Citizens of the U.S. Virgin Islands affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria are about to get some help in the way of a $243 million grant.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Deputy Secretary Pamela Patenaude and U.S. Virgin Island’s Gov. Kenneth Mapp recently announced the formal execution of a grant agreement to speed recovery dollars to restore damaged and destroyed homes, businesses and infrastructure.
The U.S. Virgin Islands’ long-term recovery is supported through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program.
“With the formal execution of this grant agreement, the real brick-and-mortar recovery work can begin,” Patenaude said in a news release.
Mapp said the grant will allow the government to offer faster assistance to homeowners and construct new housing for senior citizens and others in need.
“We now have the opportunity to make permanent repairs to public housing and provide assistance to private landlords as we work to rebuild our housing stock,” Mapp said in the release. “HUD is also helping us ensure that more Virgin Islanders have the opportunity to be a part of the rebuilding process through funding training for work in the construction trades."
To address unmet needs, the U.S. Virgin Islands identified several housing, infrastructure and economic development recovery needs arising from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The U.S. Virgin Islands disaster recovery action plan includes the following activities:
Homeowner Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program ($10 million) – This program is available to eligible homeowners for properties that were damaged by Hurricanes Irma or Maria.
New Construction for Homeownership Opportunity and First Time Homebuyer Assistance ($10 million) – This program is designed to address post-disaster housing affordability challenges and enable renters to become homeowners.
Rental Rehabilitation and Reconstruction ($5 million) – This program provides funds for the repair or replacement of damage to rental housing owned by the Virgin Islands Housing Authority, Virgin Islands Housing Finance Agency and private landlords.
Public & Affordable Housing Development ($32 million) – These funds are targeted for the redevelopment and creation of new affordable housing, including subsidized and mixed-income rental units.
Supportive Housing & Sheltering Programs ($15 million) – The U.S. Virgin Islands recovery plan includes an effort for the rehabilitation, reconstruction, and development of housing for vulnerable populations, particularly among low-income seniors and those persons and families experiencing homelessness. This program also includes the development of emergency shelters for individuals and families who cannot shelter in place during disasters. The emergency shelter housing would also serve persons who require short-term housing because they are temporarily displaced.
Infrastructure ($125.5 million) – These funds are targeted for three infrastructure activities: local match for federal disaster relief programs ($50.5 million) to help finance educational facilities, energy, hospitals, telecommunications, transportation, waste management, and water/wastewater management; infrastructure repair and resilience ($30 million), and electrical power systems enhancement and improvement ($45 million).
Economic Revitalization ($33 million) – Through this program, the U.S. Virgin Islands seeks to revitalize the post-disaster economy, including ($23 million) for ports and airports enhancements, including harbor dredging to allow for larger cruise ships; a workforce development program to train low- and moderate-income residents to fill the construction and other jobs coming from recovery investments ($5 million); and the tourism industry support program ($5 million), which will require a waiver by HUD, for marketing to communicate that the Virgin Islands is open for business.