The Monroe County commissioners approved modifying a Federal Fiscal Year 2023 Community Development Block Grant project from doing Americans with Disabilities Act ramps and curb cuts to street and road improvements on two different streets.

Jennifer Strauch, the executive director of the Monroe County Redevelopment Authority, asked the commissioners at their meeting on Wednesday morning for the modification on behalf of East Stroudsburg Borough. The Redevelopment Authority oversees the administration of the grants for the commissioners.

“We had done a first modification, which did not go through, so we’re doing a second modification to our Community Development Block Grant Fiscal Year 2023,” Strauch said. “So instead of doing the ADA ramps, of which 19 were requested, only four were approved. The borough has decided to move forward with doing a different street and road project. The street and road project that the improvements are being made to will be Maple Avenue and Berwick Heights Road.”

Strauch said the work for those two streets was already approved in the Fiscal Year 2024 CDBG grant, “so it’s just taking the money and moving the FY24 back to FY23, doing this project first, and then doing a modification of the FY24 once they come up with another project.”

Strauch said the modification to the FY23 CDBG grant also changes the activity from the housing rehabilitation in the amount of $129,302 to a street road improvement project completing Maple Avenue and Berwick Heights Road in East Stroudsburg.

Commissioner John Christy, chairman, said, “It’s my understanding that Maple Avenue and Berwick Heights are considered feeder roads, therefore they’re eligible, correct?”

Strauch said yes.

Next, Kwanzaa Smith, the grants manager for Monroe County, announced that she would be would be applying for the Fiscal Year 2025 Emergency Solutions Grants. This competitive grant is provided through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

“Emergency solutions grant is a federal grant providing funding to assist with rapid rehousing for homeless persons, street outreach, homelessness prevention and emergency shelter activities,” Smith said.

The program is made possible because of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which is a federal law. The county will be applying for $510,560 from DCED with a dollar-for-dollar match from sub-recipients, Smith said. The total in funding for programs to help the homeless is $1,021,120.

The sub-recipients for the Emergency Solutions Grant include Family Promise of the Poconos, RHD Street2Feet, Stroudsburg Wesleyan Church, Safe Monroe, Pocono Area Transitional Housing and Pike County Human Services, Smith said. All of these agencies applied to the Office of Fiscal Affairs through a request for proposal process to be included in the Monroe County ESG collective application.

Smith provided some details about each organization. She said Family Promise serves Monroe County, and RHD Street2Feet is an outreach that provides emergency shelter at its day center.

Stroudsburg Wesleyan Church is the only cold weather shelter in the county.

Safe Monroe (formerly Women’s Resources of Monroe County) provides emergency shelter, and Pocono Area Transitional Housing provides assistance with rapid rehousing. Pike County Human Services, which is new to the ESG grant, also provides rapid rehousing and has a homeless prevention component.