On January 12, 2016 a community hearing was held for input on the allocation of funds provided to the city of Auburn by the Community Development Block Grant Entitlement Program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Auburn is an eligible community for the Community Development Block Grant with over 50,000 city residents.
Auburn received $469,551 in funds through the Community Development Block Grant in 2015, according to Todd White, with the community development division for the City of Auburn.
“The CDBG program works to ensure decent affordable housing, to provide services to the most vulnerable in our communities and to create jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses," reads the CDBG mission statement on the HUD website. "CDBG is an important tool for helping local governments tackle serious challenges facing their communities.”
Thus all proposals for use of CDGB funds must meet one of the national objectives, which include benefiting low-income and moderate-income persons, prevention or elimination of slums and blight, or address urgent community development needs that cannot receive funding elsewhere, according to White.
Programs funded in the past include the Boys and Girls Club, affordable housing, housing repairs, bill assistance, and numerous non-profit programs benefiting the Auburn community.
“We provide public service for residents in the city of Auburn that includes rental, utility, and housing needs,” said Ashley Simpson, housing and community development coordinator for the City of Auburn.
For the CDBG funds to be approved for projects such as bill assistance through the city, the beneficiaries must meet the minimum income standards set by HUD based on the number dependents in a household and an income below the median income in Alabama.
“In order to qualify for a lot of our programs they have to live in Auburn city limits and meet the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development minimum income,” said Simpson.
Of the few citizens at the meeting, those that were present cited overflow in drainage systems, a lack of transportation for children to go to the Boys and Girls club after school, public transportation, dilapidated buildings, a dilapidated park and fencing as community issues.
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