October 17, 2017

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Announces $3.2 Million HUD Grants to City of Berkeley

Oakland, CA - Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee announced that the City of Berkeley was awarded three grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development totaling $3,244,837. The city will receive a $2,438,062 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to develop sustainable urban communities; an Emergency Solution Grant (ESG) totaling $222,915 to help support homeless individuals and families on the street; and $583,860 grant from the HOME program to expand affordable housing opportunities to low-income and very low-income communities.

"I’m pleased that Berkeley will receive this critical federal funding to improve and increase access to housing for those most vulnerable in our communities,” said Congresswoman Lee.  “Affordable housing is a human right. Federal investments such as these are critical to addressing our housing crisis, as many longtime residents in the East Bay, and throughout the Bay Area, are being forced out of the communities they’ve called home.”

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin said, “At a time when Bay Area housing prices have soared, deepening poverty and increasing the number of homeless people, funding for affordable housing is sorely needed and will help protect low-income residents who are at a risk of being displaced from the community, or worse, ending up on the streets. The assistance is greatly appreciated."

For more information about HUD Grant programs, click here.