Following recommendations from Eric Schantz, East Hampton Town’s director of housing, the town board awarded about $120,000 in community development block grants to four local organizations last week.
The grants originate at the federal level, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and are then distributed to Suffolk County, which passes them onto the towns. They are designed to benefit low-to-moderate-income households, Americans with disabilities, blighted areas, or general emergency needs of a community.
Both Windmill Village and Whalebone Village, two low-income housing developments, received $50,000 to renovate kitchens in their units to help with A.D.A. compliance. Maureen’s Haven was granted $5,000 to help fund the support services of its Homeless Outreach Program. Organizacion Latino Americana received $15,000 to help fund support services and the administration of its advocacy team.
“This is something we do every year,” Mr. Schantz said. “It’s a continuous process.” He made the recommendations to the board after a public hearing was held on the matter a couple of weeks earlier.
“It’s important to realize, we get excited about new affordable housing, but once they’re up, they need to be maintained,” said Councilman Ian Calder-Piedmonte, who supported the awards for the chosen organizations and had recently visited the Windmill complex. “These types of small maintenance projects make a big difference.”
“We do have homelessness in our community, and it’s important to support Maureen’s Haven,” Supervisor Kathee-Burke Gonzalez said. “I believe this is the first time OLA has come to us. They’ve been a great partner with the town. I imagine beginning in 2025 it will be a challenging time for their community.”
Along with the community development block grant budget resolution, at last Thursday’s meeting the board also approved a further $79,860 in supplemental grant funding from the community preservation fund water quality program to help Whalebone Village pay for an upgraded septic system. The complex had previously been awarded $375,000 for the project in 2020.
