Kosciusko County Commissioners announced Wednesday that the county was awarded one of three first-round Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program (HELP) grants in the state through the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA office).
This grant will provide partial funding for Kosciusko County to hire a community coordinator/director to help the county’s rural communities to build and complete projects which will make lasting and resilient changes in the small towns, using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars and other possible grants, according to a news release from the county. Included in this award is a matching $1 million grant for projects that are identified by the communities, which will help bring the selected projects to reality.
Commissioner Cary Groninger stated, “This is an opportunity for which I am super excited. We have been doing a lot of groundwork through Forward Kosciusko, housing strategies, PSC/Broadband study, hometown chats and this is the final piece that we need to take what we have learned and put it into play. This is going to build and provide capacity for our rural communities and small towns to plan and build projects that will have lasting impact and prepare them for resilience in the future. We want small rural towns in our county to thrive into the future. I look forward to working with our small towns to allow them to be all that they can be, and provide the quality of life opportunities that will help draw people to their community and highlight the uniqueness that each one has to offer.”
There will be a formal award ceremony today, Dec. 2, at the Indiana State House with Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch.
The County Commissioners and Council have scheduled a joint meeting for 10:30 a.m. Friday at the old courtroom to discuss ARPA, specifically the radio tower project.
