CARES Act grants will pay for rent help, protective equipment at local level

Five municipalities in Oakland County are receiving federal coronavirus relief grants through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Farmington Hills, Pontiac, Royal Oak, Southfield and Waterford Township each received individual Community Development Block Grants supported by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Nationally, HUD has so far allocated $2 billion in CARES Act funding to the grants.

Oakland County received $3.1 million through the program. The other grant amounts are:

• Farmington Hills, $210,412

• Pontiac, $906,000

• Royal Oak, $702,441

• Southfield, $256,818

• Waterford Township, $214,575

In Pontiac, the city plans to use the money for rental and mortgage assistance as well as utility assistance for residents. Some of it will be directed to local housing agencies.

The rest could end up as part of a larger account balance. Oakland County is currently looking to build a consortium of municipalities to pool some of the grant dollars together in hopes of assisting more residents, according to Deirdre Waterman, mayor of Pontiac.

“The amount that would go into the consortium isn’t necessarily the cap for how much would go back to the citizens. We want to be able to multiply this dollar amount,” Waterman said.

Waterford Township plans to split its grant three ways: A rental assistance program that will be run by the township, public service assistance grants for nonprofits and COVID-19 response for first responders such as protective equipment and supplies. Each will see $60,000. The remaining $34,575 will be used to run the programs and can be moved to support one of the other three areas.

Gary Wall, township supervisor, said he expects the township’s plan to be approved by HUD around June 10. The funding would be released shortly after.