DEPUTY SECRETARY SIMS ANNOUNCES RECOVERY ACT FUNDS TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN OREGON
Award made under the Recovery CDBG program will revitalize neighborhoods and create jobs

WASHINGTON - In an effort to stimulate community development and job growth, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Ron Sims today announced nearly $3 million in Community Development Block Grant funding to Portland, Oregon through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act).

The announcement came at Taggart Manor in Portland, which is 24-unit rental complex for homeless and families at-risk of homelessness. Portland is using $300,000 of their $2.7 million grant to provide energy efficient upgrades to Taggart Manor. These upgrades will not only serve to provide quality jobs in the city, but will also reduce energy costs and carbon emissions as a result.

"This announcement is a concrete example of how Recovery Act funding is working to revitalize communities most affected by the national economic crisis," said Sims. "I am proud to announce this Community Development Block Grant going to the City of Portland, which will create jobs and increase energy efficiency in the city's hardest hit neighborhoods. President Obama and Secretary Donovan are anxious to put this money to work long-term, sustainable community development."

This is one of 1,200 Recovery Act-funded grants awarded through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, which primarily benefit low- to moderate-income families living in these communities. CDBG enables state and local governments to undertake a wide range of activities intended to create suitable living environments, provide affordable housing and create economic opportunities. Under the Recovery Act, recipients give priority to prudent projects that can award contracts based on bids within 120 days of the grant agreement. A total of $1 billion will be awarded nationwide by HUD in Recovery Act Community Development Block Grants.

President Obama directed all Recovery Act funding to be spent responsibly and in a transparent manner in order to provide a necessary economic boost, create jobs, and strengthen America's middle class. In a letter to CDBG recipients of Recovery Act funds, Donovan wrote, "In accepting these funds, it is imperative that you be good stewards of these precious taxpayer dollars by focusing your efforts on the Recovery Act goals of investing in infrastructure that will create or sustain jobs in the near-term and generate maximum economic benefits in the long-term."

Since 1974, CDBG has provided more than $127 billion to state and local governments to target their own community development priorities. The rehabilitation of affordable housing and the construction and improvement of public facilities have traditionally been the largest uses of CDBG funds although the program is also an important catalyst for job growth and business opportunities. Annual CDBG funds are distributed to communities according to statutory formulas based on population, poverty, pre-1940 housing stock, growth lag, and housing overcrowding.

HUD is committed to implementing Recovery Act investments swiftly and effectively as they generate tens of thousands of jobs, modernize homes to make them energy efficient, and help the families and communities hardest hit by the economic crisis. The Recovery Act includes $13.61 billion for projects and programs administered by HUD, nearly 75 percent of which was allocated to state and local recipients only eight days after President Obama signed the Act into law. The CDBG funding was among the 75 percent that was allocated during that time. Now as grant recipients' spending plans are approved, HUD is officially making funding available to spend. The remaining 25 percent of HUD Recovery Act funds are being awarded through a competitive process in the coming weeks and months.

In addition, Secretary Donovan and the Department are committed to providing the highest level of transparency possible as Recovery Act funds are administered. It is vitally important that the American people are fully aware of how their tax dollars are being spent and can hold their federal leaders accountable. Every dollar of Recovery Act funds HUD spends can be reviewed and tracked at HUD's Recovery Act website. The full text of HUD's funding notices and tracking of future performance of these grants is also available at HUD's Recovery Act website.

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