Methuen is receiving $550,000 to make Americans with Disability Act-related improvements to Broadway Street and provide social service assistance for youth services, childcare, elder transportation and adult literacy.
The money comes from federal Community Development Block Grant awards distributed by Baker-Polito administration. Forty-one communities in all shared in $34 million in federal money to pursue such local projects as housing rehabilitation, small infrastructure projects, and for local social services like youth programming or food banks.
Gov. Charlie Baker said, “These grants will help municipalities fill key budget gaps created by the pandemic, enabling them to advance critical long-term projects while continuing to support residents in the fight against COVID-19.”
Each year, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development allocates money to Massachusetts through the Department of Housing and Community Development. The state agency then manages both a competitive round for qualifying communities and allocates awards to the Commonwealth’s 11 mini-entitlement communities.
The Community Development Block Grant was instituted during the administration of President Richard M. Nixon. It largely replaced the federal government urban renewal program.