Rockford native now in HUD leadership role returns to city to review needs, investments
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A Rockford native who now holds a leadership position with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development returned to the city on Monday to learn more about how federal investment can improve this community.
Kimberly McClain, a 1988 Auburn High School graduate who is now HUD’s assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental relations, toured the city with elected officials and met other community leaders to learn more about the city’s needs and review its past federally-funded initiatives.
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McClain’s office is the primary liaison between HUD, Congress and local governments. It plays a key rule in developing the department’s strategies and helping decide where to direct its funding.
“My goal is to tell the story of cities and towns and states that people may otherwise not know,” McClain said of the visit.
McClain, who is a retired U.S. Air Force reserve lieutenant colonel, went to the University of Texas after graduating Auburn. She went on to get a masters from Amberton University and a doctorate from Northcentral University. Her mother still lives in the area, and McClain visits each year. Her father died in October 2020.
“Rockford is a wonderful place for people to grow, to raise their families and to really thrive,” she said. “We really have the potential to be one of the bright shining spots in Illinois and across the Midwest.”
McClain’s tour here comes a week after the Biden Administration announced $5.5 billion in funding that will go to 1,200 communities for everything from housing to homeless assistance and initiatives meant to spur economic growth. About $244.8 million of that will go to Illinois.
“HUD is more than just housing,” McClain said. “We run everything from helping communities build everything from nursing homes to community centers to storefronts that undergird our economic development.”
McClain said the city is already making progress through HUD’s Thriving Communities Technical Assistance program, which helps local governments incorporate housing into infrastructure plans, and the Reconnecting Communities grants. The later program is providing Rockford $7.15 million to remove the Whitman Street interchange ramps, convert the roads to two-way traffic and reconnect neighborhoods on the east and west side.
“Now that will be totally transformed so it will be better for pedestrians, it will better for cyclists, it will be better for emergency responders coming from the west side into UW Health SwedishAmerican,” Mayor Tom McNamara said. “We took out 119 homes when we built the Whitman interchange. We’re going to be able to redevelop that space and re-envision what it is but also make it much more friendly to get from one area to another.”
McNamara highlighted several infrastructure projects developed with the help of federal funding, from the $1.4 million reconstruction of Brooke Road to plans to reconstruct Chestnut Street and add bidirectional bike lanes. They also stopped for lunch at Tortilla Express, a downtown restaurant that got a jump start through funding funneled through the city from HUD, McNamara said.
“If a resident hears HUD they think of housing, and rightly so,” McNamara said. “If it’s helping small businesses in the city Rockford, if it’s helping improve roadways in the city of Rockford, or helping with housing, HUD has been a remarkable partner to the city of Rockford.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
