U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Recognizes Arlington’s Successes1

By Office of Communication

Posted on January 03, 2017, January 03, 2017

The City of Arlington recently received an exemplary performance evaluation from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on the administration of $4.7 million in federal housing and community development grant funds.

The evaluation report provides an overview of accomplishments by the City of Arlington in the past program year. Key objectives of the report described the City's successful efforts in providing decent housing, providing suitable and sustainable living environments, homeless efforts and progress made in the Central Arlington Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Areas and East Arlington Target Areas.

The federal funds were leveraged with community resources to improve neighborhoods, housing opportunities and social services in The American Dream City.

"City staff has exemplified the mission and core values of the City in their effective delivery of meeting the needs of more than 12,000 Arlington residents," Deputy City Manager Jim Parajon said. "The City and local non-profits have successfully administered $4 .7 million in funding to address top Council priorities while increasing housing opportunities, improving neighborhoods and social services. The impact of the investment has made a significant difference for low- income residents in our community."

These efforts support the City Council's priority to Champion Great Neighborhoods.

Accomplishments during the past year were noted in the following areas:

Housing Opportunities:

• Housing Rehabilitation grants were provided to 72 low- and moderate-income households.
• Assisted 17 new homebuyers through its Homebuyer's Assistance Program
• Provided HOME funded Tenant-Based Rental Assistance to 55 families.
• The City's HOME funded Community Housing Development Organization completed construction of five new homes in the Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area.
• Participated in the collaborative effort to address homelessness in Tarrant County, resulting in the award of $12,916,368 in 2015 Continuum of Care funds.
• The Emergency Solutions Grant provided temporary shelter to 1,937 individuals, including 684 children and 1,253 adults.

Improve Neighborhoods:

• Provided Community Development Block Grant funding to 19 public service agencies and two city departments serving approximately 12,705 Arlington residents during program year.
• HOME funds were provided to construct five new homes.
• One hundred twelve homebuyers received a minimum of 10 hours of pre-purchase education and counseling, budgeting, home maintenance and foreclosure prevention training.
• Code Enforcement completed 3,964 inspections at 2,185 unduplicated properties in the Central Arlington NRSA.

Social Services:

• A total of 61 students attended literacy classes and five passed the GED offered by Water From the Rock, a Community-Based Development Organization.
• Provided a range of youth services to 9,019 low-income youth through Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boy and Girls Club, Dental Health Arlington, Girls Inc., HOPE Tutoring, Arlington Parks Department Build A Dream Scholarship
• Senior Citizen Services provided meals and transportation to 296 seniors.
• Mission Metroplex and Catholic Charities Ride2Work provided access to transportation to 359 low-income clients.
• Dental Health for Arlington provided dental clinic services to 728 individuals and dental prevention services to 7,820 elementary students at Title 1 schools.
• The Women's Center of Tarrant County provided recovery and rehabilitation services to 99 victims of violent crime.
• The YWCA Child Development Center provided full-day quality childcare to 24 low­-income children.
• The Arlington Library provided literacy opportunities to 922 adults to become proficient in reading and speaking English.

For more information, visit the Grants Management website at http://www.arlington­tx .gov/pds/grants/

Related articles:

• Partnership Helping Homeownership Dreams Come True in Arlington
• Ask Arlington: Federal Grant Funds for Community Services