Yonkers One of 17 Communities Granted Funds for Community Revitalization
YONKERS, NY – October 23, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Mike Spano announced today the City along with the Municipal Housing Authority of Yonkers and The Community Builders have been awarded $300,000 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant to support the development of a comprehensive transformation plan for Cottage Gardens in the Croton Heights/Cottage Place Gardens neighborhood. Yonkers is one of 17 municipalities from across the nation that was awarded the grant.
“HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods grant represents the positive momentum occurring right now in Yonkers as we revitalize our neighborhoods and improve the lives of the residents who live here,” said Mayor Spano. “This funding enables us to plan out strategies needed to build a stronger, a more sustainable community for residents at Cottage Gardens. We thank HUD and our local community stakeholders for their commitment to Yonkers and look forward to the great improvements that will be made to this very deserving neighborhood.”
The planning grant will be used to complete a comprehensive transformation plan, or road map, to revitalize not only the Cottage Place Gardens site, but the surrounding neighborhood. The transformation plan will thoroughly analyze and recommend solutions related to education, healthcare, access to jobs and career paths.
The City of Yonkers, Municipal Housing Authority and The Community Builders established a steering committee of key partners including the Yonkers Board of Education, the Yonkers Workforce Investment Board, Sarah Lawrence College, The Yonkers Neighborhood Health Center and Community Voices Heard. Throughout the next 12 months, the committee will meet with more than 20 community based organizations including day care providers, healthcare providers, affordable housing developers and other civic groups to develop the transformation plan.
HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative promotes a comprehensive approach to transforming distressed areas of concentrated poverty into viable and sustainable mixed-income neighborhoods. Building on the lessons learned from HUD’s HOPE VI Program, Choice Neighborhoods links housing improvements with necessary services for the people who live there – including schools, public transit and employment opportunities.
Cities across the country will use the funding, over $4.9 million granted by HUD, to work with local stakeholders – public and/or assisted housing residents, community members, businesses, institutions and local government officials – to undertake a successful neighborhood transformation to create a “choice neighborhood.”
