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Date: 3/7/2023
HOLYOKE – Mayor Joshua Garcia sat down for a brief chat with Holyoke Media on March 1 for his monthly “Mayor’s Message.” This time, the focus was on the city’s process for allocating the remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
Garcia broke down the process he and the city use in prioritizing needs and the best uses of this government funding. He explained that the city recently received $22 million from the federal government for the city’s final ARPA allocation.
ARPA funds are specifically to be used on projects that improve the health and outlook of the city. Funding must be allocated by the end of calendar year 2024 and expended by the end of calendar year 2026.
According to Garcia, the city uses existing data that contributes to the city’s “social determinants of health.” This includes looking at the most recent Holyoke hospital community health needs assessment and through that process concluding the findings of what the health priorities are in the community.
Another piece of data being used is through business based and community wide surveys as tools to identify needs in the city.
“We took those tools and extracted the results of whatever the findings were of each of those tools, and we try to make sense of it,” Garcia said. “These are tools that evaluate the health priority of the community, or the institution be it a business owner, the neighborhoods, or what the hospitals identified as top priorities.”
Garcia elaborated saying that priorities was not the best word for this as there was no health area with more of a priority or more important than another, but the point was the process identifies where there is more of a need in a particular health area. He noted the goal with funding like ARPA or Community Development Block Grants, they still needed to perform their due diligence on what community health needs are so they can appropriately strategize and streamline resources to advance or improve these identified areas.
Garcia referenced a community meeting from earlier in the year where he felt there could have been some misconceptions as it may have appeared arts and culture projects were being ignored as potential recipients of this remaining ARPA funding.
“It didn’t mean arts and culture is not in the picture and isn’t important, that was just to further evaluate and prioritize what we learned, what the community through these different terms is saying the health needs are, and how we can align to make sure we are hitting these targets,” Garcia said. “We can take a program and support arts and culture that will help advance a health priority, so it’s all interconnected…If someone proposes a project with arts and culture that helps advance or improve community health, there’s some connection there.”
Garcia noted he did not want the public to think that the discussion from the referenced community meeting was leading them to believe whatever comes out of this process is going to be the direction the city acts toward. He said this was “my way of getting my finger on the pulse.”
He also noted that there is already a city driven alignment for things like utilizing the the Artery on High Street and arts programs in the city for the benefits of the youth. In the grand scheme though, Garcia reiterated that “everything that we do in local government, everything is directly tied to individual and community health.”
As the remaining ARPA funds are to be allocated, Garcia is committed to putting this funding in the spaces that will best address the health needs of the city and residents. He noted that the three “buckets” they hope every proposal hits are targeted, specific and long-term impact.
“It’s going to be a competitive process and so as long as you’re hitting those buckets, those three expectations, we want to make sure that the proposals are aligned with advancing the top health needs of the community,” Garcia said. “And that’s just my way of trying to make sure that we’re streamlining the resources so that we can move the needle just a little bit…”
Garcia noted many issues the city faces are the same ones he has seen since he was a kid growing up in the city.
“We need to get Holyoke moving forward. We need to get past being looked at as this poor community that’s incapable – whatever the rumors – and somehow better dedicate our limited funds to things that are going to make real long-term impact, not short term feel goods,” Garcia said.
Garcia acknowledged members of the public may have questions in the future as to why funding went to one project but maybe not another after the city allocates these funds, but that he is working to “execute what I learned to do,” in his career experience.
“It comes with the territory, I get it. Those feelings and concerns by the public. They’re inevitable, especially when you’re the mayor of a community that’s vastly different in every corner, and you get one mayor,” Garcia said. “You can’t necessarily accommodate every perspective, but you can understand what those perspectives are, and use information and data to help you stay focused in those targeted specific areas to improve upon.”
To view the full interview, interested parties can visit holyokemedia.org or on YouTube on the Holyoke Media page. For more information on how to apply for ARPA funding, contact the city’s Community Development office.