Communities approve CDBG grants

Local municipalities unanimously approved Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) from Oakland County at their meetings this week.

In Birmingham, at the city commission meeting on Monday, November 13, a resolution was part of the consent agenda authorizing mayor Andy Harris to sign the 2017 program year grant of $46,585, an increase of $14,565 from December 2016. Birmingham has been receiving CDBG funds for 26 years, with $37,268 in 2017 going to minor home repairs and $6,017 to yard services.

At the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, November 13, trustees approved the request made by Cristine Tvaroha, senior services director, to use the 2018 allocation for minor home repairs and Meals on Wheels for $66,765, with $46,735 going to the minor home repair program, and $20,030 for Meals on Wheels, for those 62-years old and older and homebound.

“We’re always looking for more applicants in the community,” Tvaroha said of the minor home repairs program, which is for low-income homeowners in Bloomfield Township. She said they have 85 volunteers providing almost 1,800 hours of service.

Bloomfield Hills commissioners approved the 2018 CDBG application at their meeting on Tuesday, November 14, in the amount of approximately $6,000, which city manager David Hendrickson said will go primarily to Meals on Wheels services to homebound seniors in the city.

The federal CDBG program provides funds to local municipalities dedicated to assist low- and moderate-income residents with affordable housing, home repairs and other needs through individual grants and other anti-poverty programs. The objective is to prevent or eliminate slums and blight, and to meet an urgent community need where no other funding is available. Community and charitable organizations may also make direct requests to the cities for direct grants. Federal regulations require communities to hold public hearings and pass a resolution approving the planned use of funds as part of the application process.