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Properly use HUD funds

By Staff | Oct 12, 2018

More than $1 million worth of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding is on the way to Nashua to help those who live in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods.

We are trusting city leaders to ensure proper use of these tax dollars.

“Community Development Block Grant funding is used to help us in a lot of downtown or depressed neighborhoods,” Mayor Jim Donchess told our reporter regarding the grant. “The more we can get, the more we can do for the community.”

According to HUD, the CDBG program began in 1974. Projects or initiatives must do at least one of the following to qualify for this funding:

Directly benefit low-to-moderate income residents,

Prevent or eliminate “slum and blight,” or

Address a “serious and immediate” threat to the health and safety of the community.

In the past, Nashua officials have used the money for certain neighborhood projects, such as upgrading the Crown Hill Fire Station.

City documents show Nashua has also used the funds to support community service organizations, such as the Boys & Girls Club, Bridges, Greater Nashua Mental Health Center, Nashua Children’s Home, Nashua Police Athletic League, Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, and the Salvation Army.

Specifically, Nashua will receive $658,301 worth of CDBG funding, as well as a $398,176 HOME Grant. The HOME funds are geared to support efforts with expanding affordable housing, particularly for people experiencing a housing crisis or homelessness.

Though some in Nashua and southern New Hampshire are quite affluent, many certainly are not. Some are struggling to make monthly rental payments, while others have already been displaced.

We hope Nashua city leaders maximize these federal funds to realize the highest possible benefit for those in need.

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