ICYMI: Rep. Blunt Rochester Highlights Investments in Delaware Communities
Del.,
July 19, 2024
In case you missed it: Over the past several weeks, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) has been highlighting investments for Delaware communities up and down the state. She has been raising awareness on access to mental and behavioral health programs, the importance of mobile health care services, efforts to combat homelessness, and how she has worked to expand the manufacturing sector. Blunt Rochester has been joined by officials, stakeholders, and community partners to celebrate these investments, a majority of which were made possible with federal funding she secured. Read more about these community-focused investments below.
Author: Anitra Johnson July 17, 2024 Plans are underway for the reconstruction of a 115-year-old Wilmington community center. A groundbreaking on Monday at the Peoples Settlement Association drew current and former community center participants — including elected officials, nonprofit representatives and civic leaders. The turnout reflected the influential role the Peoples Settlement Association has played in the city's history, serving as a hub for community engagement and personal development. […] The ceremony featured remarks from former and current leaders of the association, as well as political leaders including Gov. John Carney, Mayor Micheal Purzycki and former Mayor Jim H. Sills Jr., and U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester. Many distinguished guests shared nostalgic anecdotes of their youth, reminiscing about participating in activities at the community center or launching their careers in leadership there. […] The renovation of the Peoples Settlement Association follows recent investments in the neighborhood including $84 million to construct the newly named Maurice Pritchett, Sr. Academy, scheduled to open this fall. Pritchett, a beloved principal of Bancroft Elementary, has a strong legacy in the neighborhood. Both schools are located across the street from the Peoples Settlement Association.
Author: Ethan Grandin July 2, 2024 The Community Education Building in Wilmington is getting a boost from new federal funding. $3 million is headed there for a new Youth Development Center to help serve underprivileged youth, especially through afterschool programs. The center is expected to help build on work at the C-E-B to help serve underprivileged youth - especially with afterschool programs. Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester says the goal of funding these efforts is to help children and provide them a sense of community. “The ability to keep kids safe,” said Blunt Rochester. “Make sure they're fed, make sure that their family members have access to job opportunities and just realize that a child is not isolated in and of itself, but it's connected to a whole community.” The Community Education Building has been around since 2014, assisting students through a Student Advocacy System along connecting them to student meals and other resources. These programs are intended to not only enhance children's educations but also their prospects and outcomes for the future […] Work on the new Youth Development Center is slated to start sometime this Oct. or Nov. - and expected to open in Fall 2025.
Author: Ethan Grandin June 24, 2024 Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester and Sen. Tom Carper visited Nemours Children's Health Monday to tout federal funding headed there to address kids’ mental health needs. Nemours’ Innovative Mental Health Pathways for Adolescent and Child Therapists or IMPACT Program is receiving $1.5 million. The program launched last September. It provides master’s-level trained social workers and counselors with specialized training and supervision to obtain clinical licensure focused on the mental health needs of youth. “We need people that can actually support students and therefore give them a better chance at education,” said Blunt Rochester. “We know that when young people are experiencing mental health challenges, they might be more likely to drop out.” Blunt Rochester says the goal of the program is to create a pipeline to better assist communities and the educational system with mental health - and this funding will help the program ramp up and deliver needed assistance faster. […]
Author: Mark Fowser June 24, 2024 It's a place that gives hope to individuals and families who face homelessness... and, it has growth plans for the future. New Castle County's Hope Center, an emergency shelter with wraparound services, opened in a former hotel off Airport Road about three-and-a-half years ago. Monday, Senator Tom Carper and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester as well as a representative of Senator Chris Coons announced a federal investment of $1.9-million for capital projects and improvements. Funds will also help to continue a shuttle service that allows guests to go to work or get to medical appointments. When the delegation was considering congressionally directed spending - once known as "earmarks" - Carper said "this was just the kind of project that provides an excellent return on taxpayers' investments - and it's the right thing to do." "Housing is about dignity, and worth, and building generational wealth for our families," Blunt Rochester said. According to New Castle County Community Services General Manager Carrie Casey, the room that contained the hotel's indoor pool is currently underutilized as storage space. The Hope Center plans to create a multi-purpose space for additional services, which may include 24-hour drop-in shelter. […]
Cape Gazette: Beebe Community Mobile Health focus of Congressional visit Author: Bill Shull With Beebe Healthcare’s two mobile health units as a backdrop, Sen. Tom Carper and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester touted the federal funds that helped bring the critically needed care to southern Delaware. Beebe leaders thanked them for their commitment and the $1.59 million that made Beebe’s Behavioral Health Unit possible. It joined the larger Community Mobile Health Clinic in the fleet that brings vital care to rural Sussex County. The event was held June 7 at Beebe’s Abessinio Health Campus near Rehoboth Beach. Carper called Beebe a model for the state and the nation in addressing the needs of underserved communities. “We must address root causes. Beebe is taking that to heart. These vans reach the far corners of Sussex County where transportation can be a barrier to getting treatment and preventative healthcare,” Carper said. Blunt Rochester said community health initiatives start with stigma reduction. “It’s the whole issue of trust, the issue of seeing people as people and bringing dignity,” she said. She also recounted the impact drug addiction had on her family growing up. “My uncle was a heroin addict,” she said. “My grandparents were so stressed that it caused high blood pressure. They died prematurely and my mother had to take up the responsibility.” She said her uncle eventually got clean and was able to enjoy the last years of his life. […]
Author: Joseph Edelen June 9, 2024 Delmarva Corrugated Packaging celebrated the grand opening of its 465,000-square-foot Dover facility on Friday alongside Delaware’s congressional delegation and Kent County business leaders. The manufacturing facility plays a significant role in the mid-Atlantic’s supply chain, which has been a hallmark of U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester’s work in Congress for the last two years – as well as U.S. Sens. Chris Coons and Tom Carper. […] The topics of supply chain benefits and contributions to the move toward green energy in the First State were praised by Rep. Blunt Rochester and Sen. Carper, as well as business leaders and company representatives. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Delaware’s congresswoman has pushed for federal policies to alleviate supply chain stress, which benefits companies like Delmarva Corrugated Packaging, which can assist in supply chain efficiency efforts. “For the past two years, I’ve been working on strengthening our supply chains because we learned through the pandemic; people weren’t even talking about it unless you were somebody like Dennis (Mehiel),” Rep. Blunt Rochester said. […] ### |
