HUD.gov September 16, 2010 HUD AWARDS $7.4 MILLION TO 10 HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today awarded $7.4 million to 10 historically black colleges and universities to help revitalize neighborhoods promote affordable housing and stimulate economic development in their communities. The funding announced today is provided through HUD's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Program<http://www.oup.org/programs/aboutHBCU.asp>. Donovan made the announcement to the Congressional Black Caucus' Annual Legislative Conference in Washington. "All across this country, historically black colleges and universities are cultivating young minds and helping to revitalize local communities," said Donovan. "I'm proud that HUD can be an important partner to assist these institutions of higher education in their efforts to strengthen our nation's communities. The following Historically Black Colleges and Universities were awarded funding (see attached for a description of these projects): State Recipient Amount Alabama Tuskegee University $800,000 Arkansas University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff $800,000 Louisiana Southern University and A&M College $800,000 North Carolina Fayetteville State University $499,602 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University $800,000 St. Augustine's College $498,682 Winston-Salem State University $800,000 Oklahoma Langston University $800,000 South Carolina Benedict College $800,000 Voorhees College $800,000 Total $7,398,284 To qualify for funding under HUD's HBCU grant program, institutions must meet the definition of a Historically Black College and University as determined by the Department of Education. HUD's grants will help these institutions undertake a wide variety of activities, particularly those that benefit low-income persons. These activities may include: * Acquiring property; * Demolishing blighted structures; * Rehabilitating homes, including cleaning up lead-based paint hazards and making modifications that improve accessibility; * Improving public facilities; * Providing downpayment and closing cost assistance to low- and moderate-income homebuyers; * Offering assistance to small businesses, including minority-owned enterprises; * Assisting community-based development organizations to carry out neighborhood revitalization; and * Supporting public services such as job training, child care, fair housing, and housing counseling. The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program is one of several initiatives administered by HUD's Office of University Partnerships (OUP). Established in 1994, OUP is a catalyst for partnering colleges and universities with their communities in an effort to address pressing local problems. For more information about HUD's partnership with institutions of higher education, visit HUD's website<http://www.oup.org/>. ### HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to sustaining homeownership; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov<http://www.hud.gov> and espanol.hud.gov<http://espanol.hud.gov>. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Program Summaries ALABAMA Tuskegee University - $800,000 Tuskegee University intends to use its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant for: clearance and site preparation of six vacant lots adjacent to the Tuskegee University campus in the Old Montgomery Road/Franklin Road (OMR/FR) Corridor to support the development of the new university/community housing complex; assistance to eight business and property owners with exterior façade and landscaping improvements, as well as business counseling and technical assistance; short-term training program to prepare a minimum of 20 individuals for immediate employment in the field of energy conservation repair, weatherization, and construction; monthly training on entrepreneurial development, personal finance education, and homeownership counseling; and continuation of the Revolving Loan Program to increase micro loans by 50 percent. Contact: Danette Hall, 334-727-8233. ARKANSAS University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff - $800,000 University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) intends to use its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant for its Community Revitalization Initiative Phase IV. The primary mission of this phase is to continue the university's efforts to improve the neighborhood that surrounds UAPB-known as University Park-and to assist the City of Pine Bluff by engaging the resources of the university through the Economic Research and Development Center in collaboration and partnership with identified community-based organizations. The project goals are to: partner with Targeting Our People's Priorities with Service (TOPPS, Inc.) and Family Community Development Corporation (CDC) to carry out job/employment training and placement to youth, young adults, disadvantaged, and low- and moderate-income persons; utilize funds to support the Jefferson County CDC in rehabilitating single-family owner-occupied homes; and provide technical assistance and training to a minimum of five residential and building trade firms interested in participating in the University Park Neighborhood Housing Rehabilitation Program. Contact: Henry Golatt, 870-575-8030. LOUISIANA Southern University and A&M College - $800,000 Southern University and A&M College intends to use its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant to implement the following activities through its Southern University-Community Economic Security and Sustainability (SU-CESS) project: provide homeownership and counseling assistance for low- to moderate-income (LMI) persons through construction of affordable homes, first-time homebuyer training, mortgage buy down assistance, and referrals to matched savings accounts; implement an economic development plan to assist locally owned businesses through matching funds for operations, marketing, and/or building improvements to businesses providing services to LMI residents; and planning and capacity building for community-based development organizations (CBDOs) through training, mini-grants, and development of an integrated vision and strategic plan. Contact: Alma Thorton, 225-771-4249. NORTH CAROLINA Fayetteville State University - $499,602 Fayetteville State University (FSU) intends to use its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant to facilitate the long-term transformation of the southern Murchison Road Corridor of Fayetteville, North Carolina, through activities that will strengthen the adjacent community in order to lure economic investment and promote both economic and environmental sustainability. To ensure that future development is part of a holistic plan and is in the best interest of the area, FSU will lead the community in seeking a neighborhood conservation overlay district that protects the residential nature of the neighborhood, promotes controlled growth of a viable mix of businesses that will provide jobs, products, and services that residents currently have to leave their neighborhood to access, and is pedestrian-friendly, and creates linkages to greenways and parks in neighboring communities. Simultaneously, FSU plans to create a redevelopment master plan for an existing blighted area with a large vacant school. As FSU leads this planning process, it will conduct a community asset mapping project to identify resources and assets currently available at the neighborhood level to address the challenges faced by residents in an area of Fayetteville hardest hit by poverty, crime, arrest, and incarceration and prisoner reentry. Contact: Emily Dickens, 910-672-2101. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University - $800,000 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCA&TSU) intends to use its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant to implement four Community Development Block Grant eligible activities. The first activity; "Energy Efficiency and Weatherization Program" consists of three subtasks designed to: perform energy audits for low- to moderate-income (LMI) homeowners in the target area; conduct weatherization activities in the target area; and educate LMI persons on energy conservation and minor home repairs. The second activity, "Workforce Development for Sustainable Careers in Green Construction," will: recruit and train LMI persons to perform weatherization and maintenance tasks; provide education and training on green construction practices; provide energy audit and weatherization certification training; and provide job placement assistance. The third activity, "BEST Center Facility and Program Enhancement," will: provide direct assistance and specialized training to small and minority-owned businesses; and stabilize small and minority-owned businesses by implementing a concentrated technical assistance program and other resources offered to entrepreneurs and small businesses through the BEST Center. By collaborating with the Interdisciplinary Center for Entrepreneurship and E-Business, this activity will also provide service learning opportunities for student entrepreneurs. The fourth activity will address human service needs through a partnership with a grassroots, community-based organization by: providing a sub-award to Joseph's House Inc., an organization that offers transitional housing for homeless high school students and young adult males; increasing the capacity of a grassroots organization assisting an underserved population; and creating employment opportunities for disadvantaged and hard to place males in the target area through education, job readiness and skill development. Contact: Celestine Ntuen, 336-334-7995. Saint Augustine's College - $498,682 Saint Augustine's College intends to use its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant for its East College Park Redevelopment project. The major activities of this project will include: providing homeowner training and supportive services to low- to moderate-income participants, assisting them with supportive childcare and transportation services to enable participation in the training, assisting them to set up IDA accounts and matching their contributions to these accounts, and providing mentoring/tutoring to neighborhood children to increase opportunities for educational success; increasing the capacity of community organizations through awareness building, leadership training, and development of a neighborhood leadership council; and redeveloping the neighborhood by buying 10 deteriorated properties and redeveloping them with energy-efficient, affordable, Wi-Fi equipped, universally designed homes, and selling them to low- to moderate-income homebuyers who have successfully completed the college's homebuyer institute. Additionally, the neighborhood will be provided with wireless network service to increase access to internet services. Contact: Tammalyn Thomas-Golden, 919-516-4500. Winston-Salem State University - $800,000 Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) intends to use its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant to expand activities started by the S. G. Atkins Community Development Corporation (SGACDC), an outreach arm of the university established in 1998 to be a catalyst for revitalization in the neighborhoods surrounding the campus. WSSU seeks this funding to support three SGACDC activities: 1) continue the green renovation of The Enterprise Center (formerly the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club since 1950) that will house a business incubator for 20 small businesses; provide large spaces for training, community meetings, and recreation; provide affordable office space for nonprofit organizations with complementary missions; and feature a rooftop solar photovoltaic system; 2) provide funds for the MicroEnterprise Loan Program to extend business loans to The Enterprise Center business incubator clients; and 3) administer an energy efficiency program to create a "Green Zone" where residents decrease energy consumption and increase usage of renewable energy sources. Green education will include continuing education for energy auditors, weatherization contractors, and solar energy installers. The Enterprise Center will be a green hub for community economic development and educational opportunities that are supported by several collaborators. Contacts: Valerie Howard, 336-750-2413. OKLAHOMA Langston University - $800,000 Langston University (LU) intends to use its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant to implement a "Sustainable Intra-Partnership" initiative. The university intends to conduct three activities: construct a Farmer's Fresh Food Market in the town of Langston City, Oklahoma; conduct Phase II of T.G. Green Park Softball Field Revitalization in the town of Langston City to provide lighting; and provide capacity building support to the Business Resource Incubator and Center. Contact: Linda Tillman, 405-962-1632. SOUTH CAROLINA Benedict College - $800,000 Benedict College intends to use its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant to expand its comprehensive community development efforts to include distressed communities in the seven-county Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area to include Richland, Lexington, Fairfield, Newberry, Saluda, Calhoun, and Kershaw Counties. The aforementioned area has a high concentration of poverty and unemployment as documented by regional and state data sources. There are significant rates of crime, substandard housing, and unemployment within the target area. These conditions combine to reduce housing values, increase unemployment rates, and discourage business investment which reduces individual wealth and the quality of life for local residents. The proposed program is entitled COP II (Community Opportunities Program). Benedict is implementing three activities that directly address the identified needs of this area: provide assistance to a community-based development organization (CBDO) to carry out an economic development activity to expand a microenterprise loan program to these seven distressed counties; conduct a special economic development activity to provide technical assistance to small and minority businesses located within these seven counties; and conduct a public service activity to provide housing counseling, job readiness training, and placement assistance for low- to moderate-income persons. Contact: David Swinton, 803-705-4390. Voorhees College - $800,000 Voorhees College intends to use its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant for its community empowerment program and rental housing development, housing rehabilitation, and homeownership project; and its microenterprise program. The primary goal of these proposed projects is to expand Voorhees College's role and effectiveness in addressing community development needs in Denmark and surrounding areas. The objectives of the proposed project are to promote community empowerment to enable residents to facilitate change; improve the quality of life through expansion of affordable rental opportunities, owner-occupied housing rehabilitation, and promotion of homeownership; and microenterprise development. Contact: Willie Owens, 803-793-2046. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/meeting-form.html for the October 24-26, 2010 HBCU Library Alliance 4th Membership Meeting and the "Conference on Advocacy" pre-conference in Montgomery, AL. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.