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Local nonprofit says ARPA support brought an estimated $30,000 per month in new benefits and $152,000 in lump‑sum payments
Summary
Champaign County Healthcare Consumers reported that ARPA‑funded outreach has helped low‑income residents secure new monthly Social Security benefits and lump‑sum back payments, stabilizing some households' housing and transportation situations.
Claudia Lunhoff, executive director of Champaign County Healthcare Consumers, told the Urbana committee of the whole during public input that ARPA funding has helped the organization assist low‑income seniors, immigrants and people with disabilities to secure public benefits.
Lunhoff said the outreach work supported by ARPA has produced more than $30,000 per month in newly secured monthly benefits for clients who report those figures to the nonprofit, and that clients have received more than $152,000 in lump‑sum back payments. She said not every client reports amounts to the organization.
Lunhoff described the practical impacts for clients: some have used the benefits to stabilize housing, obtain transportation and catch up on rent when landlords were willing to work with them. She also described a recent example after Restoration Urban Ministries curtailed a transitional housing program: the nonprofit worked with roughly 32 households that came to it from that program and helped about 25 or 26 of those households obtain housing.
Lunhoff thanked the city for ARPA funding and offered to provide follow‑up details by email. Her remarks were part of the public‑input portion of the meeting and were not acted on by the committee.
