CENTRAL : SANTA ANA : City Approves HUD Grant Distribution

The City Council has approved the distribution of almost $6.7 million in U.S. Housing and Urban Development grants, which will be split among city programs and more than 40 community service organizations.

The grants include about $1.08 million for street improvements and another $400,000 to design the proposed Delhi Park Recreation Center. Some $3 million will go to repay loans for the Bristol Street widening project, according to the plan approved by the council last week.

Each year, HUD provides Community Development Block Grants to improve low-and moderate-income neighborhoods. However, the City Council decides how the money will be spent locally, said John Reekstin, administrative services manager for the community development agency.

Major grant recipients include city programs such as Project Pride, an anti-gang program, which will get $250,000. The Police Department will also get $200,000 to fund its helicopter services.

Other recipients include the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, which will receive $125,000, and the Discovery Museum, which will receive $55,000.

Community service recipients include the Delhi Community Center, $42,500; the Feedback Foundation, which provides food for senior citizens, 40,460; and the Vietnamese Community of Orange County’s gang prevention and intervention program, $40,000.

The Santa Ana Unified School District will receive $36,000 for its Head Start preschool program, and the Cambodian Family will receive $25,000.

The Blind Children’s Learning Center, the Dale MacIntosh Center for the Disabled, the Mariposa Women’s Center, the Volunteer Center of Greater Orange County, the Orange County Crazies, Hotline of Southern California and Child or Parental Emergency Services will each receive $5,000.