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Date: 6/14/2022
NORTHAMPTON – Throughout the month of June, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Commission is seeking community input through eight listening sessions to help direct where federal grant money would go.
In March 2021, President Joe Biden signed ARPA into law, which is a “far-reaching COVID[-19] recovery measure” that provides direct financial relief to Americans, assistance to businesses, and aid to states, counties and municipalities.
Out of the $1.9 trillion, $21.7 million has been allocated to Northampton over the next two years. All of this funding must be committed by Dec. 31, 2024 and fully expended by the end of 2026.
According to Abbie Stone, Northampton’s COVID-19 economy recovery grants administrator, the city is allocating the money to four different categories, the largest being government services with $10 million. The next biggest chunk of money will be allocated to infrastructure such as water, sewer or broadband. Following that is $4 million for community recovery. The mayor will be using that $4 million to make Requests for Proposals for small businesses, nonprofits and households. Lastly, the ARPA money will also be used for COVID-19 mitigation and unidentified needs.
To figure out specifically how these funds will be utilized, the ARPA Commission is conducting eight listening sessions throughout the month of June across Northampton to Florence to hear thoughts from the community about how Northampton could approach the ARPA help, especially since 18 percent of the funds are aiding the recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds will also help encourage tourism and travel.
“I am excited to begin the listening process and am very grateful to the dedicated residents who are helping to guide and build an extensive, equitable and inclusive process,” said Sciarra. “I look forward to hearing input and feedback from members of the community to help structure the city’s use of this critical recovery funding.”
So far, the city has conducted listening sessions on June 7, 8, 13 and 15. During the June 7 meeting, which was hybrid, the commission invited businesses, nonprofits, and other community organizations to speak about what they might need before the mayor sends out her Requests for Proposals.
Alya Stoffer Koloszyc, a founder and director of an early childhood center on Henry Street, was one of the few who spoke, and stated that the waiting list at her center has increased throughout the pandemic, and many early childhood centers have had to close. She suggested that ARPA funds could be used to become “a model community” for creating and sustaining equitable and inclusive childcare for families.
“There are programs that we all know of that offer more affordable childcare for some families … however, the teachers are paid so abysmally that they often need to work more than one job to stay working there,” said Koloszyc. “What I’m interested in is thinking about what we could dream if we prioritized the needs of teachers and families at the same time…if we had enough money to just get over the hump of being able to provide more spaces, it’s something we can sustain.”
The next listening session will be June 16 in person at the Florence Civic Center on 90 Park St at 3:30 p.m., and will once again be for small businesses, nonprofits and community organizations. After that, there will be a virtual meeting at 7 a.m. on June 21 and then another in person meeting on June 23 at 6 p.m. at the Florence Heights Community Room. A Spanish language interpreter will also be present during the June 23 meeting.
People can learn more about these meetings at https://www.northamptonma.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1216.