(Washington, DC) –The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will hold an annual public hearing on Thursday, December 17, 2009 for District of Columbia residents to express their opinions about the District’s use of federal funding for the purpose of meeting the District’s housing and community development needs. The public’s comments will be included in the Fiscal Year 2009 Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER) to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The hearing will be held from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm inside of DHCD’s Housing Resource Center which is located at 1800 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE.
The District of Columbia, through DHCD, received approximately $38 million dollars from HUD in Fiscal Year 2009 under four programs - the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program; the HOME Investment Partnerships Program; the Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) program; and the Housing for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program. In FY 2009, DHCD administered the CDBG and HOME funds directly; entered into an agreement with the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness to administer the ESG grant; and transferred the HOPWA grant to the DC Department of Health, HIV/AIDS Administration.
Interested persons who wish to present oral testimony are encouraged to register in advance either by email to [email protected] or by phone at (202) 442-7200 no later than noon (12 pm) on Thursday, December 17. Please provide your name, address, telephone number, and organization affiliation, if any.
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) relay service is available by calling (800) 201-7165. A sign language interpreter will be provided upon request by calling (202) 442-7251 five days prior to the hearing date. Residents who require language interpretation should specify which language (Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese-Mandarin/Cantonese, Amharic, French or other). Interpretation services will be provided to pre-registered persons only. Deadline for requiring services of an interpreter is five days prior to the hearing date. Bilingual staff (English and Spanish) will provide interpretation assistance on an availability basis to walk-ins without registration.
Written statements may be submitted for the record at the hearing or by the close of business on Friday, December 18, 2009. Written statements should be mailed to: ATTN: Leila Finucane Edmonds, Director, Department of Housing and Community Development, 1800 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20020.