Smith announces $1.2 million in CARES Act Housing Funds

More than $1.2 million in emergency federal funding has been awarded to local housing authorities in the Fourth Congressional District to expand public housing opportunities and to help local housing facilities meet sterilization standards needed to protect residents during the coronavirus pandemic, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) said today. The back-to-back funding comes from two separate programs both boosted by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act which Smith supported last month.
The funds will make more subsidized housing available during the pandemic.
“This funding allows public housing authorities to offer more assistance to more low-income residents served by the Housing Choice Voucher, or Section 8 program, during the COVID-19 outbreak,” Smith said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the need for public housing and put a financial strain on housing programs, and this CARES Act funding will address that need.”
The following Monmouth County based housing authorities have received grants:
- Red Bank Housing Authority, $45,302
- Neptune Housing Authority, $49,500
- Housing Authority of the Township of Middletown, $75,788
- Monmouth County Public Housing Authority, $343,654
- Community Enterprises Corporation of Freehold Borough, $6,478
Smith noted the grants come on the heels of those HUD provided just days ago, from The CARES Act Supplemental Public Housing Operating Funds program to bolster financial resources for the management, maintenance, and resident services in facilities hit hard by COVID-19 response.
“Housing authorities have incurred significant, unanticipated expenses for crucial actions needed to protect lives, such as constant cleaning and sanitizing, and the related supplies needed to keep their housing facilities safer due to the coronavirus response,” Smith said. “One of the ways to stop the virus is to keep a cleaner, sanitized environment,” he said.
These additional CARES funds, in the amount of $270,000, are going to four towns in NJ-04:
- Belmar Housing Authority, $22,205
- Freehold Housing Authority, $20,933
- Neptune Housing Authority, $178,472
- Red Bank Housing Authority, $48,473
“These federal coronavirus HUD grants will boost local efforts to protect vulnerable populations and allow our local housing authorities to have more resources to bring about the safest possible environment for the communities they serve,” said Smith.
Paul DeSantis, Executive Director of the Belmar Housing Authority, said today that the facility he oversees on Eighth Avenue in the borough has a great need for the funding.
“This funding will help a lot to cover the costs we’ve incurred since the start of the pandemic,” DeSantis said. “The majority of the people here are seniors, and we also have adults with disabilities.”