The deadline for Cook County residents to apply for an income pilot program that guarantees two years worth of $500 monthly payments is looming.
The Cook County Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot program, which applications opened for earlier this month, provides 3,250 eligible residents with monthly payments of $500 for two years.
As of Monday, the program has received 184,000 applications, according to county officials. The pilot, which is funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act, is taking applications online until 11:59 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21.
A majority — 72% — of the people who have applied as of Monday, identified as women, and 64% listed their race as Black. About 24% of applicants identified as Hispanic, and an additional 19% as white, according to Cook County officials.
Half of those who have applied indicated they’ve gone to an emergency room within the last year, according to county officials. About 28% of applicants have delayed some form of medical care because of finances, and about 22% don’t have health care insurance.
How to Apply
To apply, individuals must be 18 years old or older and remain within Cook County during the duration of the program. Immigrants, including those who are undocumented, are eligible for the program, according to the county.
Local
The online application, application assistance, can be found here.
An individual’s household income must be at or below 250% of the federal poverty level, meaning $33,975 a year for a single person, according to Cook County. For a family of four, the household income must be $69,375 or less.
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The online application will ask participants for an email or mobile number to reach them, though people can also provide contact information for a relative, friend or community organization instead. Applicants will also be required to upload a government-issued identification card that includes their photo or a selfie.
Below are the federal poverty guidelines correlated with household size to help determine eligibility:
| Household/ Family Size | 250% FPL |
| 1 | $33,975 |
| 2 | $45,775 |
| 3 | $57,575 |
| 4 | $69,375 |
| 5 | $81,175 |
| 6 | $92,975 |
| 7 | $104,775 |
| 8 | $116,575 |
| *For each additional member over 8, add $11,800 |
Any residents that are already participating in a guaranteed income pilot program, such as those in Evanston and Chicago, are not eligible to participate in the Cook County program.
Those who are selected to participate in the pilot program are expected to begin receiving payments in December 2022.
The Chicago Sun-Times wire contributed to this article.
