St. Cloud Planning Commission Recommends Doling Out $670K in Federal Funds for Housing Services

(KNSI) – St. Cloud’s Planning Commission has passed along its recommendations on how to spend over a half-million dollars in federal funding.

Officials estimate they’ll have around $670,000 to dole out in Community Development Block Grant funding. The money must be given to organizations that benefit people with low or moderate income. KNSI News caught up with Community Development Director Matt Glaesman, who stated the asks often exceed the program’s budget. “Fifteen applications [were] received this year. The total amount of those requests is about three times the amount of available funds that we anticipate. It’s a difficult challenge.”

The planning commission selected six groups with seven grants, with the largest single chunk going to Central Minnesota Habitat For Humanity. The nonprofit would use $215,000 to help build single-family homes in the Westwood Development. The next two largest grants could go to Place of Hope: $169,000 to replace the HVAC and plumbing system at their facility in the 500 block of 9th Avenue North and $70,000 to help with the costs of providing shelter in severe winter weather emergencies.

The commission advises giving St. Cloud Overcomers International Fellowship Dream Center $50,000 for new siding and Center City Housing’s Elm Ridge Apartments $45,000 to provide affordable housing. Under the plan, Tri-Cap would get $11,000 for its annual Project Connect event at the River’s Edge Convention Center, and $10,000 would be given to the St. Cloud Area Crisis Nursery, which provides short-term emergency childcare. The remaining $100,000 is kept by the city to cover the cost of administrating the project.

Glaesman says all the recommendations carry a similar theme. “So, the majority of those requests that are proposed for funding were directly related to housing. They may have been maintaining existing facilities. They may have been constructing new facilities, or they may be helping coordinate the placement of folks within emergency sheltering.”

Those left off the list will still have a chance to pitch their project. There will be a public hearing on the recommendations during the March 10th St. Cloud City Council meeting. The council has the final say and can make any changes they see fit.

To see all the CDBG requests, click here.

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