Published: September 28, 2009 10:57 pm      

Housing Authority receives $3 million

Money to be used to improve housing for seniors, disabled residents

The New Albany Housing Authority received some good news Friday afternoon.

Congressman Baron Hill’s office announced the Housing Authority will receive a $2.7 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to improve public housing for seniors and disabled persons.

According to a release issued by HUD, these grants will allow public housing authorities throughout the country to make necessary improvements to public housing communities that will specifically address the needs of seniors and persons with disabilities.

The New Albany Housing Authority is receiving four separate grants. They are: $1,105,000 for Parkview to make 24 apartments Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, and $590,000 for Riverside Terrace, $662,500 for Riverview Towers and $350,000 for Parkview Towers, to make community rooms ADA compliant.

“This is a significant amount of grant money that will go toward making significant improvements to aid seniors and disabled individuals in our communities,” Hill said in the release. “I applaud Bob Lane and his staff for securing this grant money, and am pleased we continue to see stimulus funds flowing directly back to Southern Indiana. Earlier this year the Housing Authority received $2.1 million in a federal grant to rehabilitate 19 units and build 37 bathrooms in the Vance Court complex.

“It really helps us,” said Bob Lane, executive director of the NA Housing Authority. “We had not had the money in the past to make more units handicap accessible. It’s really going to help the folks living here. I know Congressman Hill and his staff were really excited about this grant.”

These awards will give 44 housing authorities nationwide the funding necessary to modify existing public housing units to make them fully accessible or to convert them to be used as space for service provision for seniors and persons with disabilities. Housing authorities can also use this funding to improve community facilities to make such spaces accessible and to provide additional space for supportive services targeted to these groups.