The Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County

Richland seeks public input on how to spend $2.4M in housing grants

COLUMBIA – An upcoming virtual public hearing will gather input on how Richland County uses federal funding to aid low-to-moderate-income residents.

The meeting, set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 28 via Zoom, will cover the County’s Annual Action Plan for fiscal year 2021-22. The action plan details activities funded by Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):

CDBG funding includes support for Operation One Touch, which helps low- and moderate-income residents with household repairs, as well as funding for Public Service Grants. For 2021-22, Richland County will receive $1,670,479 in CDBG funding.

HOME funding includes support for the County’s Homeownership Assistance Program and Richland Rebuild, a housing rehabilitation program. The County will receive $744,186 in HOME funding.

To read the draft executive summary for the Annual Action Plan, visit the County’s website: www.richlandcountysc.gov, and navigate to the Community Development page.

Residents, nonprofits and other community partners and stakeholders are encouraged to attend the virtual hearing, which is open to the public. To attend, email a request for the meeting link to scheirer.sara@richlandcountysc.gov.

The public can also submit comments on the Annual Action Plan until July 28 by email: scheirer.sara@richlandcountysc.gov, or to

Richland County Government

Community Planning & Development

Division

2020 Hampton St., P.O. Box 192

Columbia, SC 29204

Attention: Sara Scheirer, Grants Manager

All comments received will be forwarded to HUD. The Annual Action Plan will be submitted to HUD’s Columbia field office by Aug. 16.