CHICAGO – Using revenue from adult-use, recreational cannabis sales, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) Thursday announced $35 million in grants to support 88 programs run by local organizations across the state. Two organizations in our area received grants.
Connect 360 in Marion was awarded $107,550. Arrowleaf in Vienna was awarded $121,624.
The grants are part of the Restore, Reinvest, Renew (R3) Program, a key equity element of the 2019 Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. The law requires 25% of adult-use cannabis tax revenue to support communities harmed by decades of economic disinvestment, violence, and the severe and disproportionate damage caused by the war on drugs. These issues largely impact low-income Illinoisans and communities of color. To date, ICJIA has awarded more than $244 million in R3 program grants.
Grants were awarded to organizations that serve residents of designated eligible R3 zones. The R3 program empowers nonprofits, small businesses, and faith-based organizations to repair harm and build safer communities.
ICJIA received 574 completed applications, which were reviewed by community residents and other stakeholders. Before receiving applications, all reviewers underwent implicit bias training and application review training.
Funded programs will offer evidence-based, promising, or innovative service strategies within the R3 Program Priority Areas of civil legal aid, economic development, community re-entry from the criminal justice system, violence prevention, and youth development.
ICJIA’s Institute to Innovate (i2i) builds capacity within smaller organizations to manage grant funding.
ICJIA also offers several training webinars on the application process, creating a budget, using the grant application system, and other topics. Upon processing the awards, ICJIA offers immediate administrative support to help new grantees successfully manage their grants and realize their visions of addressing community needs with their programs.
Grassroots organizations with operating budgets of less than $2 million also were prioritized to ensure equity. This priority helped level the playing field with heavily resourced, larger organizations to apply for and obtain funding.
The eligibility map was reassessed and updated in January 2024, as required every four years. Researchers identified areas eligible for R3 funding 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.
Click here to see the complete list of grantees.