Lewiston gets $1.3M to improve downtown housing
Courtesy / Office of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced Thursday that Lewiston, in partnership with Community Concepts, will receive $1.3 million through HUD's Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants Program.
Lewiston is the first city in Maine to receive a grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to revitalize its stock of affordable downtown housing.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced Thursday that Lewiston, in partnership with Community Concepts, will receive $1.3 million through HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants Program.
Collins, who serves as chair of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, had sent a letter to HUD Secretary Ben Carson last September in support of Lewiston and Community Concepts’ grant application.
“The City of Lewiston’s downtown affordable housing stock was largely built in the beginning of the 20th century, and much of it has significantly deteriorated and is in need of repairs or replacement,” Collins said in a news release. “This funding will help Lewiston promote the health and safety of low-income families living in public housing, while also contributing to meaningful economic growth in the city’s downtown area.”
Collins said the HUD grant would “benefit residents and accelerate the ongoing revitalization of Lewiston.”
Addressing a critical need
According to Sen. Collins’ office, 48% of residents in Lewiston’s downtown district live below the poverty line and the childhood lead poisoning rate is three times that of the entire state. The HUD funding is expected to allow Lewiston and its community partners to not only plan the renovation of the downtown district, but also to take initial steps to transform the neighborhood and boost the local economy.
HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods planning grants support the development of comprehensive neighborhood revitalization plans that focus on directing resources to address three core goals: housing, people and neighborhoods.
To achieve these core goals, communities must develop and implement a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy, or “transformation plan,” which will become the guiding document for the revitalization of the public and/or assisted housing units while simultaneously directing the transformation of the surrounding neighborhood and positive outcomes for families.
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