HUD Awards $3.6 Million in Choice Neighborhood Planning Grants

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $3.6 million in Choice Neighborhood Planning Grants to 13 communities across the nation.  The awarded communities are:

• Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (Cincinnati, OH)
• Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (Cleveland, OH)
• Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority/Ohio State University/City of Columbus/National Church Residencies (Columbus, OH)
• Housing Authority of the City of Little Rock (Little Rock, AR)
• Housing Authority of the City of Meridian (Meridian, MS)
• Opa-Locka Community Development Corporation (Opa-Locka, FL)
• Rockford Housing Authority (Rockford, IL)
• Housing Authority of the County of Sacramento (Sacramento, CA)
• Housing Authority of Savannah (Savannah, GA)
• City of Springfield/Springfield Housing Authority (Springfield, MA)
• Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (Suffolk, VA)
• District of Columbia Housing Authority/Kenilworth Parkside Resident Management Corporation (Washington, DC)
• Housing Authority of the City of Wilson/City of Wilson (Wilson, NC)

As part of the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI), the Choice Neighborhoods program aims to transform high-poverty communities into mixed-income neighborhoods by linking affordable housing, transportation, education and community safety programs.  HUD reviewed 71 applications for the FY 2011 Planning Grants.  

After a lengthy FY 2012 budget process, Congress appropriated $120 million for the Choice Neighborhoods – a substantial increase from the $65 million allocated during FY 2011.  With increased funding, Choice Neighborhoods and other NRI programs, such as Promise Neighborhoods, are likely to continue transforming distressed communities throughout the nation.