PETER J. MILLER
WESTFIELD – The city commemorated the 40th anniversary of the federal Community Development Block Grant program this week with open houses held at social service agencies and businesses supported in part with the federal funding.
The CDBG program was established in 1974 and is the federal government’s principal vehicle to provide states, cities and counties with grants to improve the physical, economic and social conditions of communities.
Community Development Director Peter J. Miller Jr., said what is unique about the program is that local communities can tailor how those funds are spent to meet local needs.
“We get to direct, to determine locally, how best to allocate those funding dollars,” Miller said. “The grant funding is vital to propping up services to reach people in need in the most direct way.”
The Community Development Department holds public hearings each year to allow agencies to present details of their programs and to identify their level of financial needs to support those programs.
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, who issued a proclamation commemorating National Community Development Week this week, said the city uses the federal funds in a number of ways.
“The grant recipients provide vital services to different segments of our population,” Knapik said.
He said the funding is also a key element of community planning and development.
“It does provide another avenue to accomplish projects and programs without using local tax dollars, funding for property acquisition, demolition of blighted buildings and planning for future projects,” he said.
Miller said that the CDBG funding, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has been cut over recent years from a total of $4.4 billion to $3.03 billion.
“Over the last 10 years the funding level here in Westfield has been cut from about $500,000 a year to $360,000, putting fiscal pressure on local agencies receiving those funds,” Miller said.
Knapik said cuts to HUD’s CDBG and HOME program, which provides grants to create safe, sanitary and affordable housing conditions in communities nationwide, are needed to bolster local efforts to provide social services and foster revitalization.
“These programs are needed more than ever to help our citizens and improve the overall condition of our neighborhoods,” Knapik said.
