Letter: Hamilton thanks community leaders for housing grant work

• Rep. Rod Hamilton

Rep. Rod Hamilton R-Mountain Lake

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I’d like to extend my thanks to our area church and community leaders, business owners, local officials and the Southwestern Minnesota Housing District for their hard work toward securing funding for the construction of a new rental housing unit in Worthington.

These folks were able to work with representatives from Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development and convinced them to allocate an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant of $250,000 that, along with $1.2 million in additional public and or/private funds, will help construct new homes for 24 Worthington families.

Securing this grant was no small feat, as the competition for ARRA grants around the state was intense. Only 15 applications received funding from the program.

Once again, I commend the local and state officials who worked hard to secure this funding. This would not have happened on its own without the community pulling together to develop and organize a plan that could move this project forward. Obviously more work needs to be done, but obtaining this grant is a significant accomplishment and a positive step in the right direction.

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