NORTHAMPTON – Community Development Planner Keith Benoit presented the fiscal year 2021 to 2022 appropriations for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) during the Annual Draft Action Plan Public Hearing.

To start his presentation, Benoit gave an overview on CDGB funding and the types of projects those funds are used for.

“The primary objective is to benefit persons of low or moderate income, so all of the money for the year has to meet that national objective,” he said.

Benoit said the COVID-19 pandemic has forced him and his team to look with a closer lens at some of the needs in the city.
“COVID-19 has put an additional strain on the assessment of our needs, all of our needs are magnified, so all the things we normally do have an increased need. The need for economic recovery, small businesses, creating or retaining jobs, and the need for homeless services have increased,” he said.

One of the biggest ongoing projects that received funding this year was the continued work to build the city’s new Resiliency Hub.

“We continue to see the need for a community resiliency hub and that is something we have been planning on for the past couple of years. The end of that planning process was happening when the pandemic began so we saw the need for this Resiliency Hub,” Benoit said.

He said the new center would be a place for people to seek aid during difficult times due to both chronic and acute stress.

“This is for people experiencing chronic stress, so people who are homeless, low-income, people with health issuers, and then also acute stress. So those are weather related events, fire, or a pandemic, but this is not a shelter, it is a living room with many service providers,” Benoit said.

As part of the draft plan the Resiliency Hub would be receiving $41,413.

When asked about a potential public drinking water project in the plan, Benoit said it would be difficult to use CDBG funds for that kind of project.

“It can be tricky to fund that because we have to make sure we are helping 70 percent of people who are low or moderate income. A  public drinking fountain in the park, anyone in the city can walk up to it,” he said.

Among some of the other items in the plan include wheelchair curb cuts on streets in Northampton and Florence along with property site improvements at four sites through the Northampton Housing Authority.

Overall, the city was awarded $683,764 along with $193,141 in estimated carry over funds from the previous year.

The project is currently in its public participation period until May 6 and residents can reach Benoit at kbenoit@northamptonma.gov, once that period is over, he said those ideas may be incorporated into the final plan.

“The draft of the Action Plan is up on the website and is available for comments until May 6. That will go in the plan, we will accept them, and incorporate them into the plan as best we can. Once those are incorporated, we submit it to Housing and Urban Development and send out the awards,” Benoit said.