Project NOW officials told the Moline City Council on July 22 that their Level Up emergency-assistance program helped dozens of local households and is asking the city for continued funding as part of its fiscal 2026 payments-to-agencies request. The agency asked the council to authorize $264,000 next year to continue monthly stipends, emergency payments and program administration.

The request matters because Level Up is intended to plug short-term gaps — rent, utilities, transportation and other urgent needs — for households facing economic shocks. Project NOW said the program is structured to avoid triggering reductions in other state- and federally supplied benefits, an issue the group said required state policy changes to resolve.

Reverend Ford of Project NOW framed the program as a “level-up” intervention that pays modest monthly stipends and emergency grants to stabilize households so they can regain financial footing. He said the program focuses on housing, utilities and transportation needs and that the city’s grant allows the organization to “step in immediately after poverty has hit a household.”

Ron Lund, Project NOW’s chief operating officer, provided the program’s numbers for year two: 31 households in Part A (a monthly stipend program providing $400 per month, up to $4,800 annually) representing 37 adults and 55 children; and 22 households in Part B (a $2,000 emergency allocation) representing 26 adults and 31 children. Lund said year-two totals were 57 households served and that program staff worked with the state to ensure Level Up payments would not count against families’ eligibility for LIHEAP or other benefit programs.

Kathy Jordan, Project NOW director of housing, gave two case examples. One was a 62-year-old participant who recovered from health setbacks and is now working as a substitute nurse; another was a mother who completed a medical-assistant program and received a roughly $3-per-hour raise after using Level Up supports to stabilize childcare and schooling needs. Jordan said those outcomes illustrate the program’s goal of creating “returns” on modest investments.

Project NOW requested flat funding for 2026: $168,000 for Part A (estimated to help about 35 families), $60,000 for Part B, $12,000 for an intern (a Moline resident), and $24,000 for administration, for a total of $264,000. Council members thanked Project NOW for the data and the personal stories; no formal funding vote occurred at the July 22 meeting — the presentation will be considered during the city’s upcoming budget discussions.

Council discussion also covered the program’s relationship with other assistance streams. Lund said the agency worked with state officials to change policy so Level Up funds do not negatively affect applicants’ eligibility for other programs. Council members and staff emphasized the need to weigh the Level Up request against other budget priorities during the fall budget process.

Project NOW and council members characterized the funding request as modest relative to the household-level impacts described, but councilors said they would review the request alongside the full slate of budget priorities later this year.