Nine communities have been selected to receive Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The awards aim to bring together community partners to create comprehensive neighborhood revitalization plans to redevelop severely distressed HUD-assisted housing, improve outcomes for residents, and bring new amenities to high-poverty neighborhoods.
The latest Choice Neighborhoods grants will go to communities of all sizes from small cities, such as Salem, New Jersey, with a population of just under 5,000, to large urban centers like Washington, D.C. The seven other communities are Flint, Michigan; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Goldsboro, North Carolina; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Lorain, Ohio; New Orleans; and Steubenville, Ohio.
New Orleans will receive a $409,000 award, and the others will receive $500,000 each.
“Choice Neighborhoods grants are unlike any other—they are not just an investment in homes, they are an investment into entire communities,” said HUD secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “I look forward to seeing how the nine new Choice Neighborhoods communities use these grants to improve outcomes for education, health care, the economy, and overall quality of life for residents. These funds will make a real change for the people we serve, building safer, healthier communities for all.”
Choice Neighborhoods supports the revitalization of communities through an emphasis on creating mixed-income housing and linking those housing investments with effective services for residents and physical neighborhood improvements.
Read summaries about each community’s project.
