The City of Burlington is allocating some of its CDBG-CV funding secured through the CARES Act to residents and local non-profits to help with utility, rental or mortgage payments and funding micro business loans.
In May, HUD notified the city that it will receive $277,455 to be used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, city officials announced how that money has been set aside to directly assist residents.
“The goal of the CDBG program is to develop strong communities, and in particular low-to-moderate income communities,” said Community Development Administrator, Sonyé Randolph. “It is the Community Development office’s sincere hope that this funding will strengthen and re-build the Burlington community, and help our community to continue to weather the storm caused by the pandemic.”
City staff allocated about $70,000 each to the city's micro loan and utility assistance programs, while the emergency assistance non-profit grants cost $39,000.
Utility Assistance
The first of three program offered by the city allows eligible households to apply for utility assistance paying their City of Burlington water bills. Households are eligible to receive up to $100 per month for three months to pay their bills.
To be eligible, residents must have experienced reduced income due to the COVID-19 crisis, meet low-to-moderate income qualifications and must not have received assistance from other sources. The original due date on the bill must be on or after March 10.
Income limits are as follows:
- Household size of 1, $35,950
- Househould size of 2, $41,100
- Household size of 3, $46,250
- Household size of 4, $51,350
- Household size of 5, $55,500
- Household size of 6, $59,600
- Household size of 7, $63,700
- Household size of 8, $67,800
Utility assistance will be available on a first come, first served basis until funding is exhausted.
Microenterprise Loans
Qualifying businesses with five or fewer employees can apply for microenterprise loans of up to $7,000 through the city’s second CDBG-CV funded assistance program.
“Small businesses and their employees continue to endure COVID-19 hardships, with many still not near recovery. We hope mobilizing this funding can help some Burlington shops and staff get back to business,” said City of Burlington Economic Development Director, Peter Bishop.
The loans are forgivable, but funding must be used for expenses related to the COVID-19 crisis. The business owner or more than half the employees must have low-to-moderate income as defined by HUD to qualify.
Loans will be available on a first come, first served basis until funding is exhausted.
Other Assistance
In addition to the in-house assistance programs, the city has granted funding to three local non-profit organizations to offer further assistance to residents. Non-profits were chosen from grant applications submitted to the city earlier this year.
Allied Churches of Alamance County can offer rental assistance, Call 336-229-0881 for more information.
The Women’s Resource Center in Alamance County and CityGate Dream Center can offer rental, mortgage and electric or natural gas utility payment assistance. Call 336-227-6900 (Women’s Resource Center) or 336-438-1463 (CityGate) for more information.
Residents cannot receive funds from multiple sources for the same need.
The remaining CDBG-CV funding, in the amount of $97,178, was granted to various non-profits providing summer programming, food distribution, mask distribution and homeless operations.