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Date: 9/6/2022
AMHERST – With Amherst now eligible to apply for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), leaders of nonprofits and social services organizations addressed the needs of those they help and how this funding can benefit the community at the CDBG Advisory Committee virtual meeting on Aug. 31.
CDBG funds support housing, community development projects and social service activities benefiting low- and moderate-income citizens. The target areas for these funds – if the town is chosen as a recipient – would be the Town Center, East Amherst Village Center and the East Hadley Road/Pomeroy Village Center, although they can be adjusted.
Over the next month, the town’s CDBG Advisory Committee will review comments received at public hearings and a survey to determine funding priorities. The application is due in early November, and the funding will be distributed next July. As of this time, Amherst is slated to receive $1.65 million. The town has been receiving CDBG grants since 2006.
Part of the application process includes a Community Development Strategy. Ben Breger, a member of the committee, said this incorporates needs from a number of sources – Town Council goals, the Master Plan, Housing Production Plan, and racial justice, equity and transportation plans.
“Any activity recommended for funding needs to be supported by the Community Development Strategy,” said Breger. “We keep it flexible for new projects that come along.”
Representatives of organizations that had received CDBG funds in years past spoke at the Aug. 31 meeting about the continued need, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic or inflation. Judith Roberts, executive director of The Literacy Project talked about how it helps people earn their High School Equivalence Degree, a stepping stone towards furthering their education. The project also offers a college readiness class.
“We’re focusing on economic sustainability,” said Roberts. “We know that those without a high school degree [people] cannot earn a family sustaining wage.”
Francine Rodriguez, program manager for Family Outreach of Amherst, talked about how previous CDBG funds had assisted their mission of providing housing for those in need. She spoke of the “major crisis” in Massachusetts, that one needs to make $78,000 a year to afford a two-bedroom apartment. She cited one family who had received an eviction notice and how the organization was helping them.
“The amount of calls that are coming in is extreme,” she said. “All people are struggling with rents now. The need is extremely high. Many people feel like they’re getting pushed out.”
Center for New Americans Director Laurie Millman said the free English classes they offer is extremely important, given the 28 percent of school children in Amherst that are part of families where English is not the first language.
“A program like ours is what unlocks a door for them and gives access,” said Millman. “We feel we are a pathway to economic self-sufficiency.”
Lev Ben-Ezra, executive director at the Amherst Survival Center, feels strongly that their goals of providing shelter and housing to combat homelessness make it a priority for the town. Ben-Ezra also feels that food and nutrition should be a priority, adding that they aren’t always represented and so a segment of the population isn’t being reached.