The Evanston Environment Board’s April 16 meeting was largely a catch-up on some of the items tabled from the March meeting .
Most notably, Kirsten Drehobl Vega, the city’s sustainability and resilience coordinator, gave an update Green Homes Pilot
Progress and funding The Green Homes Pilot is limited to low and middle-income households in single-family homes, multi-flat buildings and, under certain conditions, larger apartment buildings located in Justice40 equity zones
Two maps show the boundaries of Census Tracts 8092 (left) and 8102. Click on the maps to view in more detail.
The program is a partnership among the city, the Center for NeighborhoodElevate
Drehobl Vega said $46,443.78 from American Rescue Plan Act and $240,000 from the Sustainability Fund remained as of March. The city set out to rehab 50 units, but only 18 had been completed at that point.
“It’s possible that things have moved along since I checked in – these are stats I got last month.” Drehobl Vega said,
She mentioned that one multi-unit project is scheduled to break ground in June. Drehobl Vega said the city still believes the remaining units will be completed by late summer.
Councilmember Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th Ward), who serves as a council liaison on the Environment Board, noted that Evanston must spend the remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds by next year or forfeit whatever goes unspent.
Drehobl Vega said the city plans to continue the program beyond the pilot. It will use Northwestern University’s Good Neighbor Fund
What the pilot has accomplished The pilot funding has been used to remove or remediate health hazards such as lead paint, asbestos and mold. It has also been used to replace doors and windows, repair roofs, upgrade electrical panels, make buildings and appliances more energy-efficient and reduce reliance on natural gas.
“Anything that makes a home or a space dangerous or uninhabitable is the first priority – then energy efficiency, then electrification,” Drehobl Vega said.
She shared a quote from one of the pilot participants that, she said, encapsulates “what this program is all about — making housing for lower and middle class residents better for people.”
“We no longer have leaking from the bathtub to the basement,” the participant was quoted as saying. “When it rains we don’t have water coming in anymore in the basement. I feel a lot safer now that the chimney is fixed knowing that we won’t be in danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. I saw all the garbage that was in the chimney and I was stunned. Also, the best part of this construction is that my kids were finally able to have a bubble bath in our tub, they were so happy and excited! The bathroom is mold free!”
While the city hopes to expand the program beyond the Justice40 tracts, Drehobl Vega said it needs to clear the backlog first.
“There’s also hope for geographic expansion, but there’s still a waitlist for interested folks in the Justice40 census tracts,” she said. “We want to make sure folks in those areas are taken care of first”
This led board co-chair Paula Scholl to ask whether the existing wait list would be carried over to the next phase of the program. Drehobl Vega replied that, while she didn’t know for sure, she didn’t see why it wouldn’t.
Board member Jim Cahan said that he was impressed with the pilot, in part because it had visible impact that was more immediate than some of their more long-term substainability initiatives.
“It’s a double win in terms of environmental justice, and you can really see changes in people’s lives,” he said.
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