Read about the latest happenings in McHenry County
Written on .
Resume McHenry County Update!
Through our collaboration with McHenry County, we will continue to share important information on services, programs to help our citizens, and events in our county through Resume McHenry County Updates.
Please take a moment to scroll down to see new advancements this week as we move forward in McHenry County. If MCEDC can be of any help, please call. Forward this email to your friends and family to help get the word out!
Download Naturally McHenry County’s app!
Naturally McHenry County‘s new name, new branding and new look has made its awesome app that much better!
Everything McHenry County has to offer throughout the year – travel destinations, shopping, dining, fun for all ages, you name it – can be at your fingertips!
You can download it from Google Play here, and from the Apple App store here.
It won’t be long before Naturally McHenry County unveils a new website redesign – stay tuned!
Planning continues for broadband expansion project
McHenry County Connects – the exciting initiative to expand the county’s high-speed broadband Internet network – is moving forward.
County government received five responses to its request for interested providers, and is working with two of them to expand the network to the northern and western sides of the county.
McHenry County Connects seeks to take advantage of federal and state broadband funding to increase high-speed Internet access to homes, businesses and local governments, especially to rural and underserved areas lacking reliable service. You can learn more about it by clicking here.
The existing fiber network runs from McHenry County College to McHenry County’s government complex in Woodstock, connecting all City of Woodstock and School District 200 buildings in between.
Advance-funded internship program flourishing
A manufacturing internship program funded through an Advance McHenry County grant has hit the ground running!
Almost 140 high-school students from across McHenry County will work this summer with 17 area manufacturers participating in the Manufacturing Pathways Rotational Internship Program. Organizers had anticipated a total of 100 students and 10 interested manufacturers.
Click here to learn more about Advance McHenry County, the county program investing millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funding into projects benefiting our communities!
Successful county rental assistance program winding down
As of the end of April, McEURAP has distributed almost $8 million to landlords and utility companies to assist struggling tenants, while another $8.3 million has been obligated but not yet disbursed. The funding has helped 718 unique households, with almost 2,400 applications in progress.
Help is still available through other government programs such as the Illinois Homeowner Assistance Fund, which provides up to $30,000 in assistance per homeowner to help prevent mortgage delinquencies or foreclosures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Operation Dropbox collecting goods for needy veterans
Community partners have banded together to participate in Operation Dropbox, a program to collect household goods to donate to local veterans.
Drop boxes have been placed at 19 locations across McHenry County through the end of May. Donatable items include nonperishable food, paper products, personal hygiene items, household cleaners, socks, pillows, and other items.
Click here for a list of items, as well as participating locations.
All collected supplies will be distributed through the local charity Veterans Path to Hope (formerly known as TLS Veterans).
Richardson Tulip Festival is a go!
Mother Nature finally got the memo that spring is here, and Richardson Adventure Farm’s Tulip Festival is open!
The second annual festival, which was delayed for several weeks because of the cold spring, opened to the public on Mother’s Day.
The Richmond farm is awash with the color of 600,000 planted tulip bulbs – yes, you read that number right – of 30 different varieties. You can cut your own, play games with the whole family, and enjoy great food and drink – to say nothing of snapping the ultimate colorful spring selfie.
Click here to learn more and to plan your day at the farm, and click here to read an awesome write-up by a local travel blogger.
We hope we got your attention. We need your help reaching more McHenry County residents and businesses to share this important information about important services and events connect them with vital resources.
Please take these four steps:
1. Share/forward to your email/newsletter contacts.
2. Post information to your website.
3. Follow us on social media (see below); share our posts with your followers.
4. If you are not on the McHenry County Constant Contact list, please subscribe here
Follow McHenry County Government On Social Media
Staying connected and informed is more important now than ever! Follow McHenry County on social media for regular updates on important topics in our region, resources and safety tips as well as events to bring our community back together again!
