Contact: Rob Ostrander 202.224.7627 Shana Stribling 202.224.0309
Friday, October 21, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Kit Bond today announced that he secured $7.75 million in federal funds for key projects in St. Louis in the Senate Transportation-Treasury-HUD spending bill.

“With last night’s passage some of the neediest neighborhoods in St. Louis are closer to receiving critical funds for improved education and health care services, affordable housing and community outreach projects,” said Bond. “As Missouri’s senior Senator, my job is to fight to send Missouri’s hard-earned tax dollars back home. I will continue to work to make sure my state gets the dollars it needs, whether it is to fund safe places for our families to live, lead clean-up, or job training and education opportunities.”

As chairman of the Senate Transportation-Treasury-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee, Bond secured the $7.75 million in federal funds in the fiscal year 2006 spending bill, which passed the Senate last night. Before being signed into the law the bill must be reconciled with the House of Representatives version.

Bond secured funds for the following St. Louis projects:

* $5 million for Lead Abatement. These funds are focused on primary prevention services for pregnant women and their babies. The program, administered by Grace Hill Community Health Centers, is working to clean and remediate homes in six high risk zip codes, to keep children from being poisoned by lead. In 2003, Bond challenged Mayor Slay to make the city lead free by 2010 by delivering $15 million in federal funds in the next three federal funding cycles. Today’s announcement is the third installment of funds, making good on his promise.

* $1 million for Salisbury Park. The funds will be used by Better Living Communities for the Salisbury Park neighborhood housing development. Once completed, the new neighborhood in North St. Louis will have 19 renovated apartments, 40 low income housing tax credit apartments, 60 single family homes and a 65-unit senior project. The new development will also provide educational, recreational and social support services for residents.

* $750,000 for the Family Support Services Center for Autistic Children. The funds will be used to build a Center to serve families with autistic children in St. Charles County. The new facility will allow current services to be consolidated in one location and provide new services to the community, including respite care for those with severe behavioral needs. In the last fiscal year Bond secured $1 million for the Center.

* $500,000 for the Mark Twain Community Alliance. The funds will be used to renovate a building that will become the Redevelopment, Arts, Culture and Educational Center in St. Louis. Specifically, the center will help residents living in the most disadvantage zip codes in St. Louis City and County (63115, 63113, 63120). Children in these zip codes are exposed to a number of negative social conditions and risk factors such as poverty, single parent households, teen pregnancy and violence, and drop out rates are also among the highest in the city. The center will take a holistic approach that offers intervention and alternatives, including educational, arts and cultural programs.

* $500,000 for the Cochran Gardens Redevelopment. The funds will be used to redevelop the Cochran Gardens Public Housing Site into a new, mixed income community, including 266 units of new garden apartments and town homes. The new Cochran Gardens Community will provide much needed affordable housing for downtown workers.