SPRINGFIELD – Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) joined the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority in announcing two funding opportunities to support Restore, Reinvest, and Renew programming.

A total of $31.5 million in grants is currently available, including $28.3 million to support service delivery and $3.1 million for assessment and planning.

“The work being done through the R3 Program is the most significant part of legalizing cannabis in Illinois,” said Lightford, member of the Restore, Reinvest, and Renew Board. “Putting funding into poor and disadvantaged communities will finally start to reverse the dire effects of the war on drugs.”

Areas eligible for funding were identified using community-level data on gun injury, child poverty, unemployment, and state prison commitments and returns, combined with disproportionately impacted areas previously identified by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (View map of eligible areas).

Organizations that serve residents of, or are based in, designated eligible R3 zones will be able to apply. Eligible organizations include nonprofit organizations, local units of government, tax-exempt faith-based organizations, businesses, and other community organizations. Application materials with instructions on how to apply are available here: https://r3.illinois.gov/. The deadline for all applications is Monday, July 20, 2020.

To ease the application process and increase access to available grant funding, ICJIA offers technical assistance to organizations via online workshops.