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NMI gets $1.4 million in HUD funding for affordable housing
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Posted on Nov 02 2011
SAN FRANCISCO-U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said yesterday that the Northern Marianas will receive more than $1.4 million to support community development and produce more affordable housing. HUD’s annual funding will also help find homes for individuals and families living on the streets.
The fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution significantly reduced overall funding for HUD’s Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships Programs compared to last year. The nation’s CDBG funding was reduced by more than $600 million, or about 16.5 percent, while the HOME program funding was reduced by more than $200 million, about 11.7 percent.
“This year’s block grant funding requires tough choices that we would not have made in better circumstances,” Donovan said. “As we work under the challenges of our nation’s deficit, we must also understand that these programs are absolutely essential in promoting community development, producing affordable housing, helping our homeless and even supporting long-term disaster recovery.”
The funding announced yesterday includes:
* $824,363 in Community Development Block Grant funds;
* $570,054 in HOME Investment Partnerships funding; and
* $40.642 in Emergency Shelter Grant.
HUD is instituting several important program priorities this year. First, the department’s consolidated planning process will be enhanced. Largely unchanged since the mid-1990s, the ‘Con Plan’ will be simplified by integrating HUD’s technology systems and eliminating the need to prepare a separate annual performance report. Second, HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development is moving rapidly to implement its unified OneCPD technical assistance process, which is particularly important as many local governments continue to struggle with budgetary pressures resulting from the economic downturn. Finally, HUD is again urging grantees to consider the needs of returning veterans and their families in the design and administration of these formula programs. (HUD)
