Millions In Coronavirus Relief Coming To Morris County

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ – Money from $82 million in grants to assist communities on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak headed to New Jersey will be headed to Morris County, according to U.S. Senators Bob Menendez, the ranking member of the Senate's housing subcommittee, and Cory Booker.

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The combined $82,202,575 in federal funding awarded to the State of New Jersey, counties and municipalities comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development to combat COVID-19. This represents the first wave of billions in funding for New Jersey from the $2 trillion emergency stimulus package Congress passed last week.

The senators made the announcement in Bergen County, which is receiving the largest single funding award in the state from this initial installment, over $8.3 million. Bergen continues to be the most impacted by the coronavirus outbreak with the highest number of cases, 3,494, and 75 deaths.

"When we negotiated the largest ever emergency response package in our nation's history, we demanded that it quickly deliver federal dollars to our communities on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Today, we are delivering on that promise and the first installment of what will be billions of dollars flowing from Washington to help our state, our hospitals, our residents and small businesses weather the storm," said Menendez. "And we cut a whole lot of red tape in this bill so that local leaders can immediately put these dollars to work in the fight against COVID-19, whether it's keeping our health departments fully staffed or retrofitting facilities for testing or providing grants to struggling businesses and non-profits."

Statewide, $53.5 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) have been awarded to help communities fund infrastructure, economic development projects, public facilities installation, community centers, housing rehabilitation, public services, clearance/acquisition, microenterprise assistance, code enforcement, homeowner assistance, etc.

Another $26 million in Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) are being released to help fund rental assistance, eviction prevention, and anti-homelessness programs, and nearly $2 million in Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) grants are being delivered to assist low-income New Jerseyans living with HIV/AIDS.

Morris County will be getting a Community Development Block Grant of $1,595,421 and an Emergency Solutions Grant of $587,279. Parsippany will be receiving an Emergency Solutions Grant of $127,137.

"The public health crisis facing New Jersey and our nation requires a coordinated response from all levels of government," said Booker. "When fighting to ensure New Jersey receives the necessary federal resources, our priorities are protecting the brave medical workers fighting on the front lines of this pandemic, and standing up to help workers, families, small businesses, and the most vulnerable among us. Today marks the next step down a long road of delivering federal funding to respond to this crisis, stimulate economic recovery, and strengthen our communities."

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