Mayor Carlo DeMaria recently announced that the North Suburban Consortium (NSC), which consists of cities that have collectively agreed to sign a cooperative agreement to gain access to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Program funds, are in the process of surveying residents to determine the best use of their $6.2 million allocation of their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. These funds must be used to provide homelessness assistance and supportive services to qualifying populations in Arlington, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Revere and Winthrop. The NSC’s survey is seeking input from a variety of individuals – ranging from residents to those who work in the community – on how to spend these funds to address our communities’ needs.
While the funds must address homelessness, they may be distributed into the following categories: Affordable Rental Housing Development (which includes rehabilitation of existing units and creation of new units), Nonprofit Assistance (including nonprofit operating and nonprofit capacity building), Supportive Services (including substance abuse treatment services, mental health services, life skill training, child care, housing search and counseling services, outreach services, case management, landlord/tenant liaison, financial assistance, employment assistance and job training, credit repair, education services, legal services and food security), Non-Congregate Shelters and Tenant-Based Rental Assistance.
The survey can be found here: https://malden.abalancingact.com/malden. For more information, please contact Rachelly Bartolotta at Rachelly.Bartolotta@anseradvisory.com.