ARP: Phoenix AZ, Invests in Jobs of the Future

Prior to the pandemic, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego was already working on diversifying its economy with a look towards the jobs of the future. With ARP funds, the city is partnering with community colleges to make it easier for residents to obtain degrees and certificates for high-demand, high-paying jobs. After a tech firm recently chose Phoenix as the location for a new semiconductor factory, Gallego and her team worked with community colleges to provide the right kind of training so that graduates are prepared to get jobs at the semiconductor plant. The Rescue Plan is allowing Phoenix to offer monthly stipends of up to $1,000 to help residents who enroll in courses for high-demand industries, such as technology and health care. The funds can be used to offset costs such as books and child care. And Gallego is particularly focused on ensuring single parents are able to participate.

Gallego launched the Route to Relief program, a partnership with local community colleges to help students enter high-wage careers in essential industries. “Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, we have a unique opportunity to help people enter extremely high-wage careers in Maricopa County,” Gallego said. Using resources from the federal ARP state and local recovery fund, the program will provide eligible students with free tuition, monthly stipends, and employment assistance. Programs range from healthcare to semiconductor manufacturing across 10 Maricopa County Community Colleges and place people in jobs that are crucial to supporting the Arizona economy.

ARP: Phoenix AZ, Improving Public Health with Mobile COVID Testing and Vaccination Units

From the beginning of the pandemic, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego has centered her response on a simple question: How can we get resources to our residents? Rather than have residents come to a centralized location for services, the mayor and her team brought the services to the community.

 The mayor’s office is particularly excited about an innovative, high-impact health program that grew out of the pandemic and is now being funded by ARP.

The office created mobile COVID testing and vaccination units to bring services to areas where they can have a big impact. City officials partner with community leaders, such as pastors, to make getting COVID tests and vaccines as easy as possible. By working with and being invited into communities by trusted partners, the city is able to have a bigger impact than going it alone. With ARP funding, the unit administered tens of thousands of COVID-19 tests and thousands of COVID-19 vaccines.

The city has used the same concept to initiate a mobile workforce development unit, allowing residents to get help with resumes in their neighborhoods, and even take part in Zoom interviews with potential employers. 

ARP: St. Louis MO, Determined to Keep Residents In Their Homes

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones has identified three key issues around housing: homelessness, affordability, and homeownership. She’s using American Rescue Plan funds to address each issue. In addition to spending $10 million to directly assist the homeless population, Jones is using federal money to keep families in their homes. St. Louis is using $15 million from ARP on a Healthy Home Repairs program that will help up to 750 families make necessary repairs to stay in their own homes. The city is also investing $23 million in rental assistance programs.

Innovation is a key way the city will keep families housed. Partnering with a nonprofit, the city is using $125,000 of ARP funds for a Property Tax Relief program that pays off backlogged taxes that would normally result in foreclosure. This relatively modest investment will help 50 families stay in their homes, and the city will use an additional $375,000 of ARP funds in coming years for additional property tax relief.

In addition to $20 million for a housing development fund to build more affordable units, the city is spending $2 million to help build a tiny home community, in partnership with a veterans organization. The community will have 50 homes as well as a community center.

ARP: St. Louis MO, Pledges $5 Million to Help Small Businesses

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones is determined to ensure small businesses are able to fully recover from the pandemic. To help them, the city is launching a $5 million Small Business Grant Fund for up to 900 small businesses. The companies will be able to apply – in person or online – for up to $5,000.

The funding can be used for a variety of purposes, including rent, purchasing new equipment, or covering payroll. In order to ensure the grants go out the door promptly, the city is hiring two full-time employees to review the applications, in addition to allocating time from ten current employees to assist in the process.

Another $2.5 million of ARP resources will support a revolving loan fund. This funding will focus on building the capacity of local community development corporations and neighborhood associations to drive equitable, community-driven development.

Update

Since March, St. Louis has conducted a widespread call for applications, hosting events at public libraries and community centers as well as launching an online grant portal. The city has received over 900 applications so far and is seeking 100 more. The first 192 are in the final review and are likely to receive their grants soon. Additionally, Jones signed a bill to target $37 million in ARP funds in North St. Louis to enhance the commercial corridors, support small businesses, and create more jobs to ensure a more equitable recovery in the city.

ARP: Linn County IA, Invests in Infrastructure Projects and Bolsters Social Services

Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker and the county board of supervisors allocated $13 million in American Rescue Plan funds to thirty-three community projects. Walker worked to ensure a balance in fund allocations to nonprofit organizations providing critical services including youth programs and mobile health clinics, as well as critical infrastructure projects for smaller communities within the county.

ARP: Oakland County MI, Invests in Food Assistance Programs

Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter announced $950,000 American Rescue Plan funds for food assistance grants to help eligible residents met their basic needs and access nutritious food. In response to rising inflation, Coulter goal is to reach any Oakland County resident struggling with food insecurity. The county will help expand the impact of existing food assistance programs and encourage residents to use the support for fresh produce at local farmers’ markets. Additionally, Coulter announced that the county is partnering with the Poverty Solutions Initiative at the University of Michigan to conduct an extensive healthy food system landscape study that will examine how transportation routes affect peoples’ access to nutritious sources of food. “In the wealthiest county in Michigan, more than 11% of our children are listed as food insecure, up from 8% before the pandemic, and it’s not just in the cities with greater poverty numbers that are affected,” Coulter said. “We don’t want our families to scrimp on other essentials, like rent or utilities or medicines, so they can make sure they don’t go hungry.”

 

ARP: Burlington VT, Double Housing Production, End Homelessness, and Support Renters

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger will use $5 million in ARP funds, along with additional state and local funds, to spearhead an ambitious goal of doubling housing production and ending chronic homelessness in Vermont’s most populous city.

The initiative, announced in December 2021, aims to build 1,250 new homes over the next five years and end homelessness in the city in just three years. Weinberger stated that more than 300 of the new homes will be permanently affordable, and 78 of those will be dedicated to housing the formerly homeless. In order to accomplish the goal, Weinberger and other elected officials will change zoning regulations to build homes in enterprise districts and on underutilized properties.

Weinberger also expanded the city’s Property Tax Relief program, which provides financial relief to homeowners experiencing hardship during the pandemic. The program received $1 million of ARP funds and, so far, has distributed $470,000 in aid to about 330 households. The expanded eligibility criteria will help reach more families and ensure that the program is maximizing its impact in the community.

ARP: Salt Lake City UT, Community Investments to Help with COVID Recovery

Mayor Erin Mendenhall utilized ARP funds to tackle her priorities and the most pressing issues facing residents, including $4 million for the Community Recovery Grants Program which provides support for small businesses and nonprofits; funds to continue their short-term apprenticeship program; and seed money for the city’s Community Land Trust.

ARP: Salt Lake City UT, Bundles Child Care, Job Training

Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced in October 2021 that she wanted to use $10 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to focus on young children. The funding would create “neighborhood centers” across the state’s largest city. These centers would be a combination of child care, job training, and assistance locations, enabling parents to receive services while their children are cared for. Mendenhall proposed a sliding cost scale where some residents could access the centers at no cost. Funding from the American Rescue Plan “can change lives and lifetimes,” Mendenhall told the Salt Lake Tribune in October 2021. “We can make an impact that creates an intergenerational cycle of progress, a pathway that truly enhances equitable growth for our communities.”

ARP: Richmond Invests in Health Care Equity

Mayor Levar Stoney proposed a bold Equity Agenda for the city’s American Rescue Plan allocation and over the summer put these funds into action through the Health Equity Fund and Positive Youth Development Fund. The Health Equity Fund awarded $230,000 in its first round of grants to programs serving vulnerable residents and that also fill in gaps of service, such as providing clinical mental health services in satellite centers directly in the community. In June, the city announced partnerships with 37 youth organizations that will receive grants from the Positive Youth Development Fund to provide positive youth development and youth violence prevention opportunities.

Subscribe

Recent News

State Official: 1864 abortion ban gives Arizona ‘black eye’

The nonprofit NewDEAL—short for Developing Exceptional American Leaders, and reminiscent of the expansion of progressive...
LEARN MORE

State and local leaders from across the nation shine spotlight on Phoenix’s vitality

Four years ago, Phoenix and the nation faced a global pandemic that we had not...
LEARN MORE

New Poll: Freedom and Democracy Key to Vote Choice in 2024

New Poll find freedom and democracy will be key to voters choices in 2024
LEARN MORE

NewDEAL Statement on Arizona Supreme Court Decision: One More Step in Stripping Away Rights of Millions of Women

Statement from NewDEAL CEO on Arizona Supreme Court Decision
LEARN MORE