Ontario County to Consider Applying for Migrant Worker Housing Grant

 

The Ontario County Board of Supervisors is expected to consider this week whether or not they will be applying for a Community Development Block Grant from New York State to build migrant laborer housing.  Agriculture is a major business in upstate New York, but local farms are finding difficulty finding local employees to work during harvest time, and feel providing more and upgraded housing would attract migrant laborers.

Among the farms working together to get a housing grant are with Willow Bend Farms in West Bloomfield and Hopewell, and Hemdale Farms, Ivy Lake Farms, and Lawnhurst Farms in the Town of Seneca.  Funding for the state grant would come from an application made at the county level to the state. If the Ontario County Board of Supervisors agrees to apply to the State for the Community Block Grant for migrant labor housing, Cornell  Cooperative Extension would write the $2.1 million grant application, with the help of grant consultant G&G Municipal Consulting and Grant Writing.

Community Development Block Grants are designed in New York State to help small communities provide economic opportunity and housing for moderate to low income persons. CDBG grants are available through a competitive grant process, and if a grant is approved, the money is awarded to the community rather than the businesses, and the local government agency oversees the use of  the money