Fitchburg, Worcester share in $2M urban development grants
Photo/Grant Welker
Storefronts on Main Street in Worcester's Main South neighborhood, where 43 percent of households live below the poverty line. Three times as many Worcester residents live in areas of concentrated poverty now than in 2000, according to a new report.
Fitchburg has received $100,000 and Worcester $95,000 to help spur economic vitality in city neighborhoods.
The grants, announced by the Gov. Charlie Baker Administration on Wednesday, were two of 23 totaling $2 million from the Massachusetts Urban Agenda Grant Program.
Funding will go to the Montachusett Opportunity Council in Fitchburg for the Youth Innovation Hub, a co-work makerspace helping youth explore their interests under the tutelage of mentors with a goal of higher achievement in higher education and a career.
In Worcester, funding will go to Main South Community Development Corp. to help support the Main South Business Association and the Minority Business Economic Empowerment project, which works with partners within one of the state's co-called Transformative Development Initiative districts. The program will advocate for city-supported investment to improve the physical infrastructure of the area through initiatives such as culturally sensitive storefront improvement projects and placemaking efforts, the state said. A central tenet of the project is to establish a path to real estate ownership in the commercial corridor by local, predominantly Latinx, business owners.
The Urban Agenda Grant Program has awarded $6 million to programs since its inception in 2015.
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