Meadows residents must be U.S. citizens for assistance

Rolling Meadows residents who receive emergency financial assistance from the city will have to be U.S. citizens as well as residents of the city for at least six months, according to a policy given preliminary approval this week by the City Council.

The council allocates $10,000 annually for the program, which will be administered by City Manager Sarah Phillips or her designee. It was previously run by the Police Neighborhood Resource Center, which closed late last year due to the city's budget issues.

Residents can only receive assistance once in a 12-month period, and the maximum grants are $500. Categories include $500 for housing or $200 for utilities or food or medicine.

"The intent of the policy was to help citizens of Rolling Meadows," Phillips said. "By the council's definition that means citizens of the United States."

She said the PNRC staff often checked that recipients were legal residents of the United States, but there was no strong policy or enforcement.