Congresswoman Budzinski meets with park district leaders after helping secure grant funds

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski met with area park district leaders in Springfield Monday to celebrate state and local grant funding coming to the area.

Budzinski's office helped secure funding by hosting a series of application workshops.

She said it's important to focus on local and state opportunities rather than relying on federal funds to push projects forward.

"When we work with our state partners, we know there's stability, we know they have some grant funding, and we just want to take advantage of those dollars and make sure that we're bringing them back to central and southern Illinois," Budzinski said.

The Champaign, Springfield and Grandview park districts all received resources for projects through the grants.

Budzinski added she hopes to expand the initiative through 2026.