Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations Community Project Funding Submitted Proposals
This year, the Appropriations Committee created a new opportunity for Members of Congress to direct federal resources for certain projects with demonstrated community support, commonly referred to as Community Project Funding. Per Committee rules, each Member of Congress can submit up to 10 projects for consideration to be funded within the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations bills. More information about this process can be found here.
Congressman Dan Kildee’s office received dozens of proposals from the community but ultimately was only able to submit 10 to the Appropriations Committee for further consideration. Congressman Kildee will continue to work with all stakeholders in mid-Michigan to bring home federal resources to the district.
Congressman Kildee was able to secure the following community project funding requests:
Intended Recipient: Saginaw-Shiawassee Habitat for Humanity
Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 315 W. Holland Ave.; Saginaw, MI; 48602
Project Name: “Operation We Care” Neighborhood Revitalization
Request Amount: $520,000
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
Explanation of the request and taxpayer funding benefit: Saginaw-Shiawassee Habitat for Humanity, in conjunction with Bay County Habitat for Humanity, is requesting $520,000 to undertake critical home repairs, including energy systems and roofs, for veterans and low-income households.
This is a good use of taxpayer funding because it improves the quality of housing for veterans and low-income households while increasing energy efficiency, leading to lower power bills and safer homes while also combatting climate change.
Intended Recipient: Genesee County Land Bank Authority
Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 452 Saginaw St. # 200; Flint, MI; 48502
Project Name: Removing Publicly-Owned Hazardous Structures in Neighborhoods and Re-Positioning Them for Productive Use
Request Amount: $1,750,000
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
Explanation of the request and taxpayer funding benefit: The Genesee County Land Bank Authority and Bay County Land Bank Authority, are requesting $1.75 million to join forces to eliminate key public health threats within Flint and Bay City and support the re-use of vacant land in our local community. The Genesee County Land Bank Authority would demolish up to 65 of the most dangerous, vacant properties, prioritized by resident input. A small portion of the funding requested would support community-based groups to maintain vacant lots. The Bay County Land Bank Authority would demolish and re-purpose three vacant and abandoned school buildings. One school building has been demolished already but needs to be cleaned up, and the remaining two are vacant, abandoned and severely deteriorated. Both remaining structures are targets of vandalism and are blight in neighborhoods.
This project is a good use of taxpayer funds because it will increase public safety, improve housing values in surrounding neighborhoods and help spur additional economic development.
Intended Recipient: Genesee County
Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 1101 Beach St.; Flint, MI; 48502
Project Name: Genesee County Justice Partnership for Reform
Request Amount: $768,000
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
Explanation of the request and taxpayer funding benefit: Genesee County, including the Office of Genesee County Sheriff and the Genesee County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, are requesting $768,000 for a collaborative partnership to create the Genesee County Justice Partnership for Reform. The funding will reduce recidivism and generational incarceration by supporting the merit-driven educational program, Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education (IGNITE). IGNITE provides hope to incarcerated citizens through education, skills training, partnerships with returning-citizen-friendly employers and wrap-around services to continue the journey to better lives after release. The Genesee County Prosecutor's Office will work create a restorative justice program to meet the needs of victims of crime, while also providing fairness and equity to offenders, ultimately helping the community to heal and reducing crime in the future. This will be accomplished by providing alternatives to incarceration through a structured community panel format that brings victims, offenders and members of the community together in a robust mediation process.
This project is a good use of taxpayer funding because it will help reduce criminal justice costs, reduce recidivism, and build a stronger local economy by helping formerly incarcerated individuals secure jobs.
Intended Recipient: Genesee County Habitat for Humanity
Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 101 Burton St.; Flint, MI; 48503
Project Name: The Flint Home Improvement Fund
Request Amount: $1,500,000
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
Explanation of the request and taxpayer funding benefit: Genesee County Habitat for Humanity is requesting $1.5 million for the Flint Home Improvement Fund (HIF). The Flint HIF is a multi-faceted program that helps Flint residents make home upgrades, including furnace and hot water heater replacement, roof replacement or repairs, kitchen and bath upgrades, deck and porch replacement, new siding and other home upgrades to address health and safety issues. Funding for this work was a top request of many community leaders, especially neighborhood community groups. This funding will improve housing quality and safety, help families build wealth and make housing more accessible, especially for the disabled and seniors.
This project is a good use of taxpayer funds because investing in homes and ensuring safe, affordable and stable housing builds strong neighborhoods, increases the quality of life for residents and improves the health of families and communities.
Intended Recipient: Genesee Intermediate School District
Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 2413 W Maple Ave.; Flint, MI; 48507
Project Name: GISD School Nursing Pilot Program
Request Amount: $1,000,000
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
Explanation of the request and taxpayer funding benefit: Genesee Intermediate School District (GISD) is requesting $1 million to create a school nursing pilot program. During the pilot, GISD will set up the infrastructure and training needed to bill Medicaid for school-based health services and scale the project over time to provide a school nurse in each of their 21 school districts. This project seeks to improve the health, safety and wellness of all learners. When children are healthy and stress free, they are better prepared to learn. Schools with health care coverage from nurses have fewer absences, a decreased dropout rate and higher test scores.
This project is a good use of taxpayer money because it will improve health care for children, increasing their ability to achieve better learning outcomes in schools.
Intended Recipient: Greater Flint Health Coalition
Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 20 W. First St.; Flint, MI; 48502
Project Name: Establishment of a Mental Health Focused Community Information Exchange
Request Amount: $750,000
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
Explanation of the request and taxpayer funding benefit: The Greater Flint Health Coalition is requesting $750,000 to establish and expand a Community Information Exchange (The Exchange), which would improve the mental health crisis prevention and treatment needs of local residents. The Exchange will provide direct outreach to patients who have unmet behavioral health and social needs, helping them navigate the health and social services available to them. The Exchange will also improve the links between social service and health care organizations, including physicians, hospitals, mental health providers and health insurers to better address unmet health needs of residents.
This project is a good use of taxpayer funds because it will help ensure there is increased access to mental health services, improving health outcomes and ensuring more equity in the health care system.
Intended Recipient: Hurley Medical Center
Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: One Hurley Plaza; Flint, MI; 48503
Project Name: Purchase of New Critical Care Beds
Request Amount: $1,435,899
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
Explanation of the request and taxpayer funding benefit: Hurley Medical Center, a public and non-profit teaching hospital, is requesting $1.436 million to purchase 46 new critical care beds for their critical care units. Hurley Medical Center is an independent, 443-bed public safety-net hospital located in the city of Flint, Michigan. As a safety-net hospital, Hurley seeks to make care available to those who otherwise would not be able to access health care. This funding will bring a much-needed upgrade to Hurley’s fleet of beds and prevent injuries to nurses as they provide care.
This is a good use of taxpayer funds because modern care beds will help improve care for patients and minimize workplace injuries for health care workers. The investment in modern, medically engineered beds will ensure Hurley can continue providing high quality care to the Flint community.
Intended Recipient: North Flint Reinvestment Corporation
Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 1159 E. Foss Ave.; Flint, MI; 48505
Project Name: North Flint Food Market
Request Amount: $650,000
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
Explanation of the request and taxpayer funding benefit: The North Flint Food Market is a consumer-owned cooperative that will operate as a full-service grocery store in north Flint. The grocery store is Phase II in North Flint Reinvestment’s Pierson Road Corridor Revitalization Project. North Flint Reinvestment Corporation will renovate a vacant 21,000 square foot building to improve access to affordable, fresh and locally sourced produce for residents. It will also create quality jobs and give residents and supporters the opportunity to invest in their neighborhood. As a full-service grocery open to the public, this cooperative will ensure access to high-quality, healthy food in a city that does not currently have an operating grocery store within its city limits. Many regional and national chains have closed their grocery store locations in the area, creating a local food desert in the community.
This is a good use of taxpayer funding because it will provide quality, fresh food options to the community, help create local jobs and spur further economic development.
Intended Recipient: Presbyterian Villages of Michigan
Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 700 E. Kearsley St.; Flint, MI; 48503
Project Name: Workforce Development Program for Aging Services Providers
Request Amount: $581,500
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
Explanation of the request and taxpayer funding benefit: The Presbyterian Villages of Michigan is requesting $581,500 to create a program that will build a pipeline for direct care workers at McFarlan Home and Court Street Village senior living homes in Flint. The program will recruit high school seniors who are interested in working immediately after graduation, and partner with Mott Community College to provide a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification program for these students while they work. After completing the CNA program, students will complete a four-week professional development course and then be placed at aging services sites throughout the greater Flint area for a 20-week, paid co-op program.
This is a good use of taxpayer funding because it will provide better quality of care for seniors by creating a committed and stable workforce and create quality jobs.
Intended Recipient: Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village
Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 4119 North Saginaw St.; Flint, MI; 48505
Project Name: Supporting Youth Empowerment and Afterschool Education
Request Amount: $650,000
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
Explanation of the request and taxpayer funding benefit: The Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village (SBEV), in collaboration with Berston Field House (Berston), are requesting $650,000 to create a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education program for students at SBEV’s north Flint afterschool center, in coordination with Berston’s youth mentoring program for young adults ages 11-17. These programs will help educate and empower Flint youth by providing mentoring, as well as tutoring and homework assistance in STEM and other academic subjects, which will include access to laptops and tablets.
This is a good use of taxpayer funding because it gives young people additional educational and afterschool opportunities to become interested in the STEM career field and have mentors to support them.