MaryCatherine Wells, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, spoke regarding the small non-profit
application portal for consideration of ARPA funds. MaryCatherine stated that Mary Keating,
Director of Community services, is still working on the application but is on vacation this week.
MaryCatherine is part of the administrative team that are helping with the applications and
includes Gerald Smith, Senior Accountant. After the CARES ACT and ARPA, MaryCatherine
added her team has considerable experience setting up an online portal. She stated that the
administration side of the process is ready to move forward in May. Mary Keating prepared the
questions and Rhonda Breier, Web Application Team Lead, designed the application.
Member Galassi and other members noted the word ‘project’ may be confusing so it will be
removed from the application.
Questions and discussion arose regarding the rollout date, length of time the portal will be open,
geo coding to determine agencies’ districts, what kind of agencies may qualify, and means of
marketing the available funds.
Member DeSart confirmed the $175,000 per district and that the allocations of funds can be
divided by the three members within the district. How does it need to be connected to ARPA?
Are we able to expand to any small non-profits? Are only the non-profits we select able to access
the portal? How does the district representative know which agencies are in their district? Will
the parameters come from Finance?
Member Galassi asked about funding short-term projects. Does the agency have to be up and
running with some structure?
MaryCatherine replied that the general parameters will include an agreement to each
organization specifying they must be a 501c-3 charitable organization with less than $300,000
annual revenue and will receive under $25,000 in allocations. She added they will use the GIS
department to do geocoding and map out agency districts.
Sheryl Markay added the application must be tied to the County’s code so there are categories
that have to be met, which is on the application. There will be additional guidance sent out to the
district members while making their decisions. Ms. Markay and Assistant State’s Attorney, Lisa
Smith agreed that the process does not have to adhere to ARPA guidelines but needs to adhere to
County guidelines. Although it is up to the Chair, they recommended that the application
guidelines should go to the County Board as a presentation or resolution for consistency among
all districts.
Assistant State’s Attorney, Conor McCarthy, added you are limited in what money you can give
and who you can give it to based on what your statutory authority is, and it is limited by what the
County’s code grants you.
Joan Olson, Chief Communications Officer, responded to the marketing question, stating they
will hold a press release, and post on LinkedIn and social media. She added that Mary Keating
has contact lists she will reach out to, and they will connect with Talk DuPage, who
communicates to all municipalities. In Joan’s experience, when there is funding available, people
are quick to respond.
Committee discussed if the applicants should be screened by the States Attorney’s office first or
by the County Board members. It was decided the County Board members should select
applicants in an initial round and submit candidates to the Assistant States Attorney for legal
review.
Chair Schwarze summed up the discussion, stating this is the first process to update the
committee and address questions. The subcommittee, consisting of Mary Keating, Member
Garcia, and Chair Schwarze, will adjust the process based on the day’s discussion. Ms. Olson
concluded this discussion gave them the committee input they needed and Human Services will
continue to collaborate with legal counsel.
