Congresswoman Matsui Announces $300,000 HUD Grant Award to SHRA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
CONTACT: ALANA JUTEAU
(202) 225-7163
Congresswoman Matsui Announces $300,000 HUD Grant Award to SHRA
CA - Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) joined officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to announce an award of $300,000 for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA). She was joined at the announcement by HUD Region 9 Administrator Ophelia Basgal, Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn, and SHRA Executive Director La Shelle Dozier. The Choice Neighborhoods planning grant will be used by SHRA to develop a Transformation Plan for the River District and accompanying area, including the railyards. It will also allow SHRA to compete for HUD's Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant in future years, which could provide up to $30 million for the project. In August, Congresswoman Matsui sent a letter of support for SHRA's application to HUD Secretary Donovan.
"This grant will advance a truly transformative project that will improve the City's economy, and give countless individuals the opportunity to create a better future for themselves and their children," said Congresswoman Matsui."The plan that will be developed with this grant will help align supportive services for those in need, educational opportunities for our youth from kindergarten through college, and quality affordable housing that families will feel proud to call home."
The Choice Neighborhoods program is the Obama Administration's signature public housing improvement program. Choice Neighborhood grants transform distressed neighborhoods and public housing projects into viable and sustainable mixed-income neighborhoods by linking housing improvements with appropriate services, schools, public assets, transportation, and access to jobs. HUD received 71 submissions for FY 2011 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants from communities across the U.S. Sacramento is one of only thirteen cities nationwide to receive a grant.
"All across the country, local planners are serious about rolling up their sleeves to transform distressed neighborhoods into choice neighborhoods," said HUD Regional Administrator Ophelia Basgal. "This community can now begin the comprehensive planning needed to turn the distressed housing at Twin Rivers Community Housing in the River District-Railyards area - a long-neglected neighborhood - into a viable and sustainable mixed-income community that supports positive outcome for families."
The goal of SHRA's application for funding through the Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant is to deliver a Transformation Plan for the River District that identifies a specific approach to ensure that residents across all socioeconomic levels, ages, and household types are integrated into the residential fabric of the community and offered enhanced housing choices. The Transformation Plan will address the needs of these residents and ensure they are afforded appropriate supportive services, educational opportunities, and household supports to maximize their individual outcomes. Additionally, it will ensure that the quality and type of amenities offered are appropriate for supporting a vibrant neighborhood including retail services like grocery stores, banks, health care, programmed open space, pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly access routes, and effective public transit options that connect people to employment centers and services.
"I am extremely pleased that HUD has selected Sacramento County to receive this very important grant," said La Shelle Dozier, Executive Director of SHRA. "Working with our partners, this award will help us find ways to make our obsolete public housing community a more viable asset for the surrounding neighborhood as well as the low income families that we are serving."
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