Seattle, WA – April 17, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Greg Nickels today announced City of Seattle funding awards totaling $628,000 for five community agencies that are renovating or building facilities to help them better serve people in need. Funding for the awards comes from the federal Community Development Block Grant.
“This funding will help local agencies provide safe and decent space to provide critically needed services in the community,” said Mayor Nickels. “This is especially important as demand for services rise in hard economic times.”
The Mayor announced the awards in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District at the site of the Bush Hotel congregate meal program. Joining the Mayor in announcing the funding awards were U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott; Housing and Urban Development regional director of community planning and development Jack Peters; and Seattle Chinatown-International District Preservation and Development Authority acting director Paul Mar.
After a competitive funding process run by the Seattle Human Services Department and community review panel, five projects were selected for funding:
- Seattle Chinatown-International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDPDA), $150,000 to renovate space used by agency’s Congregate Meal Service program in the Bush Hotel. Reconfiguration of space will better accommodate clients and allow for more capacity.
- Goodwill Development Association, $52,000 for installation of a sprinkler system to enhance the safety of the pregnant and parenting teen mothers and their children in the Teen Parent Home. This will allow the agency to expand service capacity.
- Eritrean Association in Greater Seattle, $125,000, for the demolition of a dilapidated house and the construction of a new two-story addition to the Eritrean Community Center.
- Neighborhood House, $100,000 for the installation of a second solar array panel on the High Point Neighborhood Center to double the energy output of the facility and decrease the building’s energy and operating costs.
- Pike Market Child Care & Preschool, $201,000 to consolidate the child care to one floor of the Market rather than the current two, to correct existing code violations and make the agency’s operations more efficient.
SCIDPDA’s congregate meal program has provided freshly cooked, hot, nutritious and ethnically appropriate lunch to seniors since 1980. Weekly ethnic menus include Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese food. In addition to meals, other services include blood pressure monitoring, medications review, and physical activities such as exercise and Tai Chi. The program serves an average of 60 seniors a day and 760 people a year. Another part of program delivers hot meals five days a week to homebound seniors in International District and southeast Seattle.
The funding award announcement comes during National Community Development Week (April 12-18) when U.S. cities and communities celebrate the benefits of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Locally, CDBG provides services, capital funding, affordable housing and economic development opportunities to the benefit of low- and moderate-income Seattle residents.
In 2008, Seattle received $12 million in CDBG funds, which helped develop 273 units of affordable rental housing, moved over 1,000 people into transitional or permanent housing, and helped over 70 businesses survive the light rail construction along ML King Jr. Way. The Community Facilities Loan Program supports the delivery of human services while also enhancing the organizational capacities of provider agencies.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
David Takami (206) 684-0253
