BERLIN– State and local leaders including Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Mayor Gee Williams gathered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Community Development Block Grant program on Thursday, Aug. 14.
Brown presented a check for $5.1 million in fiscal year 2015 awards to representatives from a dozen Maryland counties on the porch of the Atlantic Hotel in downtown Berlin.
“It’s been an extraordinary program around this country, and Maryland has certainly been the beneficiary,” Brown said.
The state awarded more than $2.1 billion in CDBG funds during the program’s four-decade run. Brown said he and Gov. Martin O’Malley invested $61 million in CDBG funds, helping to leverage $325 million to more than 200 projects.
“Over the last eight years we’ve worked together to ensure that those funds were going to very appropriate and meaningful uses,” said Brown. “This is a program that enables us to leverage public sector and private sector – not just private sector funding, but private sector ingenuity as we deliver new and creative ways to make investments in neighborhoods.”
Brown said strong communities require nurturing to grow and develop.
“We’re never going to cut our way to progress in Maryland,” he said. “We’re not going to deny your municipality that support funding. We’re not going to cut schools to build better schools. We’re not going to deliver less infrastructure to try to encourage and promote businesses to come to our communities and make investments. We’re going to do it by nurturing that growth and development, and I firmly believe that the Community Development Block Grant program is one of those nurturing programs.”
Williams said CDBG grants played a crucial role in Berlin, providing assistance for public facilities, housing property acquisition and economic development.
“It is not a coincidence that Maryland’s revitalization as a vibrant, diverse and economically sound 21st century community has taken place during the years since the creation of the Community Development Block Grant,” he said.
CDBG grants have funded Berlin projects including sidewalk upgrades, stormwater improvements and public restrooms.
“You may ask, ‘why are public restrooms so important to a small town?’” Williams said. “Over the decades of work and effort we have become a destination community for folks – not only throughout the state, but throughout the Mid Atlantic. We host 23 events each year – and I’m talking events where up to 3,000 people show up – plus 10 Friday night art strolls. Needless to say, with literally thousands of visitors coming to our downtown every year, public restrooms have become a vital and important part for us to properly serve as hosts to our guests.”
Carol Payne, director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Baltimore Field Office, said the block grant program has the ability to “change lives.” When Hurricane Sandy devastated communities on the Eastern Shore, Payne looked for a way to turn the block grants into aid for storm victims.
“As we toured Somerset County and the public housing communities that were the recipients of block grant funding due to a disaster, I was amazed at the work,” Payne said. “I really see this program as the lynchpin to making sure that residents and communities survive. The program makes a difference – not just in Maryland – but across the United States.”
Brown presented a check for $5.1 million in fiscal year 2015 awards to representatives from a dozen Maryland counties on the porch of the Atlantic Hotel in downtown Berlin.
“It’s been an extraordinary program around this country, and Maryland has certainly been the beneficiary,” Brown said.
The state awarded more than $2.1 billion in CDBG funds during the program’s four-decade run. Brown said he and Gov. Martin O’Malley invested $61 million in CDBG funds, helping to leverage $325 million to more than 200 projects.
“Over the last eight years we’ve worked together to ensure that those funds were going to very appropriate and meaningful uses,” said Brown. “This is a program that enables us to leverage public sector and private sector – not just private sector funding, but private sector ingenuity as we deliver new and creative ways to make investments in neighborhoods.”
Brown said strong communities require nurturing to grow and develop.
“We’re never going to cut our way to progress in Maryland,” he said. “We’re not going to deny your municipality that support funding. We’re not going to cut schools to build better schools. We’re not going to deliver less infrastructure to try to encourage and promote businesses to come to our communities and make investments. We’re going to do it by nurturing that growth and development, and I firmly believe that the Community Development Block Grant program is one of those nurturing programs.”
Williams said CDBG grants played a crucial role in Berlin, providing assistance for public facilities, housing property acquisition and economic development.
“It is not a coincidence that Maryland’s revitalization as a vibrant, diverse and economically sound 21st century community has taken place during the years since the creation of the Community Development Block Grant,” he said.
CDBG grants have funded Berlin projects including sidewalk upgrades, stormwater improvements and public restrooms.
“You may ask, ‘why are public restrooms so important to a small town?’” Williams said. “Over the decades of work and effort we have become a destination community for folks – not only throughout the state, but throughout the Mid Atlantic. We host 23 events each year – and I’m talking events where up to 3,000 people show up – plus 10 Friday night art strolls. Needless to say, with literally thousands of visitors coming to our downtown every year, public restrooms have become a vital and important part for us to properly serve as hosts to our guests.”
Carol Payne, director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Baltimore Field Office, said the block grant program has the ability to “change lives.” When Hurricane Sandy devastated communities on the Eastern Shore, Payne looked for a way to turn the block grants into aid for storm victims.
“As we toured Somerset County and the public housing communities that were the recipients of block grant funding due to a disaster, I was amazed at the work,” Payne said. “I really see this program as the lynchpin to making sure that residents and communities survive. The program makes a difference – not just in Maryland – but across the United States.”