North Carolina Construction News staff writer
The City of Durham is holding a public hearing at a scheduled council meeting on May 1, for stakeholders interested in providing comments on the “needs” in local neighborhoods for the FY 2023-2024 annual action plan.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. and participants should click the link for instructions on how to make a presentation to council.
A copy of the Draft FY 2023-2024 AAP is available for review until May 5.
The city expects to receive about $2 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and has identified four priorities: Homelessness,
Homeless priority:
- provide funding for organizations and programs that conduct outreach to unsheltered individuals, emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, rapid rehousing, and other critical services as part of Durham’s Homelessness Continuum of Care
- work with a network of agencies to provide emergency housing assistance, long-term rental assistance, case management, supportive services, and to support the creation of new housing options for these households
Housing priority:
- provide support to preserve existing affordable housing units and to create new affordable rental and for sale units as a growing affordable housing crisis worsens
- provide support to preserve existing affordable housing units and to create new affordable rental and for sale units
- continue home repair and rehabilitation programs to address health and safety concerns, improve energy efficiency, and enable existing low-income homeowners to remain safely in their homes
- provide down payment assistance to enable low-income households to purchase homes
Economic Development priority:
- increase employment, self-sufficiency, education, job training, technical assistance, and economic empowerment of low- and moderate-income residents
- support and encourage new job creation, job retention, employment, and job training services
- support business and commercial growth through expansion and new development through technical assistance programs and low interest loans are prioritized