Press Releases

WASHINGTON — Today, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) announced that she helped secure over $14 million in federal Community Project Funding for community projects across Delaware in the first tranche of Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills. The funding responds directly to some of the most pressing needs in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties. Specifically, the funding will go towards expanding affordable housing opportunities for families and seniors, developing workforce and job training programs, increasing access to affordable and quality health care, and growing Delaware’s economy. 

“I am proud to announce that all 15 of the projects I advocated for through the House’s Community Project Funding process have passed the House and Senate and have been signed into law by President Biden,” said Rep. Blunt Rochester. “For me, these Community Project Funding requests had to have two main criteria – there had to be real community support and real community need, and all 15 final projects strongly demonstrated both. Throughout the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to see first-hand how these projects will impact Delawareans up and down our state – from expanding affordable housing opportunities for families and seniors to helping us invest in and prepare our young people to join the workforce. Today is the culmination of my bipartisan efforts to deliver for Delaware. I thank Senators Carper and Coons for all the work they did to help secure these wins for Delawareans, and I look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition in our communities.”

This funding was part of a year-long process in which Blunt Rochester’s office received nearly 100 applications for funding. Each House Member was permitted to submit only 15 applications to the House Committee on Appropriations for consideration. Blunt Rochester was able to ensure that all 15 applications made it into the final appropriations bills that were passed by the House on March 6, 2024, and signed into law by President Biden on March 9, 2024.

Over the past year, Blunt Rochester has made several visits to highlight and advocate for her Community Project Funding requests, including visits to the Town of Milton, the Rosa Health Center, the City of Harrington, and  Cornerstone West Community Development Corporation (CDC).

Rep. Blunt Rochester championed the following funding projects for Delawareans:

• $715,000 for Delaware River Basin Commission Signatory Fund, Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) for federal signatory funding share of the DRBC budget, which will be used to further advance DRBC’s scientific mission and programs, maintain the high-quality regulation of the Delaware River and its Basin, and support staffing for these activities.

• $1.6 million for Cornerstone West Community Development Corporation to build The Vistas at St. Francis, a 57-unit, state-of-the-art, energy-efficient, affordable senior housing project that will increase the amount of affordable senior housing in the West Side of Wilmington.

• $1 million for Rosa Health Center to make critical capital improvements, including doubling the size of the current building, (providing six additional exam rooms, and critical renovations to the building) to grow their patient population from 1,900 to 4,000 and offer more services to Sussex Countians who are low-income, uninsured, or underinsured.

• $1 million for Family Promise of Northern New Castle County to fund the construction of a shelter building and a community building which will double the amount of shelter Family Promise can offer at any single time, meaning between 40-50 families experiencing homelessness would now be served each year.

• $500,000 for the Town of Bethany Beach Loop Canal and Lake Bethany Erosion Mitigation Project for the development of a bulkhead and shoreline that would help restore and stabilize a land strip that lies between the Loop Canal and Lake Bethany.

• $84,548 for the Food Bank of Delaware, Inc. Growing Hope in Milford Project to create an essential community agriculture facility to support produce distribution and provide educational opportunities to low-income Delawareans in rural communities. 

• $1 million to Polytech Adult Education to fund improvements, demolition, and reconstruction of a Transportation and Logistics Training Center.

Rep. Blunt Rochester, alongside Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, championed the following funding projects for Delawareans:

• $1,000,000 for New Castle County Public Works Department’s Little Mill Creek Stream Restoration to construct approximately 2,000 feet of stream restoration and floodplain stabilization. The project will enhance the use of the creek corridor, reduce flooding on private property, and reduce adverse impacts on public sanitary sewers and public open space infrastructure.

• $1,000,000 for Central Delaware Habitat for Humanity to fund the acquisition of land for affordable housing, capital improvements of their ReStore which helps fund continued services, the renovation of a vacant building to create offices and meeting spaces that will allow for an expansion of their ReStore, and expansion of volunteer housing. 

• $850,000 to Lutheran Senior Services of Dover, Inc. to fund roof and bathroom improvements at Luther Towers, an affordable housing complex for seniors.

• $1,862,000 for Sussex County Habitat for Humanity to create affordable homeownership opportunities for low-income families in Sussex County.

• $3,345,000 to the City of Harrington for the development of an industrial park that will spur economic growth in the city and central Delaware.

• $2,048,000 for the Town of Milton to make improvements to the town’s public works facility, including erosion and sediment controls and constructing stormwater basin and collection system piping.

• $3,000,000 for the Community Education Building, Inc.’s Youth Development Center that will serve the surrounding community, broaden access to enrichment and extended learning opportunities, provide pipeline workforce development programs for youth and adults, and reduce youth violence by providing youth a safe place for learning and mentoring beyond school hours. It will serve four schools, over 40 organizational partners, and be made available to others in the area as well as the community at large.
• $1,000,000 for Committed to the Future of Our Community’s St. Michael’s School and Nursery for the replacement of aging building components, replacement of aging mechanical and electrical systems, upgrades to building energy performance, and building design and renovation to increase operational efficiencies. The project would support safer and expanded learning spaces and workforce development facilities.

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