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Trustees ask for local-service data and decline to fund Progress Center without it
Summary
A representative from Progress Center for Independent Living outlined disability services and staffing; trustees asked for precise counts of Riverside Township residents served and did not approve funding at the meeting, asking the group to return with resident-level data.
A representative who identified herself as Dina told trustees that the Progress Center for Independent Living provides information and referral, peer support, independent-living skills training and personal-assistant placement to people with disabilities in suburban Cook County. Dina said the organization has 17 staff members and that its core funding is state grants, supplemented by other grants and earned income.
Board members expressed support for the organization’s mission but raised questions about the local impact of a proposed township partnership. One trustee pointed to line items in the submitted materials and questioned salary proportions and the size of the request relative to similar contributions by neighboring townships. Several trustees asked for a precise accounting of how many Riverside Township residents the Center serves and whether the services would duplicate existing township-provided programs.
A motion was made not to fund the request during the meeting, but that motion lacked a second; the board instead asked the applicant to provide clearer, township-specific service counts and additional budget detail and indicated it would revisit the request at a later meeting. Dina said the Center serves “several hundred a year” overall and that it would provide more detailed documentation and direct residents to the organization’s website for additional information.
The board’s direction distinguishes between discussion and formal action: trustees did not adopt a funding award or a denial as final business but required more evidence of local benefit before committing township funds. The board advised the applicant to return with specific numbers showing unmet needs among township residents that existing township resources do not already cover.
Next steps: the Progress Center was asked to report the number of Riverside Township residents directly served and to provide a clearer budget breakout to allow trustees to assess overlap with township services and the mental health board’s existing partnerships.
