Cook County’s Healthy Homes for Healthy Families program is completing its final projects after serving 357 households. One participant, 73-year-old Westchester resident Linda Jones-Woodley, said her October electricity bill was $54.75, compared with $184.62 a year earlier. Through the program, she received a new furnace and seven replacement windows.
The initiative provided free home upgrades to families in 51 suburban municipalities, according to the Chicago Tribune. Cook County committed roughly $29 million to the work, which varied according to residents’ needs and could include lead mitigation and safety measures for older people, the paper reported. The program says it addresses lead, radon, mold and other home hazards, according to Healthy Homes for Healthy Families. Elevate Energy, a nonprofit focused on clean and affordable heat, power and water, partnered on the program, according to the Tribune.
The program partnered the Cook County Department of Environment and Sustainability and the Cook County Department of Public Health with Elevate Energy. Funding came through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Cook County received $1 billion.
What the ARPA deadline does—and does not—explain
According to Cook County’s American Rescue Plan website, recipients including the county have until December 31, 2026, to spend their ARPA funds. That broader deadline does not explain why Healthy Homes for Healthy Families is ending October 31 or provide a program-specific closeout schedule.
How the program targeted households
Elevate Energy received 1,004 public applications, according to a spokesperson quoted by the Tribune. One in five homes in suburban Cook County contain significant lead-paint risks, according to the Cook County Department of Public Health.
The program describes its goal as making homes safer, more affordable and more efficient.
A participant’s experience
Jones-Woodley’s home was remodeled last year, according to the Tribune.
The Tribune reported that improvements at Jones-Woodley’s home included a new furnace, seven replacement windows, roofing work and a newly installed fuse box.
Jones-Woodley said her grandson had been coughing and that she had assumed dust was responsible. She told the paper she was grateful for the improvements.
Repairs and lower energy costs
Roofing, gutter and tuck-pointing work on Jones-Woodley’s Westchester home was done by October 21, according to the Tribune.
The program’s final phase
Healthy Homes for Healthy Families is expected to complete upgrades by September 30, 2026, and enrollment has closed, according to the program’s enrollment page.
Qualifying suburban homeowners and renters can receive free lead-hazard services from Cook County. Homes built before 1978 are at risk, according to the county health department.
