August 5, 2024

Greenfield Awarded $925,000 In CDBG Funding

BY The BusinessWest StaffBusinessWest

GREENFIELD — The city of Greenfield is receiving $925,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. The funds will be utilized to support a medley of community-based initiatives.

CDBG is a federal program that provides funding to states and localities for economic and community development. The funding is geared toward building viable local communities, particularly for people of low or moderate income.

Greenfield is a mini-entitlement community under the Massachusetts CDBG program. The city must apply for and receive approval from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) for each project it wishes to fund. Community planning for Greenfield’s FY 2024 CDBG funds included two public hearings and a request-for-proposals process for the social-services projects. The city submitted its FY24 proposal to the state on March 25.

The funds will be allocated to the following projects:

• $250,000 for housing rehabilitation, executed through a partnership with Community Action Pioneer Valley to rehabilitate four housing units and set aside for emergency repairs;
• $201,751 for water-main replacement design and engineering, to support bid-ready designs and plans for replacing water mains in the downtown central commercial zoning district. The bid/design stage is calculated at 15% of construction costs. Water-main replacements will take place over the next five years;
• $112,500 for microenterprise assistance, executed through a partnership with Franklin County Community Development Corp., a collaboration that includes workshops for small-business owners and potential owners and investment capital for qualified microenterprises; and
• $185,000 for several social-service programs, including: $50,000 for Community Legal Aid’s Homelessness Prevention Project, $44,200 for Wildflower Alliance’s Homelessness Prevention Greenfield expansion, $40,800 for the Stone Soup Café Community Free Store, $35,000 for the Center for Human Development’s Greenfield Elder Wellness Program, and $15,000 for the Center for New Americans Fostering Immigrant Self-sufficiency Program.

“This CDBG funding round will leave a lasting impact on Greenfield,” Mayor Ginny Desorgher said. “I am grateful to CDBG coordinator Anna Oltman and the Community and Economic Development Department for overseeing this process. I am proud that the funds effectively address a variety of important issues in our community.”

Added Community Development Administrator Anna Oltman, “thank you to the Massachusetts EOHLC for funding this program. Greenfield’s social-services agencies really stepped up with some amazing projects this round, and we’re so grateful to them for the work they’re doing, especially in the areas of homelessness prevention and elder services.”