Evanston, Illinois, announced it will be using up the last of its COVID-era federal funds, expanding its guaranteed income program to give $500 monthly payments to 102 households.
“This initiative is designed to provide direct financial assistance to help households meet essential needs such as nutrition and everyday expenses, offering a meaningful boost toward stability and well-being,” officials in the Chicago suburb said in a press release. “The program reflects the City’s continued commitment to investing in residents and ensuring families have the resources they need not just to get by, but to thrive.”
Evanston, IL expands cash handouts to 102 more families ($500/month) while its race-based reparations program faces a major federal lawsuit. pic.twitter.com/eTH04F33yp
— Fox News Flash (@FoxNews_Flash) May 7, 2026
“The Evanston City Council voted Monday night to extend the city’s guaranteed income program to offer $500 per month to 102 families over the next six months to spend down the remaining cash in the program,” Evanston Now reported last month. “The program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act through COVID-era federal recovery funds, which must be spent by the end of this year.”
The program has now been expanded to include more eligible recipients who, according to the city press release, must:
- Have a household income at or below 185% of the federal poverty guidelines and either:
- Be at least 55 or older OR
- Have a second-grade student or younger in the household
“We had a lot of spam and it took a long time to get through that,” Alison Leipsiger, the city’s policy and intergovernmental affairs manager, told the city council in April. “Opening it up to everyone … is nothing we’ve ever dealt with before. It will add an administrative burden. I have no idea what that’s going to look like.”
Meanwhile, Evanston’s separate reparations program is facing legal challenges with an ongoing class-action lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch in 2024 that alleges the program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment with its race-based eligibility criteria.
“Evanston’s reparations program gives out payments to two categories of people: ancestors, defined as Black Evanston residents who lived in the city between 1919 and 1969, and direct descendants, defined as relatives of the ancestor category. Of the 141 total qualified applicants in the ancestors category, 137 have received benefits totaling $3.47 million,” Evanston Roundtable reported earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge John F. Kness denied the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed.
“We welcome the court’s decision to allow this historic lawsuit to move forward against this woke, racist program,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said at the time.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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