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Woodbury County Board approves CDBG application to renovate Crittendon Center youth shelter
Summary
The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors unanimously authorized submission of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) request for $600,000 to renovate the Crittendon Center transitional therapeutic home at 3901 Green Avenue, a project officials say will serve low- and moderate-income youth and improve facility deficiencies dating to the 1970s.
The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors on a 4-0 vote authorized a Community Development Block Grant application seeking $600,000 to renovate the Crittendon Center’s transitional therapeutic home at 3901 Green Avenue in Sioux City.
The county’s action followed a public hearing in which Christina, a Crittendon Center representative, told the board the existing facility was built in the 1970s, formerly served as a nursing home and “no longer meets the needs of addressing the trauma needs of youth” served there. Christina said the center will request $600,000 from the CDBG program toward an approximate $1.2 million project, and that the balance would be secured from donors, Department of Health and Human Services grants and foundations.
Why it matters: county staff and the applicant said the renovations would increase the shelter’s capacity to serve a younger, more trauma-affected population, address an overall decline in shelter beds across Iowa and reduce risks associated with youth homelessness. The applicant said HUD-related narrative changes were made to demonstrate that more than 51% of individuals served come from outside Sioux City, a requirement the application must address.
Board deliberations and actions: supervisors moved to receive the public hearing materials and later voted to approve the community development housing needs assessment draft and to adopt a resolution authorizing the CDBG application. The votes on receiving the application, approving the needs assessment draft and authorizing submission of the grant application all recorded as 4-0.
Project scope and compliance: the center said planned renovations include adding shower and restroom space, updating flooring and security features, improvements to the kitchen and exterior upgrades. The applicant said the activity will not displace persons or businesses because it is a renovation of an existing facility; if displacement were to occur, the applicant committed to comply with the requirements of the Relocation and Acquisition Act. The applicant also said the application had been revised to reduce scope in places to demonstrate shovel readiness for funders.
Timing and next steps: Christina said the application would be submitted on or before June 30. Board members thanked the applicant and county staff for preparing the application and the housing needs assessment that the board approved as a draft to support the CDBG submission.
Quotes: “The current physical facility ... was built in the ’70s, previously served as a nursing home and does not, no longer meets the needs of addressing the trauma needs of youth,” Christina said during the public hearing. “We will be requesting $600,000 ... 100 percent of those funds will benefit low and moderate income persons as the project is for a homeless shelter for youth.”
The board’s action authorizes submission of the CDBG application; final grant awards and subsequent contracting will determine which renovation elements proceed and on what schedule.
