Broad reach of federal stimulus program improves our capacity to serve

Funds have helped our work in housing, employment training, and in reaching the community.

In the months since its passage I have come to better understand the broad reach of the federal stimulus program – known as “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” (ARRA) – in our community. For PPL alone, ARRA has or will improve our capacity to serve people in several areas.

  • Americorps and other National Service Programs: With the addition of four new ARRA funded Americorps positions, PPL now has 25 staff members drawn from various national service initiatives working across the agency. These energetic and committed, mostly young people tutor children to improve their academic standing, connect residents to essential resources, work to improve housing conditions in inner-city neighborhoods, help people learn to use technology to enhance their employment and education, and on and on. PPL’s activities are so greatly magnified by these individuals it’s hard to imagine what we would do without them!
  • Adult Employment: PPL has been awarded ARRA employment training funds by the City of Minneapolis to enhance our work preparing community residents for careers in the health care field, with a focus on laboratory tech and electronic health record positions.
  • Affordable Housing: Across the country there are stalled, “shovel ready” affordable housing projects which will create both constructions jobs and quality living options once completed. ARRA contained provisions to jump start these projects, and we are pleased that PPL’s north side stabilization proposal is in line to benefit, meaning we should be under construction early in 2010.
  • Neighborhood Recovery: ARRA contained a second round of funds to help public agencies and community development organizations like PPL improve conditions in neighborhoods impacted by the spike in home foreclosures. We look forward to continuing our work turning buildings that have become a drag on property values and quality of life into assets which also provide much needed family rental housing.

Other support may become available in the months ahead, in areas like the energy efficiency of our rental housing units, school programs from pre-K through high school, and closing the digital divide.

It’s early yet, so only time will tell about the overall impact of ARRA on the economy, specifically its role in helping us all recover from the worst recession in living memory. But speaking for one community agency working in challenged neighborhoods of one metropolitan region, ARRA has made a huge difference – most importantly for the families and individuals we serve.

Thanks for the difference you make through your support. We are very grateful.