Carteret, NJ – Mayor Reiman joined was joined today by the Carteret Office of Economic Development to announce that $10,000 in grant funding will be provided to Carteret food banks and local churches. $5,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, and another $5,000 in Special Improvement District (SID) funds have been allocated.
“Both our administration and business communities recognize the value of food banks,” Reiman commented, “especially to working class communities like Carteret. There is always a greater dependence on these resources in the winter and around the holidays, more so, we expect, with today’s challenging economy.”
According to the Carteret Office of Economic Development, a total of $5,000 in CDBG funds will provide for $5,000 in food vouchers, each a $15 value, which have been given to food banks and senior groups.
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), one of the longest-running programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, funds local community development activities such as affordable housing, anti-poverty programs, and infrastructure development. CDBG, like other block grant programs, differ from categorical grants, made for specific purposes, in that they are subject to less federal oversight and are largely used at the discretion of the state and local governments and their sub-grantees.
For 2008-2009, Carteret has qualified for $101,700 in federal CDBG funds.
Reiman’s administration has provided an additional $5,000 in SID funding, which will allow for the distribution of $25 food vouchers.
The first SID (or BID, Business Improvement District) was created in Toronto in 1980, establishing a coalition of local businesses sharing the same vision and strategies for local business improvements. Since then several have emerged in the United States, the first in New York in 1984, which boasts present-day Times Square among its many achievements. Today there are over 60 SIDs in New Jersey.
The SID has also allowed for an annual $200,000 in capital equipment upgrades for local emergency services, and increased police patrols.
