Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA) announced $3,513,342 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for communities in Massachusetts’ Third District. The CDBG will allow the local government to rapidly respond to urgent needs in our community which have arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the expansion of community health facilities, child care centers, food banks, senior services, and more.

“While we face this unprecedented health emergency, families, workers, and our most vulnerable populations need immediate help from Congress to weather this storm. I am proud to announce this funding as we fight expeditiously to protect our communities during this pandemic and to get people the assistance they immediately need,” said Congresswoman Trahan.

Congresswoman Trahan announced the following amounts for these MA03 Communities: 

$586,047.00 for Fitchburg, MA 

$610,649.00 for Haverhill, MA 

$1,011,001.00 for Lawrence, MA 

$1,305,645.00 for Lowell, MA 

The second set of grants - $1,159,224 of Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funding is set to address the impact of COVID-19 among individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This funding will support additional homeless assistance, prevention, and eviction prevention assistance. Eviction prevention activities including rapid rehousing, housing counseling, and rental deposit assistance which will mitigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic on working families.

Congresswoman Trahan announced the following amounts for these MA03 Communities: 

$526,348.00 for Lawrence, MA 

$632,876.00 for Lowell, MA

“CDBG provides direct federal supports to local governments, so cities can develop solutions that work for them. In a crisis such as this, additional CDBG funding will allow us to meet critical needs in Fitchburg, such as support for small businesses and vulnerable citizens most affected by this crisis. We will look to focus this funding in areas of community-identified need, and areas where we can leverage these dollars with other community supports to expand our impact further. The City of Fitchburg applauds Congresswoman Trahan’s leadership in securing this critical federal aid,” said Mayor of Fitchburg, Stephen DiNatale.

“This is tremendous news and we thank Congresswoman Trahan and the rest of our delegation for their hard work on our behalf,” said Mayor of Haverhill, James J. Fiorentini. “In addition to increasing our CDBG funds from around $1 million to around $1.6 million overnight, it also lifts the cap on what we can give to charities that work with the poor. This is a massive increase that is going to allow us to do more for those agencies and organizations that really need it right now. This means more help and resources for our homeless, our hungry, our jobless and especially our families and children.”

“In a time where every resource is precious and we are not certain what help will be there in the end for Lawrence, that Congresswomen Trahan has secured this federal funding means that Lawrence can continue to plan the recovery of the COVID-19 Pandemic with money in the bank,” said Mayor of Lawrence, Dan Rivera.

“The coronavirus crisis has posed distinct and unforeseen challenges to municipal governments that require immediate action. In the City of Lowell and in other similar communities, protecting individuals experiencing homelessness has emerged as a particularly daunting task,” said Lowell City Manager Eileen Donoghue. “We are grateful that Congresswoman Trahan and her colleagues have recognized these challenges and authorized valuable funding to aid municipalities like Lowell in responding to them.”

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