U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill announced yesterday (Tues., Feb. 3) that the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will provide the St. Louis community with federal grant money worth a total of approximately $14.8 million.
The money is being provided through the Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), which was enacted in 2008 to assist state and local governments in addressing the impact of abandoned and foreclosed properties in the nation’s communities. St. Louis City will receive approximately $5.5 million and the additional $9.3 million will go to St. Louis County. “Communities all across America and in Missouri are struggling to deal with the effect of rising foreclosures,” McCaskill said. “At the foreclosure clinics I held in Missouri, I heard story after story of hard-working families who were suffering because of this crisis, and I’m pleased this grant money will help the residents of St. Louis to rebuild their communities.” McCaskill believes that federal grants and loans are a positive alternative to earmarks, which in the past have been authorized during a secretive process with little accountability. Competitive federal grants and low-interest government loans bring federal assistance to Missouri in an honest and fiscally responsible manner.