BOND ANNOUNCES $36 MILLION IN HOUSING FUNDS HEADED TO THE ST. LOUIS REGION

St. Louis City & County Awarded Federal Grants to Provide Safe, Affordable Housing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 7, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Senator Kit Bond, ranking member of the Senate subcommittee that funds America’s housing programs, announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will release more than $36 million in federal funds to the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County.

“We face a real shortage of safe and affordable housing in Missouri and across the nation, which has been exacerbated by the foreclosure crisis,” said Bond, a Senate leader in the fight to provide affordable housing for low-income, working families. “While these funds will help local leaders in the St. Louis region meet some critical needs in their communities, there is still more work to be done.”

Bond announced that HUD will release:

• $19,800,299 to the City of St. Louis and $5,375,970 to St. Louis County in Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) funds. The CDBG program provides annual grants to states and local governments to ensure communities are able to offer safe, affordable housing and create jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses.

• $874,374 to the City of St. Louis and $234,642 to St. Louis County in Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) funds.  The ESG program provides annual grants to state, local and private entities to improve the quality and number of emergency homeless shelters.

•  $4,574,417 to the City of St. Louis and $4,170,690 to St. Louis County in HOME funds. The HOME program provides grants to states and local communities– often in partnership with nonprofit organizations – to build, buy or rehabilitate housing that can be rented or sold as well as provide direct rental assistance to people in need of affordable housing.

• $1,264,901 to the City of St. Louis in Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) funds.

The HOPWA program provides housing assistance and supported services to local governments, states and nonprofit organizations for persons diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and their families.

Earlier this year, Bond won the fight to provide $2 billion to fund low-income housing tax credit projects that have been stalled by the financial credit crisis and whose delay has contributed to the shortage of affordable housing seen across the nation.  Bond is the ranking member of the Senate subcommittee that funds our nation’s housing programs and has worked to increase funding for critical programs for our communities’ most vulnerable people.