HUD AWARDS $7.4 MILLION IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT GRANTS TO 14 HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Schools in AL, FL, LA, NC, SC, TN, TX, DC AND VI earn grants

WASHINGTON - Fourteen Historically Black Colleges and Universities 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. Grant recipients are:

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.

HBCU Grant Summaries for Tennessee

Lane College - Jackson, TN
$340,000 Grant

Lane College will use its HBCU grant to establish and institutionalize the Lane College Community Development Corporation to serve a target population of the more than 13,817 moderate and low- income persons living in and adjacent to the College's Campus in East Jackson. The establishment of the CDC will codify Lane's programs related
to community outreach, community development and collaboration, and will allow the College to support its current roster of service/learning opportunities for members of the Lane College family of students, faculty and staff. This is Lane College's first HBCU grant.

LeMoyne-Owen College - Memphis, TN
$550,000 Grant

LeMoyne-Owen College renewed its commitment to the City and the community by forming the LeMoyne-Owen
College Community Development Corporation. The College will use its HBCU grant to continue Project Renaissance, which received funding for fiscal year 2003, thereby enhancing the position of the CDC as a catalyst for comprehensive revitalization of the heart of Memphis. He College and CDC are proposing four major activities that
will assist this community in achieving its goals of becoming an integral part of the dreams and realities of the 21st century. These goals are capacity building, technical assistance, residential and commercial development, and economic expansion.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Detailed grant summaries are available on HUD's website.