NEW BEDFORD, CITY OF (INC)

The City of New Bedford, through the Office of Housing and Community Development has awarded three sub-recipients CDBG-R funds to carry out activities in the areas of public facility improvement, infrastructure improvement, and economic development. Under public facility improvement, CDBG-R funds have been awarded to The Southeast Regional Network, a regional provider of social, behavioral health, and residential services, to retrofit existing administrative space in their New Bedford family homeless shelter to create an in-house child care center for shelter clients and for the broader community. Under Infrastructure improvement, OHCD has awarded funds to the City of New Bedford's Department of Public Infrastructure to make much-needed street and sidewalk restorations to targeted CDBG low income eligible areas. In the area of economic development, OHCD has awarded the New Bedford Economic Development Council (NBEDC) money to administer economic development loans to one or more small businesses in order to foster job creation and retention. All activities meet key priorities of both the traditional CDBG program, and adhere to the intent and purpose of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. To varying degrees and in various ways these projects create and/or retain jobs, promote or enhance energy efficiency and resource conservation, and materially improve the quality of life of those most affected by the current recession. For example, the HarbOUR house Child Care facility will create temporary construction jobs (4) and permanent child care jobs (2.5), as well as providing a convenient and affordable alternative to shelter clients and others in the community for whom the lack of child care is an impediment to employment or training. To the greatest extent possible, the project will use energy-efficient, ecologically friendly, water-conserving building materials and methods and energy-efficient appliances. In the case of the street and sidewalk improvments, we estimate the work to create or retain 10 temporary construction jobs and improve the quality of life in some of the City's more economically distressed areas. Moreover, all of the new sidwalks will be installed with grass ribbons, improving the city's storm water managment profile and reducing the runoff into local waterways. Lastly, the economic development loan fund is projected to create 4 permanent full-time jobs, and will be given to a business or businesses with consideration of their ecological as well as economic profile.

Clarification of Codes