Amata welcomes $1.2 Million In federal Grants
Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Aumua Amata is welcoming federal funds for American Samoa through the following U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants; the Community Development Block Grant, the Emergency Solutions Grant, and the HOME program.
“These are helpful funds that can make an important difference for some needs in American Samoa.” said Aumua Amata. “I want to say a special thank you to Secretary Dr. Ben Carson and HUD for these funds for American Samoa. These grants go directly to local community purposes.”
HUD provides flexible grants through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to help cities, counties, parishes, states or territories recover from presidentially declared disasters, especially in low- and moderate-income areas. The grant recipient creates a plan for the use of the grant in conjunction with HUD.
The Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program provides annual grants to state, local, and private entities to assist people in quickly regaining stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness. In addition to rapid re-housing and homelessness prevention, the ESG program also provides limited funding for street outreach as well as for improving the quality and number of emergency homeless shelters.
The HOME program helps to expand the supply of decent, affordable housing to low- and very low-income families by providing grants to States and local governments to fund housing programs that meet local needs and priorities.
According to HUD, these funds must be used for “necessary expenses related to disaster relief, long term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure, housing, and economic revitalization.”
CDBG funds a broad range of activities that can assist communities and neighborhoods that otherwise might not recover due to limits on resources.