USDA Rural Development remains committed to long-term resilience through repairing homes, businesses, critical infrastructure, and services across rural Illinois
USDA Rural Development Illinois State Director Jesus Ortega, (third from left at the table), discusses USDA Rural Development disaster assistance programs during the “Disasters and Federal Resources” roundtable discussion that U.S. Representative Mike Bost hosted.
(Champaign, Ill., Sept. 3, 2026) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development has programs available to help eligible rural Illinois residents, businesses and communities recover and rebuild after a disaster.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Secretary Brooke Rollins has made delivering timely disaster assistance a top priority,” said USDA Rural Development Illinois State Director Jesus Ortega. “USDA Rural Development remains committed to investing in long-term resilience through repairing homes, businesses, critical infrastructure, and services.”
In August, U.S. Representative Mike Bost held “Disasters and Federal Resources” roundtable events in both Marion and Effingham. State Director Ortega highlighted USDA disaster assistance programs during the events with local, state and federal leaders.
“Southern Illinois has faced its share of damaging weather. When disaster strikes, our communities need to know that help is available,” said Bost. “That’s why I thought it was important to bring local, state, and federal stakeholders to the table to discuss how best to ensure we have the resources to not only recover, but to rebuild stronger and be better prepared for the next disaster."
State Director Ortega highlighted several Rural Development programs at the roundtable, including the following:
- Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (SEARCH) This program provides funding to financially distressed rural communities to pay for predevelopment feasibility studies, pre-design assistance and technical assistance for water and waste disposal projects.
- Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants (ECWAG) This program helps eligible communities prepare, or recover from, an emergency that threatens the availability of safe, reliable drinking water.
- Water & Waste Disposal Predevelopment Planning Grants (PPG) This program helps eligible low-income communities plan and develop applications for proposed USDA Rural Development water or waste disposal projects.
- Single-Family Housing Repair Loans and Grants Also known as the Section 504 Home Repair program, this provides loans to very-low-income homeowners to repair, improve or modernize their homes or grants to elderly very-low-income homeowners to remove health and safety hazards.
Effingham Fire Chief Brant Yochum attended the roundtable discussion and said, “Disaster recovery starts long before the disaster happens. For local communities, knowing what resources are available and having relationships already established with our state and federal partners can make a significant difference when an emergency occurs. The roundtable was a great opportunity to learn more about the programs available to our communities and, just as importantly, to meet the people behind those programs and establish relationships before we need them.”
For more information on Rural Development programs for Illinois, email RD.IL.General.Inquiries@usda.gov.
For more information on USDA Rural Development investments in rural America, visit the Rural Data Gateway. The Rural Data Gateway is an online tool that strengthens USDA Rural Development partnerships with rural people, entrepreneurs, government officials and Congress by making investment data accessible to the public.
Learn more online at www.rd.usda.gov/il, subscribe to GovDelivery updates, and follow us on X at @RD_Illinois.
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