The Virgin Islands Housing Authority is set to receive more than $7 million in federal grant money.
VIHA will get $7,858,060 for housing modernization from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said V.I. Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen.
The VIHA grant will be used to:
- Support disaster recovery and mitigation efforts at housing communities throughout the territory from Hurricane Marilyn, Bertha and Georges.
- Satisfy the Army Corps of Engineers settlement claims associated with the St. Croix modernization program.
- Fund PHA-wide extra ordinary maintenance.
- Repair dwelling units in preparation for home ownership,
- Fund PHA-wide Administration Management Improvement initiatives.
Christensen also said the VIHA will receive $125,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice for the Weed and Seed program. The program was developed to enhance community policing, prevention/intervention/treatment programs and to allow for law abiding residents to live, work and raise a family in a safe environment.
The Weed and Seed funding will also go toward neighborhood restoration in Estate Bovoni on St. Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Justice also granted more than $200,000 to Law Enforcement Planning Commission, Christensen said. The money will be used to coordinate the development and implementation of a sex offender registry with the V.I. Department of Justice.