Gov. Robert Bentley has awarded $2.9 million in grants to help low-income individuals and families achieve self-sufficiency and emerge from poverty.
The governor awarded 21 Community Service Block Grants to regional community service agencies covering all 67 Alabama counties. The agencies will use the funds to assist eligible recipients with job training and education opportunities, better nutrition and housing, income management and credit counseling. Some agencies involve recipients in volunteer programs that serve other needy persons in the community.
“Neighborhoods and families that are most in need are targeted by this grant program,” Bentley said. “The support services that are provided help low-income residents establish or regain a foundation on which to build a successful life,” Bentley said.
The grant amounts, recipient agencies and their service regions are:
• $177,577 to Community Action Partnership of Huntsville, Madison and Limestone Counties Inc. (Madison and Limestone counties);
• $112,399 to Community Action Agency of Northwest Alabama Inc. (Colbert, Franklin and Lauderdale counties);
• $227,742 to Community Action Agency of Northeast Alabama Inc. (Blount, Cherokee, DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall and St. Clair counties);
• $130,473 to Community Action Partnership of North Alabama Inc. (Cullman, Lawrence and Morgan counties);
• $38,108 to Marion-Winston Counties Community Action Committee Inc. (Marion and Winston counties);
• $63,856 to Community Action of Etowah County Inc. (Etowah County);
• $46,056 to Walker County Community Action Agency Inc. (Walker County);
• $369,536 to Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity (Jefferson County);
• $171,681 to Community Action Agency of Talladega, Clay, Randolph, Calhoun and Cleburne Counties (Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Randolph and Talladega counties);
• $19,737 to Pickens County Community Action Committee and Community Development Corp. (Pickens County);
• $216,746 to Community Service Programs of West Alabama Inc. (Bibb, Choctaw, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Sumter and Tuscaloosa counties);
• $80,062 to Eleventh Area of Alabama Opportunity Action Committee Inc. (Chilton and Shelby counties);
• $59,089 to Community Action Committee Inc. Chambers-Tallapoosa-Coosa (Chambers, Tallapoosa and Coosa counties);
• $115,439 to Elmore-Autauga Community Action Agency (Autauga, Dallas, Elmore and Perry counties);
• $153,399 to Montgomery Community Action Committee Inc. (Montgomery County);
• $63,095 to Macon-Russell Community Action and Community Development Corp. (Macon and Russell counties);
• $92,676 to Alabama Council on Human Relations Inc. (Lee County);
• $208,869 to Community Action Agency of South Alabama (Baldwin, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Marengo, Monroe and Wilcox counties);
• $135,614 to Organized Community Action Program Inc. (Bullock, Butler, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Lowndes and Pike counties);
• $139,278 to Human Resource Development Corp. (Barbour, Coffee, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties); and
• $298,301 to Mobile Community Action Inc. (Mobile and Washington counties).
Each agency will determine the specific services it will offer based upon local needs and guidelines provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which made the funds available to the state.
Persons who think they may qualify for assistance must apply to the local agency serving their county.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants. The department manages numerous programs that support law enforcement, economic development, workforce development, recreation, energy conservation and water resource management.
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Contact Jim Plott or Larry Childers