It was announced this morning on the City of Hudson website that the City and Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) will receive a $1 million grant to implement "strategies to address displacement of communities of color." The grant was awarded by Enterprise Community Partners, in collaboration with the New York State Attorney General. The effort to secure the grant was led by aldermen Rebecca Wolff (First Ward) and Calvin Lewis (Third Ward); Mayor Kamal Johnson; mayoral aide Michael Chameides; Serria McGriff, Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood service provider; Luisa Thillet, Columbia County Sanctuary Movement organizer; and Dan Kent of the Galvan Foundation.
According to the announcement on the City of Hudson website:
The grant will fund a new partnership with St. Catherine's Center for Children, with collaboration from the Columbia County Department of Social Services, to provide emergency funds and opt-in case management to Hudson residents at immediate risk of displacement. Many at risk of displacement can't access emergency funds because of existing eligibility requirements. Often, living in market-rate housing or paying above 30% of one's income for housing creates ineligibility for housing assistance programs. This new program will supply emergency funds for renters who wouldn't otherwise qualify. At the same time, it will provide gap funding where in some cases it will make someone eligible, thereby unlocking and leveraging additional state and federal funds.
The grant will also fund a collaboration with Pattern for Progress on the creation of Hudson's Affordable Housing Development Plan. The plan will review developable properties, funding opportunities, and development feasibility in order to create a document that recommends the operations, timeline, and partnerships for developing affordable housing.
The grant will also fund a new staff position to expand outreach to people of color at risk of displacement, increase coordination between organizations that provide housing services, carry out the goals of Hudson's Strategic Housing Action Plan (SHAP), and advance the grant projects. The SHAP identified creating a housing-focused staff position as a top priority action.
The bulk of the grant is reserved to seed a Housing Trust Fund for future anti-displacement projects. The Housing Trust Fund will be created this year and will include spending criteria, governance structure, and strategic planning.
The entire announcement can be read here.
Oh the irony that this grant was aided in the application process by The Galvan Foundation and funded by a group directly tied to Mackenzie Scott (formerly Bezos, Amazon) and Steve Ballmer former CEO of Microsoft.
ReplyDeleteAnother in a long list of great things the Galvan Foundation has done for the community.
What ever happened to that 10 million dollar grant we got several years ago? Did that ALL go to that traffic circle by the Rip Van Winkle Bridge?
ReplyDeleteIt's still being spent, and none of it went to the traffic circle. The $10 million in Downtown Revitalization Initiative funds is financing the redesign of the entrance to Promenade Hill and the Hudson Connects project, among other things.
DeleteThanks for answering that Carole, it was on my mind too. Is there any where on the City website that specifically documents how the funding is currently being used?
ReplyDeleteThis was announced two and a half years ago. https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-word-is-out.html There are five DRI projects that are the responsibility of the City of Hudson. https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2018/10/about-dri.html Gossips has been following the progress of those projects carefully. If you go to the City website and click on DRI under the menu item "About Hudson," you will find the information that's available.
DeleteThe work on Promenade Hill and the Hudson Connects project are the City's major DRI projects. I've been reporting on both these projects regularly.
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