Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage
Alaska’s housing providers are getting increased funding to fight foreclosure. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, will provide an additional $5 million to Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to continue work in assisting local housing providers to pursue projects that improve neighborhoods. Mary McBride, HUD’s Northwest Regional Administrator, said in a teleconference Wednesday that the funds represent the second round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program monies to come to the state.
The HUD money is flexible, McBride said, enabling local housing agencies to purchase, demolish, or redevelop blighted properties. The money awarded to Alaska provides targeted assistance to local governments and their community partners. One of those partners in Anchorage is the Cook Inlet Housing Authority. Carol Gore, with the CIHA, says an earlier HUD grant enabled the agency to purchase 15 blighted sites, in Anchorage’s Mountain View neighborhood and in Wasilla. None of the sites were occupied, she said.
The most recent round of HUD dollars will benefit housing providers in Fairbanks, the Kenai Peninsula, Anchorage and Juneau.
An earlier round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds totaling $19.6 million was previously awarded to Alaska. The money comes from the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
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