Lake County projects are set to receive a boost of about $132.2 million thanks to state budget allocations and grants.
State Sens. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, Mary Edly-Allen, D-Libertyville and Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest, helped shepherd the funds to Lake County for human services, infrastructure and more.
“This will improve the quality of life for residents in Lake County, provide much-needed services and ensure safe roads and communities, while creating jobs and stabilizing our economy,” Johnson said.
Much of the money — approximately $121 million — is earmarked to improve roads and bridges through the ongoing $40 billion Rebuild Illinois effort, while the remainder funds will go toward projects to help those needing mental health or addiction treatment, victims of domestic violence and other efforts.
“We’re trying to remove the stigma on mental health,” Edly-Allen said. “These are some of the people who get the least support and don’t have many advantages. The brain is an organ just like the heart.”
Morrison, Edly-Allen and Johnson joined forces to obtain funding for the Josselyn Center, which provides mental health services throughout Lake County. The Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education recently approved an agreement with the Josselyn Center to provide mental health services to its students.
Another organization Johnson championed was the Waukegan based Legacy Reentry Foundation, which helps people who complete their prison sentences overcome barriers to full freedom.
“I believe people who served their time and are working toward complete rehabilitation should be fully free,” Johnson said.
Among the addictions Edly-Allen said she wants to help people work through is gambling, now that there is a casino in Waukegan. She and Johnson both worked to provide funding to Nicasa’s efforts to treat addicts.
“Gambling has the highest rate of suicide of any addiction,” Edly-Allen said. “It’s an addiction that’s very underserved in our county.”
Providing help to homeless people and seniors was the motivation behind a $2 million grant Johnson obtained for Waukegan Township. The money was used for renovations at Staben House for single mothers and their children, the Eddie Washington Center to help homeless men transition to self sufficiency, and the Patricia Jones Center for seniors.
“Shelter is a basic human right,” Johnson said. “People deserve to have a nice clean place so their dignity is intact.”
Edly-Allen said she also helped secure funding for A Safe Place in Zion and the Lake County Haven in Libertyville, which address domestic violence issues, because “one of my main issues is gender based violence.”
Of the approximately $121 million going to infrastructure, over half — more than $68 million — will be used by the Illinois Department of Transportation for road work on Routes 60 and 83 in Mundelein and Long Grove.
“They bring good paying jobs,” Johnson said of the projects. “It stabilizes our economy and our community. Good bridges and roads bring safety to our community.”
Other projects include repairs and upgrades to routes 60 and 83 from Maple Avenue to the Canadian National Railroad tracks in Mundelein, repairs and upgrades on U.S. 45 and Buffalo Grove Road in Vernon Hills, and upgrades to Dugdale Road in North Chicago.
Funding also was approved for upgrades to Greenwood Avenue in Waukegan west of Pershing Road as well as replacement for one bridge in Waukegan and engineering for another.
