Thrive West Central presented with $5,000,000
Vigo Count Commissioners and the Vigo County Council presented $5 million to Thrive West Central on Wednesday. The money, which comes from American Rescue Plan Act funds, will support Thrive West Central's Homes for the Future program.
'This funding has just been instrumental,' said Ryan Keller, Thrive West Central CEO. 'This $5 million addition to the $5 million with the City of Terre Haute, as well as the Wabash River's RDA $1.8 million, that we initially got a seed funding. All of that funding has been instrumental in really getting the housing market reset here in Vigo County and throughout the West Central Indiana region.'
The Homes for the Future program offers incentives to homebuilders and developers to build new housing in the region. It offers homebuilders and developers funding to help offset project costs upon the completion of each home built.
'They've been working on this for the last year, handing out grants,' said Vigo County Commissioner Mark Clinkenbeard. 'We've seen a large increase in housing in the city and in the county, and it's doing just what we would have hoped it would do.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Dominion Post
4 hours ago
- Dominion Post
Greenmont greenspace: Funds funneled to neighborhood park
MORGANTOWN — The city of Morgantown is utilizing federal funding sources to continue revitalization efforts in lower Greenmont. Between American Rescue Plan Act dollars already allocated and largely spent, a forthcoming $2 million congressional earmark and some $790,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds, the city has identified more than $3.3 million for the dilapidated section of the city's oldest neighborhood – a relatively small area between Brockway Avenue and Deckers Creek. Of the $470,309 in CDBG funds the city will receive in the current fiscal year, $236,248 will support the creation of a lower Greenmont neighborhood park. Further, the city is in the process of redirecting unspent funds from its 2019 ($24,327), 2020 ($4,914), 2023 ($242,860) and 2024 ($281,406) CDBG spending plans into lower Greenmont. CDBG is a program through which the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development provides direct funding to entitlement communities using a formula based on factors like poverty rate, housing conditions and population. Morgantown Communications Director Brad Riffee explained how those funds will be used. 'The two new CDBG funded projects include the development of a new public park within the floodplain along Deckers Creek and the reconstruction of Pennsylvania Avenue and Deckers Creek Avenue along the frontage of the proposed park,' he said. 'Both new projects meet the CDBG program's national objective to principally benefit low-to-moderate income residents on an area basis.' Riffee went on to explain that the $2 million in congressionally directed spending the city was awarded last fall for blight removal, demolition and development in the area is still expected, but not likely to arrive in the near future due to the process required to release those funds. The city initially hoped to have that money available by spring of this year. 'We have been actively planning for the use of these funds. The Morgantown Land Reuse & Preservation Agency has been developing a project plan that includes land acquisition, demolition of dilapidated structures and the creation of green space and accessible housing,' Riffee said. Half of the $2 million earmark will be used for the production and/or preservation of affordable housing through property acquisition, rehabilitation and/or construction. The other half will be split between the elimination of slum and blighting conditions ($650,000) and property acquisition, clearance and remediation ($350,000). The money will provide a significant boost to the efforts initiated by the city through the allocation of $600,000 in ARPA money to its Land Reuse and Preservation Agency. The agency has used that money to acquire a number of properties, primarily along Pennsylvania Avenue. Some of those properties are small, empty parcels; others include dilapidated structures identified by the neighborhood as magnets for unwanted activity. Earlier this month, Morgantown City Council approved a $60,500 contract with Reclaim Company to raze three of those structures located at 570 and 635 Pennsylvania Avenue and 637 Brockway Avenue.
Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Kane County building kayak launches in five locations on the Fox River
New launches for kayaks and other non-motorized watercraft will be opening in Carpentersville, East Dundee, South Elgin, Batavia and Montgomery this fall as Kane County adds more amenities to the Fabulous Fox! National Water Trail. 'We're excited to be bringing this to Kane County,' said Karen Miller, executive planner for the Kane County Development Department. Work has already started on digging out the areas where the ramps will be built at Seba Park in South Elgin, near William C. Bartels Park in East Dundee and at Montgomery Park in Montgomery. Work also is set to begin on a launch at the new riverside park being built in Carpentersville and in a couple weeks on the launch that will go in near Clark Island in Batavia, Miller said. County spokeswoman Julie Mann said the $1.2 million, five-launch project is being funded with money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The Kane County Board in November approved a contract with Earthwerks Land Improvement and Development Corp. to do the work. The county also has notified public land owners as to where the launches will be placed, Miller said. East Dundee was chosen as a site because of the work it's doing to close off part of Water Street for the expansion of Bartels Park and the parking spaces it plans to build near to the launch location, she said. The park is about a block from the village's downtown district. The launch in Carpentersville also will be part of a new park, a site that officials think will make it easy for kayakers to stop and visit the area, Miller said. 'Everything is on track for most of the park construction to be bid and completed this fall,' Carpentersville Village Manager Brad Stewart said. 'The first bid package goes out later this week, with the hope it will be awarded by Aug. 19 and construction started and completed on the parking lot and the non-vertical improvements later this year.' The new launches will join a number that already exist on the Fox River in the Dundee and Carpentersville areas. Those include locations at Timothy R. McNamee Park in Carpentersville, near the footbridge across the Fox River in East Dundee and in the South End Park in West Dundee, which is part of the Dundee Township Park District. The county's forest preserve district also has a launch in the Fox River Shores Forest Preserve off Williams Road in Carpentersville. And while a launch was removed when the Carpentersville dam was taken out last fall, it's still relatively easy to put a craft in the water along forest preserve land off of Lincoln Avenue in that area. What sets the new structures apart from the others already there is their universal design, which Miller said is a step above those built to ADA specifications. The design will allow for easier use for people with disabilities, anyone who uses a wheelchair, adults with arthritis and other health issues, young children and novices boaters, she said. As such, the launches are being custom built for each location by Pennsylvania-based BoardSafe, said Miller, who noted that 10-year-old SEBA Park in South Elgin also has a playground designed for children of all abilities. The new launches also tie into Kane County's connection to the Fabulous Fox! National Water Trail, for which Miller is the co-chair. In June 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated the trail as part of the National Water Trails System. According to the its website, the trail encompasses the Fox River as it flows through Wisconsin and Illinois 'to enhance recreational opportunities for residents and visitors, while encouraging protection and sustainable stewardship of the Fox River system.' Miller said Kane County will use about $200,000 of the COVID relief money to pay Gilmore Marketing Concepts Inc. in Elgin to promote the launches and trail.
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Yahoo
The real effects of the Wisconsin state budget on children
As federal aid ran out, advocates called on lawmakers to fund the Child Care Counts program using state dollars, as Evers proposed. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner) This summer Democratic and Republican legislators along with the Gov. Tony Evers participated in closed-door negotiations to come up with the 2025-27 state budget. All of the parties involved are touting the budget as a historic advance for children and patting themselves on the back for compromising with each other and the work they accomplished. In other words, they played well in the sandbox together. While yes, the state budget has never included funding for child care in its history, as we were one of only six states that didn't, crowing about it now is kind of like touting the fact that you've just changed a diaper for the first time when your child is 2 years old. It's not something to brag about, and the new state budget is nothing to brag about either. On the surface, as you read the claims about historic investments in child care and K-12 schools, you might think the budget really solved some big problems. Take Evers' statement celebrating 'Over $330 million to support Wisconsin's child care industry and help lower child care costs for working families, a third of which is in direct payments to providers.' That means only $110 million is to continue the direct investment to all 4,700 eligible regulated child care programs. The original amount for this program was $480 million. Child care is receiving less than 25% of the requested amount. You might have surmised from Evers' victorious statement that parents will see a decrease in tuition costs with the new budget. However, the opposite is going to be occurring, and tuition increases will start in August. The $110 million will cause child care rates to increase next month because the new state investment is less than a third of what Child Care Counts, funded through the American Rescue Plan Act, originally provided. The purpose of that money was to stabilize a field that had been declining for decades. It increased teachers' wages while holding down tuition costs for parents. It worked. The data showed a decline in closures and it raised the average child care educator's wage from $11 an hour to $13 an hour in Wisconsin. (In our state, over 50% of early child care teachers have some college education or degree, with an average of 10 years experience.) This month the ARPA funds run out, and for the past few years, knowing the federal funding would be ending, families, child care providers, and businesses have been advocating for the state to fill the gap and to subsidize child care. We know that for every $1 a state invests in early childhood education, the rate of return is between $10-$16. Not only does quality early child care give children an opportunity for greater success as adults, it also supports our workforce, families and the economy. Regardless of the research and well-being of children, the gatekeepers of our tax dollars on the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee deleted Evers' $480 million direct state investment budget request for child care. Instead, child care funding was determined behind closed doors with Senate Minority Leader Diane Hesselbein and Evers in one corner and Rep. Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin Lemahieu in the other. It should be noted that no one in that space is considered an expert in child care policy. What came out of this room was a compromise for the sake of compromise. The $110 million for child care won't come from state dollars. It's the interest that has accrued on the federal ARPA funds. It will be allocated directly to child care providers over the next 11 months, until June of 2026. It comes to about 70% less than the original amount paid through CCC. This is why, starting in August, there will be significant closures of child care centers and home daycares in rural areas of the state — already considered a child care desert. Tuition will increase at the child care operations that try to stay open. So no, working families will not 'see a decrease in childcare costs' as stated by Evers. And when the $110 million ends next year, there is nothing to replace it. The Wisconsin Legislature will gavel out in March and not gavel in until January of 2027, as legislators will be campaigning the rest of 2026. There won't be an opportunity to pass emergency legislation funding child care. Rates will increase again and closures will continue. The remainder of the $330 million in child care funding in the new state budget is for several new programs. A $66 million state investment for 4-year-olds to access 'school readiness' in their child care program. This will help parents as the state will pay for their 'preschool' time, but it replaces tuition for part of the school day. Child care programs that have school districts with all-day, free 4K will likely find it almost impossible to compete with public schools when they still need to charge for the remainder of the day plus wrap-around care. In addition, there is a $28 million pilot project to deregulate the child care field, which ends in July 2027. This move comes directly from the Republicans' playbook. The pilot project will incentivize providers to increase their ratios, meaning more children per teacher, lower quality and safety for children and more stress on teachers. Another harmful policy in the new budget is that 16-year-olds are now allowed to be assistant teachers and count as adults in the ratio. Coupled with the pilot project mentioned above, this means a classroom of 14 toddlers can be supervised by one 18-year-old and one 16-year-old. This reduces the quality, safety, care and education for the children in our programs. Recall that while these decisions were being made behind closed doors, there were no experts in child care policy in the room. This policy was made without consideration of our state accreditation program, YoungStar, and our national accreditations. Any program that participates in the pilot project will no longer qualify to be accredited. And in Wisconsin, accreditation is not just a certificate to state you are following high safety standards, but our YoungStar program is tethered to our Wisconsin Shares (subsidy for child care). Programs with a five or four-star rating receive a bonus subsidy rate. It can mean a considerable loss of funding for providers to participate in the new pilot project. The politicians who wrote the budget deal behind closed doors neglected to consider the increased cost or loss of insurance for providers when we increase the teacher-to-child ratio and when we allow 16-year-olds to count as adults. The same group of non-experts also decided to allow policies that, in 2023, were already proposed and had failed to become law due to the overwhelming outcry from families, providers and the medical field against a policy that reduces quality and safety for our children. The state is throwing millions of dollars in the garbage for these policies, which won't benefit child care programs and will cause actual harm to Wisconsin children. Enacting policies like these without holding hearings raises the question: Who is representing us? The public already overwhelmingly said no to these policies two years ago. Furthermore, funding for child care is one of the top priorities that the JFC heard from voters throughout the state at budget listening sessions. Surveys show that the majority of both Republican and Democratic constituents support funding early child care. The only real compromise made in this budget was the compromise of safety and quality of our youngest children in the state. So how did school-age children fare in the state budget? Again, we are reading about record-setting investments in schools, along with the biggest investment our state has ever made for children with disabilities. Evers proclaimed that the new budget 'secures the largest increase to special education reimbursement rate in state history.' You might think, great, finally children with disabilities will receive the support and resources they need. But you would be wrong. Evers' budget request was for a 60% reimbursement for children with disabilities. After all, 90% reimbursement is the amount that Wisconsin voucher and charter schools have already been receiving for children with special needs. Unfortunately, the new budget allows public schools a maximum of 42% in 2026 and 45% in 2027 reimbursement, which is a far cry from the 60% request — the rate of the 1980s. Yes, the increase in this budget is technically the largest increase in recent years, but it is still miles away from the finish line. To make matters worse, the budget also provided a $0 per-pupil increase in general aid funding to public schools; however, a provision was placed in the budget paperwork that guaranteed voucher and charter schools would receive additional funding for their general aid in the budget. I can't recall a year when no new general funding was provided in a budget to public schools in Wisconsin. Last year Wisconsin saw a record number of public schools go to referendum to squeeze additional funding from their communities to compensate for the lack of state and federal funding. Under the new budget, we will see another record number of schools going to referendum next year. We will also likely see more schools close, specifically in rural, poorer areas where the communities cannot be squeezed any more than they already have been. As you can imagine, this budget will only continue to widen the education gap in quality between the wealthy and the poor. Not to be all doom and gloom, there was one category of children that fared quite well with the new budget: our juvenile offenders. The budget will invest $1 million per juvenile offender. Yes, $1 million per kid. Remember when it was mentioned that investing in our youth early on saves us tenfold later on? The children in our juvenile justice systems are children who were not given the opportunity for quality early child care, children who were raised in poverty, children who have been abused, children who experience trauma, children with mental health issues. The children in our juvenile systems are those who have been failed by our state. Their families could not afford child care, so they were shuffled from one person to another. They lived with violence and addiction in their homes. And when they got to school at age 5, they were already on a trajectory of despair; the school systems cannot afford to provide all the services and support these children need, especially for those who have suffered trauma at an early age. Our new state budget only prioritizes these children once they are ready to be locked away. Unfortunately the hype about Wisconsin making record investments in our children is terribly overblown. Instead, the truth of the matter is that we are putting in the minimum, and this budget keeps us on the lowest tier as a state for investment in our public schools and our young children compared to other states. Meanwhile, we continue to be among the biggest spenders on our juvenile offenders. Our political leaders have misled us. I don't think most Wisconsinites care whether their representatives can compromise or not. I think we would all rather have elected politicians who will actually represent us with integrity. Represent us with values that prioritize our children, families, workforce and our economy. This is our common humanity. We can stop generational poverty. We can stop children from going hungry, we can support children who have been abused and neglected, and we can give children a chance in life. But we just made the choice not to do that. Correction: An earlier version of this commentary misstated the amount of Gov. Tony Evers' budget request as 90% instead of 60%. We regret the error. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Solve the daily Crossword
