The first program approved for using the funds, cash payments for housing support, was passed by the city in March 2021.
On November 25, 2019, the City Council voted 8–1 to commit the first ten million dollars over the next ten years of the city's Municipal Cannabis Retailers’ Occupation Tax (3% on gross sales of cannabis) to fund a local reparations program with the intention to focus on housing and the wealth gap for Black residents suffered from redlining in Evanston.
A total of 16 applicants have received money while about 620 of Black residents on the waiting list or have otherwise applied.
[7][8] The city has since expanded the potential disbursement options to include cash as well as vouchers.
[8] The program has provided support for some local residents but has also be used an example of an ineffective reparations arguing that local-only funding lacks sufficient resources remove the gap between white and Black wealth.