Town planning has announced two new grants that aim to support essential public services for income-eligible households affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with programming beginning in January.
Recceing the grants are the town Department of Health and Human Services and Arlington Public Schools, both responding to urgent community needs caused by the pandemic. The assistance is funded through an additional allocation of Community Development Block Grant funds known as CDBG-CV, made possible by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
The public schools plan to use $68,226 in CDBG funds to offer a no-cost tutoring program for more than 50 K-12 students from low- to moderate-income households.
Individual and small-group tutoring sessions will be provided online and in-school, as permitted by health guidelines. The program will begin in January and conclude at the end of the 2020-21 academic year.
The supplemental program will help students in navigating the nontraditional learning environment necessitated by the pandemic, particularly students who may have fallen behind, or further behind, during the initial school closure and ongoing remote and hybrid learning period. The public schools will notify eligible students about the application process.
Town Health & Human Services plan to use $60,200 to fund the establishment of a Covid-19 testing site for residents of Menotomy Manor and at properties that house seniors.
The program is cofacilitated by the Arlington Housing Authority (AHA). Partnerships with Armstrong Ambulance and the Broad Institute are in place to provide testing and diagnostic services.
The testing program will allow human services to focus efforts on determining who may be carrying the virus, isolate residents as necessary, quarantine contacts and provide resources and support to those families in need. The AHA will notify tenants when testing dates are available.
“These programs are vital elements of Arlington’s comprehensive response to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Planning Director Jennifer Raitt, in a Dec. 23 news release. “We are glad to partner with town departments, the Arlington Housing Authority and community partners to provide essential social services that keep residents safe and meet community needs.”
Questions regarding program details should be directed to town human services and the public schools, respectively. The funding for these grants is part of the same installment of funding from HUD that the town recently programmed for the Arlington Covid-19 Business Resiliency Program.
For all other questions about CDBG programs, contact Mallory Sullivan, CDBG administrator, at 781-316-3094 or
April 15, 2020: $1.2M in block-grant recomendations head to Select Board
This news announcement was published Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020.
