$7.5B in CDBG Funds May Go for Housing Aid

The Louisiana Recovery Authority expects to use $7.5 billion in Community Development Block Grant funds to help hurricane victims repair and rebuild nearly 100,000 homes.Louisiana's housing assistance grant program is "well under way," LRA Executive Director Andrew Kopplin told a Financial Services Roundtable event in Washington. So far, 465 applicants have received approval for grants averaging $53,000. The maximum grant is $150,000. Mr. Kopplin said another 14,000 people have completed their initial interviews and will be receiving grants in the next six to eight weeks. "This fall, you will be seeing almost 1,000 folks a day being processed and getting assistance," he said. At the same event, the Financial Services Roundtable unveiled a report by a blue-ribbon commission that recommends ways public and private entities can accelerate the recoveries in Louisiana and Mississippi.