Public Funds

By Dave Hinton/Rantoul Press -- When CRIS Rural Mass Transit District began serving residents of northern Champaign County, officials figured it would take two years to reach the ridership levels of 1,000 passengers a month. It didn’t take nearly that long – only a few months.

“I guess the need has been far greater than we predicted,” CEO Amy Marchant said.

There was a definite need for a rural public transportation system, said the woman who serves as CEO of CRIS Healthy Aging Center of Danville, which operates the service.

Total ridership has skyrocketed from 514 in May to 1,178 in August, the latest figures available.

By The News-Gazette/"Deadbeat Illinois: The Painful Price of Unpaid Bills" is a joint project by The Associated Press and its members across Illinois — including The News-Gazette.

The goal is to highlight the state's decision not to pay its bills on time and to examine the extent of the impact on the people, businesses and human-service groups across the state.

These stories will appear in The News-Gazette in print and then online. As they are posted, we'll link to them from here.

By Julie Wurth/The News-Gazette -- A new report from the U.S. Census shows Champaign and Vermilion counties holding their own economically in 2010, with overall poverty not worsening and median incomes actually rising.

However, that may reflect an influx of federal stimulus money that has since dried up, according to one local official.

The U.S. Census released the findings of its 2010 American Community Survey, which collects socioeconomic information about communities across the country each year, from poverty to education to demographics. The data are taken from surveys of about 3 million U.S. addresses, but given the small sample sizes in each community, margins of error vary greatly.

By Jay Lee/For CU-CitizenAcccess - Champaign County’s immigration-service agencies may have to bear some of the burden for the state’s burgeoning debt – and they aren’t happy about it.

By Matthew Schroyer/For CU-CitizenAccess -- With budgets crimped by dismal job prospects and the cost of living ever-increasing, more and more Champaign families are in need of federal housing assistance.

The demand has hit the local housing authority so hard that the wait list for Section 8 vouchers, which pays for rental housing for needy families, had to be closed. Hundreds in Champaign County now wait for the subsidy, also known as Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs).

by Dan Petrella/CU-CitizenAccess — The dream of owning an affordable home is out of reach for one out of three Champaign County residents, according to a new regional housing study commissioned by local government agencies and cities.

The housing study, prepared by Columbus, Ohio-based consultants Vogt Santer Insights, estimates that the median home value for the county this year is $139,419.

By Jhane Reifsteck— Local farmers markets in Champaign and Urbana, IL have started accepting LINK cards, creating more options for low-income people and families to obtain fresh foods.

CHAMPAIGN — A recent $3 million windfall could help residents who are struggling to pay utility bills this year.

The need for utility help is growing, yet there’s a gap among the few programs that offer assistance.