Nearly $5 Million in Federal Grants to Help Arlington Residents with Job Readiness, Housing Assistance, Health Services and More
By Susan Schrock, Office of Communication
Posted on May 05, 2021, May 05, 2021

Federal Grant Funds

Thanks to nearly $5 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, more dreams will be realized in Arlington for low-to-moderate income residents.

The City Council voted Tuesday, May 4 to approve the proposed Program Year 2021 Action Plan, which is the annual spending plan for federal funds allocated to the City of Arlington.

The plan will also include reprogramming of CARES Act Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG-CV2) funds to meet urgent needs of those impacted by the pandemic.

Subject to HUD's approval, the Program Year 2021 Action Plan describes how the City of Arlington intends to use funds available under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) programs to increase opportunities and impact the lives of its residents.

The Action Plan priorities include activities addressing affordable and decent housing, homelessness, special needs, infrastructure improvements, neighborhood development, community development, and public services.

“These funds will assist twenty five local organizations and five City departments in an important effort to provide quality, affordable housing, a suitable living environment, and expanded economic opportunities in our community,” Deputy City Manager Jennifer Wichmann said.

Federal funds are administered by the City’s Office of Strategic Initiatives. The grants help meet priority community needs as well as continue City Council priorities.

The City will implement the Action Plan in a coordinated effort with neighborhood groups, private sector contractors, developers, non-profit organizations, City departments and regional planning groups.

How the money would be allocated

Approximately $1.5 million in Community Development Block Grant Funds (CDBG) will be used toward projects such as code compliance, street and broadband improvements and microenterprise technical assistance.

Other uses for CDBG funding include $500,000 for Alliance for Children facility improvements and $511,471 for public services to assist Arlington residents with digital literacy, child care, senior services, health services, transportation, homeless and special needs and youth services.

An additional $682,000 will be provided to local Community Based Development Organizations to provide veteran skills training and housing development as well as financial literacy and other support services.

The HOME Investment partnership grant will use approximately $584,524 to fund first-time homebuyer and tenant-based rental assistance.

• The City of Arlington Homebuyer's Assistance Program provides down payment and closing cost assistance to income-eligible individuals seeking to purchase a home. Eight Arlington households are expected to receive down payment and closing cost assistance.

• The Arlington Housing Authority administers the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program which provides temporary rental housing assistance, up to 24 months, to homeless individuals and other very low-income families. Forty Arlington households are expected to receive temporary rental assistance.

The HOME grant will also fund $400,000 for eight new single-family townhomes built by the Housing Channel, a non-profit Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO).

The Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) assists individuals to regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness. The ESG grant is expected to provide $294,997 to local homeless shelters and other homeless service providers.

The Action Plan Summary is available upon request from [email protected] or on the City’s website.

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