Bureau of Economic Development to negotiate and enter into an agreement that outlines the specific metric and impact data, and compliance with all County reporting and monitoring requirements with United Way of Metro Chicago to implement the above program.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the Chief of the Bureau of Economic Development or its designee to modify the agreement and funding allocation based upon need and utilization.
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