Washington, DC – Today, Representative Lois Frankel (FL-21), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, announced unique funding for local community projects included in the Federal Fiscal Year 2023 spending bill, which passed the House by a vote of 225-201 and will be signed into law on Friday.
“Funding for community projects were once again included in the Federal 2023 budget, allowing Members of Congress to respond directly to many of their districts’ most pressing issues. At my request, 15 city and nonprofit programs or projects will receive direct funding in 2023, covering a diverse range of needs,” said Rep. Frankel. “My requests were made after a series of community meetings with input from many stakeholders.”
Rep. Frankel is pleased to announce the following projects were included in the spending bill:
Location: 6401 Congress Ave #200, Boca Raton, FL 33487
Funding: $491,000
The American Association of Caregiving Youth (AACY) is a not-for-profit serving children and adolescents that provides significant or substantial assistance, often on a regular basis, to relatives or household members needing help due to physical or mental illness, disability, or frailty.
This request will allow for AACY to expand their existing mental health, academic, and other services for youth caregivers to 20 new public middle and high schools.
Location: 100 East Ocean Avenue, Boynton Beach, FL 33435
Funding: $1,025,000
The City of Boynton Beach will replace a 35-year-old 32-ft. self-supporting radio tower and control sheds at 551 NW 15th Avenue. The results of a recent inspection revealed extensive damage and deterioration which has compromised the structure’s integrity. Replacing the radio tower is paramount to the public safety communications network for the city of over 80,000 residents.
Location: 8645 W. Boynton Beach Boulevard, Boynton Beach, FL
Funding: $1,00,000
Caridad Center is the largest free healthcare clinic in Florida, offering comprehensive medical, vision, and dental care for the uninsured and underserved children and families of Palm Beach County.
The proposed funds will increase space and maximize efficiencies to expand primary and specialty services to PBC’s uninsured, poor, minority communities. The funds will be used to roughly double Caridad’s capacity over the next five years to accommodate the increased need for mental health, social services, health education, and renovate the existing 11,000 sq. ft. space.
Location: 100 NW 1st Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33444
Funding: $3,452,972
Improvements to the city’s water systems are long overdue. This funding would be used to upgrade and improve the city’s water systems to properly clean and disinfect water for the nearly 70,000 residents.
Location: 5841 Corporate Way STE 200, West Palm Beach, FL 33407
Funding: $700,000
Alpert Jewish Family & Children’s Service is a not-for-profit organization, with a mission to serve the community by providing a wide range of social services to strengthen individuals and families of all denominations.
This funding will be used to cover the buildout of a mixed-use space that will allow the organization to expand their mental health, counseling, mentoring, food assistance, and volunteer programs to help those in need throughout Palm Beach County.
Greenacres has operated a licensed, nationally accredited K-12 youth program since 1995. The current program serves about 150 students and has three different focuses: Arts + Crafts and Science Lab (elementary school), Culinary Lab (middle school), and Computer/Gaming (high school).
The funding would be used to expand their existing youth programming by adding infrastructure, increasing staff, purchasing new technology, creating additional curriculum, and providing skills training to students.
Location: 1515 N Flagler Drive, Suite 101, West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Funding: $1,00,000
The Health Care District of Palm Beach County provides an array of health care services to Palm Beach County residents, including trauma care, school health, hospital care, skilled nursing care, and more.
The funding would be used to expand existing Falls Awareness for Older Adults’ Program by focusing on evidence-based falls prevention and outreach, creating helpful videos, training volunteer instructors, and providing core-balance classes at key public spaces.
The Lake Worth Beach CRA, in partnership with Adopt-a-Family, Habitat for Humanity, and others seek to purchase available, blighted, and foreclosed properties and build much-needed affordable housing units. Over the past 12 years, the CRA has created 400 affordable housing units using this method.
This funding will be used to acquire properties, rehabilitate 50 properties for affordable rents, rehabilitate 20 properties for new homebuyers, provide subsidies and assistance for at least 40 households, as well as provide counseling and support.
The funding would be used for engineering design, bidding assistance, construction management, and inspection services to replace asbestos cement water mains throughout the town.
Location: 1450 S Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Funding: $750,000
The Norton Museum of Art is a museum located in West Palm Beach. Its collection includes over 7,000 works, with a concentration in European, American, and Chinese art as well as contemporary art and photography.
The funding will be used for renovations and enhancements throughout the museum, including refurbishing the original rooftop, purchasing a new generator, air handlers, and dehumidifiers, and improving parking lot security, which will benefit the museum’s safety and energy efficiency.
Location: 4200 Congress Avenue, Lake Worth, FL 33461
Funding: $1,000,000
Palm Beach State College is a public college with multiple locations in Palm Beach County, providing over 130 programs of study and serving nearly 49,000 students.
The funding would be used to train faculty and students in Artificial Intelligence and other technologies to help with workforce development and train students for next generation careers.
Location: 340 Royal Poinciana Way Suite 317-301, Palm Beach, FL 33480
Funding: $951,500
Promise Fund of Florida is a women’s health clinic that aims to prevent the unnecessary progression of breast and cervical cancer in order to eliminate preventable loss of life in Palm Beach County, Florida.
This funding will be used to acquire mammography, ultrasound, and cervical equipment resources to expand the clinic’s breast and cervical screening and cancer program.
Location: 2724 N Australian Ave, West Palm Beach, FL 33407
Funding: $750,000
Vita Nova is a not-for-profit that works to provide a road to independence for former foster care and other homeless youth through supportive housing, education, employment, and life skills training.
This funding will be used to construct affordable housing, high tech broadband, and a business center with computer access for youth ages 18-25, a population without access to affordable housing or livable wages, to ensure they do not fall back into homelessness.
Wayside House is a substance abuse rehabilitation center that helps women with drug and alcohol dependence by providing them with tools to rebuild their lives, reconnect with loved ones, and recover from active addiction.
The funding would be used for building improvements and additions that will accommodate hundreds of additional individuals who are seeking addiction recovery services.
Location: 401 Clematis Street, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401
Funding: $969,500
The funding would be used to purchase a secure mobile radio site needed to deliver continuous and reliable public safety services and communication coverage for the city, especially helpful during hurricanes and large-scale events.
The bill now goes to President Biden for his signature. Once these bills become law, each organization listed above will work with the appropriate federal agency to receive funding for their project.
