Funds are headed to Champaign and Urbana to offset losses as a result of the coronavirus. | Adobe Stock
Funds are headed to Champaign and Urbana to offset losses as a result of the coronavirus. | Adobe Stock
Nearly $900,000 is headed to the Champaign and Urbana areas courtesy of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package recently approved by Congress.
According to the News-Gazette, $592,000 has been earmarked for Champaign and a $295,000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) is set to be delivered to Urbana.
“This federal funding will allow our local communities to respond to the specific needs they have,” U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) said in a statement as reported by The News-Gazette.
The added funding comes on top of the $1 million Champaign received this fiscal year in HUD block grants and the $505,000 Urbana received.
“The city is grateful for the assistance to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19 needs,” Champaign Neighborhood Programs Manager Jennifer Carlson told the News-Gazette. “From homelessness services, to renting, to housing, to businesses, we are in the process of assessing where support is needed for low- to moderate-income households, which is a requirement for CDBG funds.”
Urbana grants manager Sheila Dodd added she already has a good idea where the city’s new windfall will land.
“We’re working internally at things we can do to offset the impact of the COVID virus,” Dodd told the News-Gazette. “Those are the type of things we are researching.”
According to Dodd, with everything now happening with the virus HUD has relaxed some of the restrictions pinpointing what CDBG funds can be used for.
In the past, leaders in Champaign have used such funding for home repair and improvement programs like the Bristol Place redevelopment, Bradley Avenue improvements and lighting upgrades in the Garden Hills neighborhood.
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