HUD AWARDS $7.4 MILLION IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT GRANTS TO 14 HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Winston-Salem State, Johnson C. Smith, Barber-Scotia College to Benefit

WASHINGTON - Fourteen Historically Black Colleges and Universities - three located in North Carolina - will receive $7.4 million to revitalize distressed neighborhoods near their campuses by expanding their role and effectiveness in neighborhood revitalization, housing, and economic development, HUD Deputy Secretary Alphonso Jackson
announced today.

"I believe our nation's black colleges and universities should be catalysts in bringing opportunities to African-
American communities," said Jackson. "With the help of these grants, HBCU's will continue grooming many African-American youth for careers in business, law and medicine while revitalizing the communities in which the schools reside."

The HBCU program funds grantees to carry out projects designed primarily to benefit low- and moderate-income residents or meet urgent community development needs. The grants can be used for activities such as: acquiring
real estate; demolition; homeownership assistance to low- and moderate-income persons; special economic development activities; and rehabilitation of residential, commercial or industrial buildings to correct code violations.

The grants were awarded in a competitive process. North Carolina Grant recipients are:

Johnson C. Smith University - Charlotte - which receives $531,651. Johnson C. Smith University/Northwest
Corridor Community Development Corporation will use its HBCU grant to provide community development services to the 12 neighborhoods of the Northwest Corridor section of Charlotte. This project will consist of a component to support a portion of the core operating expenses (including three student interns) of the Northwest Corridor Community Development Corporation for two years; an affordable housing new construction/rehabilitation/marketing for homeownership for households at 50-80 percent of AMI; a loan program component for working capital,
equipment and machinery, vehicles, renovations and repairs, and property acquisition to stimulate economic growth and job opportunities among businesses located in the Northwest corridor; the implementation of the Historic West End initiative; and a homeownership training/counseling component.

Winston-Salem State University receives $550,000. WSSU established the Simon Green Atkins Community Development Corporation in 1998 to work in partnership with the City of Winston-Salem Housing and Neighborhood Development, the Local Initiative Support Corporation, the Winston-Salem Black Chamber of Commerce, the Center
for Community Safety and others. WSSU will use its HBCU grant to expand its role and effectiveness in addressing community development needs and revitalizing neighborhoods along the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Corridor. The target area surrounds the WSSU campus, is near the central business district, and is the most distressed area in Winston-Salem. It has been identified in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Consolidated Housing and Community Development Plan (2004-2008) as an area that has critical needs in housing rehabilitation, homeownership and business development.

Barber-Scotia College - West Concord - receives $550,000. Barber-Scotia will use its HBCU grant to assist one neighborhood in Concord and two in Kannapolis, NC. Activities include housing assistance, increasing the economic capacity of low-income residents, assisting a community development corporation in undertaking various activities, and providing technical assistance.

HUD's HBCU Program is one of several initiatives administered by its Office of University Partnerships (OUP). Established in 1994, OUP is a catalyst for partnering colleges and universities with their communities in a shared search for answers to pressing urban problems.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities, creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans, supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as
enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet.

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Note to editors: Detailed grant summaries are available on the web (www.oup.org/about/hbcu03.html).