February 23, 2024 – Signups begin Monday for the The Central Illinois Land Bank Authority’s (CILBA) financial wellness workshops and roof replacement program.
CILBA is partnering with First Mid Bank, a local Pastors Coalition, Main Place Real Estate, and the City of Decatur to offer the programs.
The series of Financial Wellness workshops are being hosted by Love Fellowship Church, located at 1567 N Clinton St, Decatur. First Mid Bank is taking the lead on financial education. Anyone can register on CILBA’s website at www.cilba.org/events. The workshops are free and open to public – they are being held on Mondays the next few weeks from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
· Workshop #1 on 2/24: Credit 101
· Workshop #2 on 3/3: Building and Repairing Credit
· Workshop #3 on 3/10: Budget Training
· Workshop #4 on 3/24: Navigating Homeownership
CILBA will also be doing roof replacement signups for income eligible homeowners at these events. The land bank has nearly completed spending down $800k in grant funds on roof replacements in Decatur – $400k was a state grant from the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s (IHDA) Home Repair and Accessibility Program and the other $400k was City of Decatur ARPA matching grant funds.
A new state roof grant has opened with applications due 3/14 to IHDA. Over the next three weeks, CILBA is signing up income eligible homeowners that need new roofs, and this information will aid in grant applications to IHDA.
Mike Davis, CILBA’s Executive Director said, “We’re excited to have done over 50 rehabs projects in Decatur the last two years. There’s deep need for roof rehabs in Decatur and our goal is to get the maximum grant award from the state to keep this revitalization work going. To ensure fairness, anyone that signs up for a roof replacement will be entered into a lottery if the land bank is successful with the upcoming IHDA grant. If income eligible homeowners need a new roof in Decatur, it’s important they show up to these events and register for the wait list.”
