The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A public hearing on applications for nearly $350,000 in Community Development Block Grant money was held at the March 26 Township Council meeting.
The public hearing is part of the process of awarding the grants, the money for which comes from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money is targeted to be used to help low- and moderate-income people.
Deborah Mitchell, administrator of the Township’s CDBG program, told the Council that she won’t know how much the Township will receive from HUD until after May 5.
Last year, the program received $348,561 in grant money.
This year, 16 applications were filed, asking for a total of $347,225.63.
The money can be used for three categories: Public Service projects, Public Facilities projects, and Housing projects.
Several applicants showed up at the public hearing to make their case to the Council for their grant applications.
Allie O’Brien, from the Franklin Food Bank, told the Council that the $100,000 her organization is asking for would go toward a trailer to help them bring more services to their clients.
She said that in addition to food, the Food Bank is providing clients with “wrap-around” services, such as monthly health screenings.
Many of these wrap-around services are only offered outdoors, she said, and while there are tents provided, “our clients are receiving these services outdoors in the sun, the heat, the rain, the cold, and the snow.”
A trailer, she said, “would enable the Franklin Food Bank to deliver on our promise to deliver these additional services, but also on our mission of serving in an atmosphere of dignity and respect.”
“We would be able to spend this money immediately and report on it in a timely fashion,” she said.
Sharon Clark, Executive Director of the Central Jersey Housing Resource Center, said the $14,459 her organization applied for would in part help the 168 Franklin families that use the center.
“We have a huge shortage of housing,” she said. “It’s in a critical state for our clients.”
Peg Wright, CEO of the Center for Great Expectations, said her organization applied for $20,000 “to augment the cost of providing services in Katy’s place. Katy’s Place is our child development center, which serves the residents that live in the adolescent and adult residential center, as well as children from supportive housing.”
CGE also applied for $20,000 to provide daycare and educational programs to 36 children, and $21,129 for a sump pump/sewerage ejector and other improvements to their houses on Dellwood Lane.
Other applications were for:
- $24,978 for Middle Earth for its Journeys Program for Franklin Center Program school students.
- $20,000 for HOPES CAP for expanding ESL classes, financial literacy and home ownership training.
- $10,000 for Homesharing, In. for staffing assistance for a shared affordable housing program.
- $12,008 for Hillsborough YMCA for its Swim Around program.
- $5,000 for SIster2Sister to provide staffing support counseling for low- and moderate-income breast cancer victims; $29,595 to build a wheelchair access ramp for the parking lot’s main entrance, and $7,000 for building and grounds cleanup and plumbing repairs.
- $10,000 for Somerset County Community Action Program for improvements to a facility providing childcare.
- $9,062.63 for the Franklin Township Environmental Commission to restore the Common Grounds Community Garden at Pine Grove Elementary School.
- $45,000 for the Arc of Somerset for reconstruction of driveway paving and sidewalks and correction of yard drainage for a group home.
