More than $1.2 million in emergency federal funding has been awarded to local housing authorities in New Jersey’s Fourth Congressional District to expand public housing opportunities and to help local housing facilities meet sterilization standards needed to protect residents during the coronavirus pandemic, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) announced on May 5.
The back-to-back funding comes from two programs both boosted by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act which Smith supported in April, according to a press release from the congressman’s office.
Smith said the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will provide a total of $1 million from the CARES Act Administrative Fee Regular and Mainstream Voucher Programs. These federal funds will make more subsidized housing available during the pandemic.
Recipients in the Fourth District receiving funding include the Red Bank Housing Authority ($45,302); Housing Authority of the Township of Middletown ($75,788); Monmouth County Public Housing Authority ($343,654); and Community Enterprises Corporation of Freehold Borough ($6,478).
“This funding allows public housing authorities to offer more assistance to more low-income residents served by the Housing Choice Voucher, or Section 8 program, during the COVID-19 outbreak,” Smith said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the need for public housing and put a financial strain on housing programs, and this CARES Act funding will address that need,” he said.
Smith said grants come on the heels of those HUD provided just days earlier, from the CARES Act Supplemental Public Housing Operating Funds program to bolster financial resources for the management, maintenance and resident services in facilities hit hard by COVID-19 response.
“Housing authorities have incurred significant, unanticipated expenses for crucial actions needed to protect lives, such as constant cleaning and sanitizing, and the related supplies needed to keep their housing facilities safer due to the coronavirus response,” Smith said. “One of the ways to stop the virus is to keep a cleaner, sanitized environment.”
These additional CARES funds will go to the Freehold Housing Authority ($20,933) and the Red Bank Housing Authority ($48,473), according to the press release.
“These federal coronavirus HUD grants will boost local efforts to protect vulnerable populations and allow our local housing authorities to have more resources to bring about the safest possible environment for the communities they serve,” Smith said.
