Congressman Cleaver and HUD Deputy Secretary Sims announce two unique grants totaling $4.5 million
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II was joined by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Ron Sims to announce two grants totaling $4.5 million for planning in the Green Impact Zone and surrounding communities.
The grants, the first of their kind, address an issue raised by the Green Impact Zone to the administration; how can federal departments work together to address community problems and develop plans that cross jurisdictions and agency areas of responsibility? In answer to that question, the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) was awarded a $4.25 million Sustainable Communities grant to study six development corridors connecting over 30 communities in the Metropolitan Area, with the Green Impact Zone at the center of the study. Representatives of all the participating cities were on hand for the announcement. Of the 48 Sustainable Communities grants announced across the nation, only five communities received more than MARC.
The six corridors include:
- North Oak Trafficway in Clay County, Mo.
- U.S. 24/40 in Jackson County, Mo.
- Rock Island Railroad line (from downtown Kansas City, Mo., through Lee's Summit)
- Troost, Main and 71 Highway in south Kansas City, Mo.
- Shawnee Mission Parkway/Metcalf in Johnson County, Kan.
- State Avenue in Wyandotte County, Kan.
"I am always happy to host Administration officials. I am especially pleased when they bring large checks. This award announcement is a statement. These are our first post-stimulus community and Green Impact Zone grants. The decisions we have made have put us in position as a region to continue to compete and win competitive federal grants. I am thrilled. The Administration is putting its money where its mouth is,” said Congressman Cleaver.
The Sustainable Communities grants are part of the Obama Administration’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which brings HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency together to ensure that the agencies’ policies, programs, and funding consider affordable housing, transportation, and environmental protection together. This interagency collaboration gets better results for communities and uses taxpayer money more efficiently. Coordinating federal investments in infrastructure, facilities, and services meets multiple economic, environmental, and community objectives with each dollar spent.
The second announcement of the day was a Choice Neighborhoods grant for $250,000 which will begin to transform the Chouteau Courts federal housing development on Independence Avenue in Northeast Kansas City. Chouteau Courts, one of Kansas City’s oldest public housing sites and is the last choice of housing for public housing residents. The grant to the Housing Authority of Kansas City will promote a comprehensive approach to transforming this distressed area of concentrated poverty into viable and sustainable mixed-income neighborhood. Building on the successes of HUD’s HOPE VI Program, and the Sustainable Communities grants also announced today, Choice Neighborhoods will link housing improvements with a wider variety of public services including schools, public transit and employment opportunities. Only 17 Choice Neighborhoods grants were awarded nationwide.
The announcements were made at the Mid-America Regional Council office after the inaugural meeting of the Sustainable Communities Coordinating Committee. Both grants will work together to connect housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation.
More information about the Sustainable Communities grant can be found here.
Photos of the event are available for download and use here.