ASHEVILLE – The city will get one of its first doses of federal stimulus money with an $842,000 infusion meant to combat homelessness and help with community-building projects such as affordable housing, officials have said.
The City Council tonight will hear an update on how the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act will benefit Asheville. President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus measure last month.
In anticipation of the legislation, state and local governments including Asheville drew up wish lists for federal taxpayer aid. The city came up with more than $120 million in projects, such as a $40 million solar power plant and $15 million to widen Victoria Road.
This month, U.S. Housing and Urban Development announced the city would receive one of its first chunks of stimulus cash, and that most of it — $509,000 — will go to a homelessness prevention fund. The remainder of the aid will go to community programs selected by the council.
The money could signal the end of a trend of declining federal aid for such community programs, city officials said. Specifically, the homelessness money could mean fewer families end up on the streets relying on the public dole and private charities, said City Homelessness Initiative Coordinator Amy Sawyer.
“We're excited about prevention programs because it costs less to help someone maintain their housing than to help someone find new housing and address all the new things that come along with that,” Sawyer said. “It's more cost effective and it's less destructive to the families and the community.”
About 635 homeless people, or 28 per 10,000, residents lived in Asheville and other parts of Buncombe County in 2007, according to a national once-a-year count supported by federal housing programs.
That was well above the state average of 13 per 10,000 and the national average of 22 per 10,000, a 2007 study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness said. Since then, the number of homeless in Buncombe County dropped by 13 percent to 555 this January.
Sawyer credited the decrease to local programs meant to prevent homelessness and to quickly find housing for those who have lost their homes. The city and Buncombe County allocated more than $500,000 for the programs this fiscal year.
City staff is not yet sure of restrictions on how the money can be spent and hope to know more by April 1, Sawyer said.
Some of the best ways to use the funding would be to aid people with the greatest risk of losing their homes and who have children, said members of the NAEH. The Washington-based nonprofit suggests the money be used for people who have mental illness, have been homeless before or have other high-risk conditions.
The city's Community Development Block Grant will receive the remainder of the federal aid — $332,942. The council gives block grant funds to groups with programs who support the elected official's social goals, including building and maintaining affordable housing.
Last year, the block grant got $1.2 million, most of it federal money. But that money has been declining for the last several years, said John Sanchez, who helps administer the block grant for the city.
“With the new administration we have some hope that they can revisit those allocations. At least we are hoping that we will get the same amount of money that we got last year,” Sanchez said.
Other stimulus money that the city is set to receive includes:
$2.5 million for public transit.
$265,000 for police.
Call Joel at 828-232-5960 or e-mail JBurgess@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.
