The Adams County Board Announces Round Two of the GROW Program

Adams County, IL – The Great River Economic Development Foundation (GREDF), in partnership with the Adams County Board, is thrilled to announce that applications are now being accepted for the second round of the Adams County GROW Program.

In 2024, the Adams County Board designated $1 million from the ARPA funds to establish the GROW Program, which stands for Growing Residential Opportunities County-Wide Program, aimed at addressing housing needs. This initiative encourages developers to take abandoned houses or vacant lots into affordable housing. In its initial round, the program successfully funded 57 new housing units, distributing a total of $640,000 through the GROW Program.

In the second round, a total of $360,000 is available to provide developers with $20,000 non-repayment loans per unit. The project may involve constructing new residential units on vacant lots, which can include single-family homes, duplexes, condos, townhouses, cluster homes, or apartment complexes. Additionally, the development of currently uninhabitable or partially uninhabitable structures will be accepted. However, the GROW Program incentive cannot surpass 50% of the total project cost or $100,000, whichever amount is lower.

Anyone interested in learning more about the GROW Program, and to apply, please visit https://www.gredf.org/growing-residential-opportunities-county-wide-grow-fund/.

GREDF will be hosting two training sessions to review the program:

• The first training will be on April 15th in the Oakley-Lindsay Center at 4 p.m.
• The second training will be held on May 5^th at 12 p.m. on Zoom. If you are interested in obtaining the Zoom link, please email Madison Peters, GREDF Vice President at petersm@gredf.org.

Applications are due by 4 p.m. on June 17th. Applications can be sent via email to gredf@gredf.org; dropped off to the GREDF office, or sent via mail.