For the past 42 years, the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program has promoted progress and improvement among communities throughout Nebraska and around the nation. During March 28-April 2, National Community Development Week is celebrating the accomplishments of communities and projects that are encouraging economic growth and development.
Earlier this week at the State Capitol, Bellevue Mayor Rita Sanders and CDBG Specialist Abby Highland joined Gov. Pete Ricketts, and officials from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) as well as representatives from several communities to publicly recognize these outstanding efforts.
Gov. Ricketts kicked off the celebration by proclaiming March 28-April 2, 2016, as Community Development (CD) Week in Nebraska and welcoming those in attendance.
“Community Development Week is an opportunity to highlight the numerous partnerships between volunteers, local organizations, government, and the private sector that help grow Nebraska,” said Governor Ricketts. “CDBG projects have provided opportunities to gain access to resources that will enable communities throughout Nebraska to prosper.”
The Governor went on to share how the CDBG program in Nebraska has helped fund 270 projects with $50 million, in combination with over $84 million in leveraged state, local, and private matching funds, and benefitted more than 240,000 people and 118 communities.
This year the City of Bellevue recognized Rebuilding Together Omaha and presented the organization with its 2016 Bellevue CDBG Achievement Award. Rebuilding Together Omaha approached the City about partnering to develop a program to assist elderly and permanently disabled homeowners with home repairs.
Rebuilding Together Omaha focused on providing assistance to homeowners who couldn’t afford to hire the work to be done and didn’t have the physical ability to do the work themselves. Rebuilding Together Omaha’s mission is to bring volunteers and community members together to improve the homes and lives of low-income homeowners. This created permanent housing stability for homeowners, and reduced the number of substandard housing units within the City while maintaining the existing affordable housing stock.
Mayor Rita Sanders presented the award. The City of Bellevue was glad to recognize the efforts of a nonprofit organization that partnered with the CDBG program to address its needs for affordable housing.
For information on the Bellevue project, contact Abby Highland at 402-293-6596 or at abby.highland@bellevue.net .