CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Residents of suburban Cook County can start applying Friday for help paying their mortgages thanks to a new COVID assistance fund.
The county is using $20 million in federal CARES Act money to make up to three months of mortgage payments for homeowners struggling due to COVID-19.
Commissioner Alma Anaya drew on the experience her family went through when she said they lost their home in the 2008 economic recession.
"I know the devastation that can cause working families when they lose their home, when they lose the place where they are used to going home to after school or after work," she said.
Director of the housing authority of Cook County Richard Monocchio said the last economic recession showed the importance of helping keep people in their homes.
"Owning a home, in almost all cases for moderate-income folks, the most valuable asset that they have and we have to preserve that," he said.
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The county expects the program to help at least 2,500 suburban homeowners, who have lost a job or had their hours cut due to COVID-19 and have missed a mortgage payment since March. Residents applying must also have a household income of less than $128,000 a year.
The program is on top of $20 million in assistance the county began offering two months ago in which it helps low-income people pay their rent.
The county said nationally one in five homeowners have skipped a payment