The recommended projects include affordable housing, emergency aid and the food pantry at the Amherst Survival Center.
AMHERST - Money to buy property for affordable housing, for emergency aid and for the food pantry at the Amherst Survival Center are the recommended projects for the use of block grant money.
Town Manager John P. Musante recently discussed the recommendations for spending the $1 million in mini-entitlement Community Development Block Grant funding that the town is eligible to apply for for the second year in a row.
The community Development Committee examined needs for social service activities and non-social service activities.
For social services, $18,000 would be used to provide emergency help to people in need of emergency shelter, food or fuel for example. “This is meeting basic needs,” he said.
Also included is $20,500 for the survival center food pantry. The pantry provided food for 2,568 people in the last 12 months, including 1,691 low-income residents from town, a number that is up 17 percent over last year, according to the committee recommendation report. The center had also applied for $400,000 to help renovate the former Rooster’s at 138 Sunderland Road, which the agency bought this summer for a new center.
Also included is $37,500 in tuition assistance for 30 families who need help paying for after-school programs and $100,000 to Milestone Ministries to provide shelter and social services for homeless people next year. The agency is providing services this year.
In the non-social service needs, the town is recommending $375,000 for infrastructure improvements to make sidewalks more accessible to pedestrians, cyclists and those using public transportation along Main Street. “This is very timely because of our sidewalk needs,” Musante said.
Also, the town is looking to use $200,000 to buy property on West Street for affordable housing. This is a 17-acre parcel on West Street. Money would be used to hire a consultant to assess the affordable housing needs of the community.