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Pocono News Section
Federal Stimulus to Help Pennsylvania Affordable Housing
Federal Stimulus to Help Pennsylvania Affordable Housing - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 4:42PM EST
STROUDSBURG - President Barack Obama has been touting his stimulus plan for a while and now the public is beginning to learn exactly how the money will be spent.
The apartment building where Janice Aicher lives could get some repairs, courtesy of the federal government. "I think it's great," said Aicher.
She lives in the Westgate Apartments in Stroudsburg. It's a public housing building for senior citizens, operated by the Monroe County housing authority. "I have my own apartment, my own private place," said Aicher.
The authority expects to get money from President Obama's stimulus plan. Officials there estimate they'll recieve about $450,000. They'll use the cash for improvement projects.
Monroe County Housing Authority Executive Director Rich Widdoss said, "We have quite a few shovel ready projects taht we could get out on the street within months."
The housing authority might use some of the money to fix its parking lot. They hired a crew to patch some holes and build a real handicapped ramp where they have a makeshift one right now.
Widdoss said the money will also likely go to sewer improvement upgrades and building improvements on all six of the housing authority's developments in the county. "We're gonna make sure that it's used efficiently and appropriately for our projects," said Widdoss.
Administrative Officer Linda Kaufman said it could have an extra benefit. The projects will create jobs. That means more people will earn paychecks and less people might need public housing. "That would hopefully be able to get them to b e able to afford their own rents here in Monroe County," she said.
Widdoss said he expects to hear exactly how much the organization will get from the stimulus within the next month. | | |
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