SMITHVILLE — Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr, D-Ga., has  announced that the Georgia Department of Community Affairs has awarded the City of Smithville a 2015 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) of $500,000 to help reconstruct and rehabilitate housing in the city.
“I applaud the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for awarding the Community Development Block Grant to the City of Smithville. The CDBG helps encourage job creation through community development as well as the expansion and retention of businesses,” said Bishop. “I was excited to hear that the grant will help improve the quality of housing for low-to-moderate income families in the city.”
“[The grant will be used for] the reconstruction and rehabilitation of dilapidated housing,” said Carol Southard, a consultant for the City of Smithville. “Eighty-one percent of the people affected are low-to-moderate income and the reconstruction will help the surrounding neighborhood as well.”
Community Development Block Grants were awarded to Smithville as well as 11 other areas in Georgia’s Second Congressional District. Sixty-seven counties and cities throughout Georgia received grants varying from $200,000 to $500,000 for use on a multitude of community projects ranging from road improvements to the construction of mental health facilities.
Funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the CDBG program aims to empower local governments and citizens to tackle serious challenges facing their communities.