Municipalities Awarded $5.8 Million in Community Development Block Grants

TRENTON – The Christie Administration announced the award of $5,874,073 in Small Cities Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to municipalities in New Jersey. The 23 grants encompass 21 municipalities in 7 counties, and 2 county-wide programs which will benefit approximately 30,000 people across the state, including senior citizens and people with disabilities. The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) receives, distributes, and administers these grant funds for the State of New Jersey.
“The Small Cities CDBG grants help to provide incentives to address local needs for housing improvement and public facility development,” said DCA Commissioner Charles A. Richman. “This very important program is imperative for the growth and development of our communities, and benefits our citizens where it’s needed most.”
Awards in this year’s grant round will fund projects ranging from dam reconstruction, improved ADA compliant access to sidewalks, streets, and parks, deteriorated street reconstruction and rehabilitation of owner-occupied affordable housing.
The DCA’s Division of Housing and Community Resources administers the Small Cities Community Development Block Grants, which are used for housing rehabilitation, development of public facilities, and improvements to public infrastructure. The grants are designated to benefit people of low and moderate-income or to address recent local needs for which no other source of funding is available. Funding for the Small Cities Program is provided by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Community Development Block Grant Program.
The municipalities receiving Small Cities grants design their own projects and funding priorities. These locally developed projects are required to meet at least one of the three federal national objectives, which include: 1) activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons, 2) aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight, or 3) meet urgent community development needs because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community where other financial resources are not available to meet such needs.
A description of the grant recipients and projects is listed below. For more information on Small Cities Community Development Block Grants, log on to http://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dhcr/offices/cdbg.html
The Division of Housing and Community Resources <http://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dhcr/> strengthens and revitalizes communities through the delivery of affordable housing, supportive services and the provision of financial and technical assistance to communities, local government and community-based organizations.