Northwest Indiana is set to receive $13.4 million in community development block grants earmarked for communities racked by home foreclosures, U.S. Rep. Visclosky, D-Merrillville, announced Tuesday.
The congressman said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants were authorized under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which took effect July 30. Lake County will receive $5.7 million, while Gary and Hammond each will get $3.8 million.
"The foreclosure crisis has hit some of our communities especially hard, with foreclosed and abandoned homes destabilizing neighborhoods and threatening to bring down the hardworking people who live nearby," Visclosky said in a statement. "This HUD funding for Northwest Indiana will help the people on Main Street who have been hit hard by the mortgage crisis, and aid in minimizing the crisis' potentially widespread impact on the region."
Hammond has a home foreclosure rate of 12.6 percent, or nearly double the 6.7 percent state average while Gary's foreclosure rate is 18.1 percent.
