Greenville Drafts Plan for $2M in Federal HUD Funding

Greenville Drafts Plan for $2M in Federal HUD Funding

The city of Greenville annually receives federal funding to assist low- and moderate-income residents and support affordable-housing efforts. To receive the funding, the city must submit an annual action plan and a five-year consolidated plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The annual action plan outlines the city’s goals for the next fiscal year. A draft of the city’s annual action plan for fiscal year 2024-25 was reviewed during a public meeting on June 4.

For the next fiscal year, the city will receive:

• $704,269 from HUD’s Community Development Block Grant
• $229,732 from HUD’s HOME Investment Partnership program
• $894,370 from HUD’s Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program

The city’s Community Development division creates the annual action plan and administers the federal funding. The award year begins July 1.

Proposed Uses

The draft plan allocates $241,000 of CDBG funding to Section 108 Loan projects for infrastructure improvements in the city’s special emphasis neighborhoods. This federal designation applies to communities with at least 51% of residents making below 80% of the area’s median income.

Ashlee Tolbert, the city’s community development planner, explained the city held a grant application period at the beginning of 2024 for organizations to apply for the federal funding.

The draft plan awards $50,000 of CDBG funding to Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County for rehabilitation construction of 11 owner-occupied units in the city. Approximately $105,358 of the HOME funding is also proposed to go to Habitat Greenville to construct two new homeownership units in the Nicholtown neighborhood.

“Community development is quite important because it helps to provide quality living space,” said Greenville City Council member Lillian Flemming.

Communities in Schools of South Carolina is proposed to receive $15,000 to provide counseling and services in local high schools for underserved youth and families. The draft plan awards $16,500 to Dream Chasers Basketball Club for the organization’s financial counseling and economic development efforts for youth.

The Greenville County Human Relations Commission is proposed to receive approximately $40,000 of the CDBG funding. The money will help support the commission’s fair housing counseling and financial counseling programs.

Approximately $30,061 of the CDBG funding is planned to be used for economic workforce development. This would fund resources and training such as the city’s Community Resource Fair. The city also plans to use $30,000 of the funding to acquire and maintain property for future affordable housing projects.

The remaining CDBG funding will be used for the operating and payroll expenses of the Community Development division and administering the city’s HUD grants.

The other allocations of the HOME funding include:

• $100,000 to Beyond Housing to construct a rental unit on Orange Street and a rental unit on Pine Street
• $65,000 to Genesis Homes to construct one rental unit at 14 Haynie St.
• $29,373 for the operating and payroll expenses of HOME activities

HOPWA funding must be used to financially assist people living with HIV or AIDS with their living expenses and offer support services. Tolbert explained that the government funding is passed through the city to AID Upstate and Upper Savannah Care Services. These organizations will use the funding to assist people living in Greenville, Anderson Laurens, and Pickens counties.

The Community Development division is currently collecting public comment on the draft plan until June 21.