Pioneer Center for Human Services to receive more than $500,000 in COVID-19 relief

The Pioneer Center for Human Services will receive two Advance McHenry County grants to further its vital mission to support people with behavioral, intellectual and developmental disabilities, the county said this week.

The McHenry County Board approved a total of $532,122 to assist the McHenry-based Pioneer Center at its meeting Tuesday, according to a news release.

A $247,122 grant will allow the center to replace its outdated electronic health record system, while a $285,000 grant will support its residential group home and developmental disabilities day programs.

The Pioneer Center provides day, residential and case management support services for individuals with developmental disabilities; residential services for adults with mental illness; outpatient therapy for children and adolescents with mental illness; and runaway and homeless youth services. It also operates the county’s year-round homeless shelter.

The grants are part of the Advance McHenry County program, which is investing tens of millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 recovery funding into projects meant to directly benefit the community.

Since January, the County Board has awarded 14 grants totaling more than $10.3 million.

Among those allocations were about $1.4 million to the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center to provide training and other assistance to help local businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, $825,000 to the Northern Illinois Food Bank to purchase food items that are not commonly donated and to fund a home food delivery service in 11 selected communities, $800,000 to the Housing Opportunity Corp. to assist with the development of 54 housing units in McHenry, and $717,300 to create a summer internship program through the Manufacturing Pathways Consortium at McHenry County College.

The McHenry County Housing Authority also received money to help it move, the Home of the Sparrow received funds to acquire a two- to three-unit property in McHenry to expand its subsidized apartment and supporting housing program, and the Harvard Community Center earned money to start a McHenry Senior TechConnect program.

Another 108 grant applications are in various stages of the program, and the county this week set a deadline of June 30 for Advance McHenry County grant applications.

Groups that have projects that meet the criteria can apply through the county’s online application portal at www.mchenrycountyil.gov/advance. The website also acts as a transparency portal where people can review the grants and funds allocated.