Parts of our area are still in recovery mode two years Hurricane Ida, especially areas hit hard in Jefferson Parish. The parish is hosting two meetings to get community input about how they should spend millions of federal funding.
Jefferson Parish has received $30.1 million from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development that can be used on parish wide repairs. This funding cannot be used on public or private individual housing.
"We had a lot of damage after Hurricane Ida and people are still making repairs. Unfortunately, this money is not for that," said Community Development Director for Jefferson Parish, Stephanie Brumfield.
The parishes Office of Community Development is responsible for deciding how this money will be spent. Once they get community input, they will compile a report and send it to the state. After it is approved, the money will be allocated to the projects decided on. Brumfield said this funding could have a major impact on those areas still trying to rebuild after back-to-back disasters.
"This is so important that people come out to these meetings," Brumfield said. "To let us know where they feel we should spend this money so we can be successful with this funding."
The money will fund two programs. $18 million will go towards the Hometown Revitalization Program which aims to encourage new economic growth opportunities, restore jobs, and revitalize commercial districts that were hit hard during natural disasters of 2020 and 2021.
The remaining $12.1 million, will fund the Resilient Communities Infrastructure Program which will repair or boost economic needs. This can include things like improving drainage systems to help reduce flooding or relocating public buildings to low risk areas.
The first meeting is August 15 at 4PM on suite 405, in the Yenni Building. The second will be on Aug. 16 at 4 p.m. at the Gretna Public Library. If you can't make it to any of these meetings, you can fill out a survey to make sure your voice is heard. The deadline to fill it out is Sept. 15. The survey is also available in Spanish.
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