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Franklin Township holds CDBG public hearing as local nonprofits seek funding for housing, child care and food bank upgrades
Summary
At the public hearing, Center for Great Expectations requested two $20,000 grants for child‑development staffing and furnace replacement at residential treatment facilities; Franklin Food Bank urged continued CDBG support for warehouse and receiving‑area upgrades as local need grows; officials said the township’s federal allocation will be confirmed in May or June.
Franklin Township opened a public hearing March 24 on the Fiscal Year 2026 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and heard presentations from nonprofit applicants seeking funding for social services and facility upgrades.
Amber Silverman, chief operating officer of the Center for Great Expectations, described two grant requests of $20,000 each: one to support staffing at Katie’s Place child development center and one to replace two 20‑year‑old furnaces at residential treatment facilities. “These grant applications are for just that,” she said, explaining the agency’s residential and outpatient programs for pregnant and parenting women and adolescents and noting recent losses of state and federal funding.
Ali O’Brien, development director for the Franklin Food Bank, described capital improvements funded in prior years and asked for continued partnership. She noted the food bank served more than three million meals last year and that roughly 4,000 of Somerset County’s about 11,000 SNAP recipients live in Franklin Township. O’Brien said CDBG investments helped modernize the food bank’s receiving area and expand capacity and asked the council to consider continued CDBG support to maintain and grow services.
Town staff summarized that 12 applications were received this year across social services, public facilities and housing assistance, with requests totaling roughly $524,574 across categories cited in staff’s presentation. The township said the final CDBG allocation from the federal government typically arrives in May or June and that staff will return with funding recommendations once the entitlement amount is known.
No awards were made at the hearing; applicants presented their requests and answered council questions. Council thanked the presenters and noted the importance of CDBG dollars in supporting local safety‑net programs.
