Congresswoman Cori Bush Announces $24 Million in Funding for Local Community and Infrastructure Projects
ST. LOUIS, MO — Today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) announced that she successfully secured full funding for all 10 of the Community Project Funding requests she submitted as part of the U.S. House’s Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations bills - totaling more than $9 million for local organizations. The Congresswoman met with community organizers and toured three of the sites that will receive funding.
The Congresswoman also announced more than $15.5 million in funding for four transportation and infrastructure projects in Missouri’s First Congressional District. These projects, including $10 million dollars for the West Florissant Avenue Highway Safety Improvement project, were included in the INVEST in America Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month.
“This funding helps secure a future of hope and opportunity for our communities,” said Congresswoman Cori Bush. “Building off of the foundation of the $700 million we brought to our region through the American Rescue Plan, our Community Project Funding and Transportation and Infrastructure funding will be an equitable investment in our communities by prioritizing services for those who have the very least. This is the type of investment that will save lives, and I’m committed to doing all it takes to ensure the passage of these bills and bring this additional $24 million to our district.”
COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING
Each representative was permitted to request funding for up to 10 Community Project initiatives in their district with demonstrated community support for Fiscal Year 2022. Only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities are permitted to receive funding. Congresswoman Cori Bush successfully secured full funding for all 10 of her submitted projects, totaling more than $9 million. For a full list of the projects, click here.
The inclusion of this funding in the Appropriations Committee draft FY 2022 spending bills is the first step in the process. Congresswoman Cori Bush will continue to work with her colleagues to deliver this funding for Missouri’s First as the bills move to the House Floor for consideration, and ultimately to President Biden’s desk to get signed into law.
The Congresswoman toured the following Community Project Funding sites:
Mildred’s Casa de Paz — PotBangerz, Feed the Body Mission
Amount Funded: $165,300
Project Explanation: Mildred’s Casa de Paz is designed to provide transitional housing for women experiencing homelessness. This program is targeted to all women in the St. Louis region including straight, cisgender queer and transgender women. Among the unhoused, this population is the most at-risk. Casa de Paz aims to provide a safe, nurturing space for four to six months during which time residents at Casa de Paz will be obliged to engage in job training and/or education programs.
Mildred's Casa de Paz partners with local organizations and agencies to provide wraparound services that will assist every resident whom we house in navigating their way from homeless to housed. Services include housing referrals, job training and placement assistance, counseling, transportation, medical referrals, information regarding life skills and more. These services look different for each individual that we house because each person's experiences, strengths and needs are different. Mildred's Casa de Paz and the services that we offer address a need that isn't currently being met in our community.
Wellston Loop Mixed Use Development Project — Easton Development Corporation/Young Voices With Action
Amount Funded: $916,900.00
Project Explanation: The Wellston Loop Mixed Use Development Project is a new, mixed use space with shops, restaurants and housing that will also serve as the home for the Young Voices with Action and Easton Development Corporation corporate offices and training center. This development will be the first of its kind in over 32 years in the 5900 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, in the heart of the St. Louis region and will help create a stronger, more cohesive neighborhood. This mixed use space is 16,000 square feet. The first level will have 4 white box store fronts. The 2nd floor will house a total of 8 affordable housing units.
This is a valuable use of taxpayer’s funds because this project services a community that is long neglected and deprived of economic development and other wraparound services. The Wellston Loop is formerly an economic corridor that generated revenue and spurred population growth in the suburbs surrounding it. It is currently a renewed focal point for major investments for new residential and mixed use communities. This development will help provide education, engagement and empowerment to the residents and businesses that are inhabitants of the area. This taxpayer-supported project will lead in redeveloping this transformative neighborhood that will also be a catalyst and spark for the continuing growth and rebirth of the Wellston Loop and the surrounding neighborhoods.
CareSTL Health, The Ville Wellness Campus
Amount Funded: $1,000,000
Project Explanation: CareSTL Health is proposing a bold vision with a project designed to provide COVID-19 services as part of established COVID-19 National Federal Objectives. The Ville Wellness Campus (VWC) anchored by a 46,000,000 SF State-of-Art Federal Qualified Health Center, will put abandoned LRA property back into productive use, remove decades of blight, combat persistent crime, provide much needed services to remediate unhealthy lifestyles contributing to chronic levels of hypertension, diabetes, mental illness, and addiction. Additionally, the new facility would replace the current facility, which is laced with asbestos, functionally obsolete, and unable to handle current and future pandemics.
The following projects also received funding:
Affinia Healthcare: $2 million
BJC Healthcare - Hospital to Housing: $800,000
The Minority Entrepreneurship Collaborative Center for Advancement (MECCA) at Harris-Stowe State University: $1 million
St. Louis University Mobile Health Clinic: $500,000
The Healthcare-based Crime Intervention Clinic: $1.3 million
Gun Violence Response Network with Mental Health Access: $600,000
Harmony Village - St. Patrick Center: $887,000
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure accepted requests for Member Designated Projects to be considered for inclusion in H.R. 3684 - the INVEST in America Act. Congresswoman Cori Bush secured more than $15.5 million in funding for four projects across Missouri’s First Congressional District, including $10 million for West Florissant Avenue Highway Safety Improvement.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the INVEST in America Act on July 1. The Congresswoman will continue to fight for these transportation and infrastructure projects as the bill moves to the Senate.
The Congresswoman visited the following Transportation & Infrastructure project:
West Florissant Avenue Highway Safety Improvement
Project Location: West Florissant Avenue in zip code areas 63135 and 63136.
Project Sponsor: St. Louis County
Amount Funded: $10,000,000
The following projects also received funding:
Adding signing and striping for wrong way counter-measures at various ramp locations throughout St. Louis: $708,800
1-70: Bridge Rehabilitation and Pavement Repairs: $2,576,000.00
MO-100 Upgrade to Pedestrian Facilities to Comply with ADA Transition Plan and Pavement Resurfacing and Signal Replacement: $2,500,000
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Congresswoman Cori Bush represents Missouri’s First Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is also a Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a proud member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She is a registered nurse, single mother, and an ordained pastor. Following the murder of Michael Brown Jr. by a now-terminated Ferguson police officer, she became a civil rights activist and community organizer fighting for justice for Black lives on the streets of Missouri and across the country.