Safety Net – NewDEAL

Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin Highlighted a Two-Year Cash Payment Pilot Program to Low-Income Residents

actualize — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 19:40:00 +0000

Ohio: Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin highlighted a two-year pilot program to provide cash payments to low-income Columbus residents. The $2.5 million program provides $500 a month to those participating in programs offering job training, career services, and wealth-building guidance. “Through this program, we’re giving Columbus residents a crucial stepping stone from simply getting by to truly thriving,” said Hardin.

Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist Announced the Launch of Mortgage Rate Relief Program for First-time Homebuyers

actualize — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 18:16:13 +0000

Michigan: Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist announced the launch of a Rate Relief Mortgage Program, which offers low-income, first-time homebuyers one full percentage point off their mortgage rate. Gilchrist emphasized the importance of this program in helping more Michigan families achieve homeownership and keeping money in their pockets.

Mayor Levar Stoney: Mayor’s Alliance to End Childhood Hunger

actualize — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 19:21:20 +0000

NewDEAL Leader Richmond, VA Mayor Levar Stoney is chairing the new Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, launched this week, with more than 50 other mayors already signed on, including 14 other NewDEALers. The Alliance seeks individual and collective leadership from cities nationwide to take meaningful action against childhood hunger, including publicly speaking on hunger issues, expansion of SNAP and P-EBT opportunities, and providing better financial assistance for school meals. Read more about the Alliance, or check out their one-pager on actions mayors can take.

Mayor Zeb Smathers: Federal Funds Help Shape the Hometown of Tomorrow

actualize — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 19:18:39 +0000

This week, the Canton, NC governing board, led by NewDEAL Leader Mayor Zeb Smathers, met to map the town’s recovery from a devastating flood last year that wreaked havoc on homes and businesses, using this moment of tragedy as a catalyst for more transformative change. Mayor Smathers is now considering multiple federal funding streams that have the potential to transform his town and ensure it embodies, as Smathers puts it, “the hometown of tomorrow.” For example, the governing board is considering selling riverfront land to FEMA as part of the agency’s buyout program. The land, if sold, could be turned into a park system for residents. Other rebuilding projects include an all-abilities playground, a dog park, and an aquatics center. Read this article for more on how Canton is turning tragedy into opportunity, and listen to our recent podcast interview with Mayor Smathers to hear him discuss the flood and how his town is building back.

Senator Sarah McBride: Paid Leave Becomes Law in Delaware

actualize — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 19:00:01 +0000

Delaware Governor John Carney has signed the Healthy Delaware Families Act, sponsored and championed by NewDEAL Leader Senator Sarah McBride. The law, which passed the legislature with bipartisan support, creates a statewide paid family and medical leave program that will provide workers with up to 12 weeks of paid leave, including to care for a new child, deal with a chronic medical condition, support a family member with a health issue, or address the impact of a family member’s military deployment. “Through collaboration and compassion, we have shown that small states can do big things for the people we represent,” Senator McBride said. Read more here about the legislation, which takes full effect on January 1, 2025, and can serve as a model for other policymakers.

ARPA: Phoenix AZ, Resilient Food System Providing Healthy Meals for Families

Estevan Ginsburg — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 16:32:26 +0000

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego has utilized American Rescue Plan funds to create one of the city’s most impactful programs, Feed Phoenix Food Program. The funding allocation through the Phoenix Resilient Food System is distributed to a series of related programs with the goal of developing more sustainable food options for Phoenix residents. This effort includes funding that will provide resources to local and neighborhood food banks, food kitchens, and investments to address food deserts and help support existing and new businesses providing healthy food to the community. The impact has been significant, including:

Collectively the various programs delivered over 264,000 meals
Funding to community food pantries has helped serve nearly 2 million pounds of food to 169,000 individuals and families.
The various programs have created 17 jobs and 7 Urban Agriculture Fellowship
Backyard Food Production Pilot installed 53 garden systems, helping develop gardens and train residents located in food deserts.

ARPA: Scranton PA, Creates Community Wellness Programs and Invests in Community Programs

Estevan Ginsburg — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 21:16:59 +0000

Scranton received $68.7 million in ARPA funds, and Mayor Paige Cognetti work to ensure the funding is invested to give people access to resources, rebuild the infrastructure systems that impact their everyday lives, and foster equitable wealth generation that targets the needs of Scranton residents. As of February 2023, Scranton awarded $1 million in grants to nearly 50 nonprofit organizations in need of financial recovery. Another $950,000 helped the support and creation of community wellness programs, including projects focused on behavioral health and mental wellness, drug overdose prevention, and violence prevention.

“Supporting a city that only recently shed its status as a financially distressed municipality is no easy task,” Mayor Cognetti said. “This once-in-a-lifetime ARPA funding is helping us to accelerate progress and promote the people and organizations that make Scranton a wonderful place to live and work.”

ARP: Oakland County MI, Invests in Food Assistance Programs

Estevan Ginsburg — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 14:27:30 +0000

Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter announced $950,000 American Rescue Plan funds for food assistance grants to help eligible residents met their basic needs and access nutritious food. In response to rising inflation, Coulter goal is to reach any Oakland County resident struggling with food insecurity. The county will help expand the impact of existing food assistance programs and encourage residents to use the support for fresh produce at local farmers’ markets. Additionally, Coulter announced that the county is partnering with the Poverty Solutions Initiative at the University of Michigan to conduct an extensive healthy food system landscape study that will examine how transportation routes affect peoples’ access to nutritious sources of food. “In the wealthiest county in Michigan, more than 11% of our children are listed as food insecure, up from 8% before the pandemic, and it’s not just in the cities with greater poverty numbers that are affected,” Coulter said. “We don’t want our families to scrimp on other essentials, like rent or utilities or medicines, so they can make sure they don’t go hungry.”

ARP: Sonoma County CA, Invests in Equity Programs

Estevan Ginsburg — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 23:18:54 +0000

Sonoma County Board Chair James Gore approved $39.2 million in American Rescue Plan funds to invest in the county’s Community Resilience Fund to assist those who felt the greatest economic and health disparities during the pandemic. Projects range from training childcare workers to the Small Business Equity & Recovery program, which is targeted at minority-owned businesses. Project proposals must address one of ten identified priority areas, including educational disparities, food assistance, and mental health. The county is encouraging proposals from businesses or nonprofits to promote collaboration, and prioritizing projects that seek to address gaps in education, health, and wealth across racial, ethnic, gender, or geographic lines. A current project making use of the funds is expanding rural broadband to address the disparity in access felt by low-income students.

ARP: Louisville KY, Invests in Families

Estevan Ginsburg — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 23:11:50 +0000

Mayor Greg Fischer announced that Louisville will spend $87.4 million of ARP funding to invest in childcare, parks, pools, and public health. The city will also fund improvements to the library system, including by opening up two new branches. Fischer believes that the investments will benefit every part of the community, especially those most in need of support.