Nine charities, churches and municipalities in El Paso County have received funding this year through a federal grant designed to bolster low- and moderate-income communities.

Administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Community Development Block Grant Program sends money at local government’s discretion to projects on a yearly basis. Programs and projects addressing public services for vulnerable populations, economic development, housing and infrastructure were on the list to receive about $914,000 in federal dollars this year.

“It’s always great to see when all that federal paperwork does something good in our community,” said Crystal LaTier, El Paso County’s economic development department executive director, who presented the annual plan for the grant for approval from the El Paso County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

Among the grant recipients was Brothers Redevelopment, a Denver-based housing nonprofit that advocates for senior and disabled homeowners.

The El Paso County Board of Commissioners decided to allocate more money to the nonprofit’s program after LaTier said that another nonprofit chosen, Serenity Recovery Connection, was chosen to receive over $300,000 from the County’s Region 16 Opioid Abatement Council this year in a separate grant stream for the same items.

Commissioner Carrie Geitner suggested the change, saying that the nonprofit’s proposed work in disbursing grant money to 11 El Paso County homeowners in need of emergency and accessibility home repairs would help combat the county’s housing issues for seniors.

“In particular, the increase in property taxes has really hit our seniors hard, those who are on a fixed income,” she said. “And it’s become very difficult for them to age in place.”

The change brought the program up to the amount requested in its application at $125,000.

Among other nonprofits chosen, block grant money is also going to infrastructure projects that would benefit low-income county residents based on census data. Fountain will receive $148,000 for sidewalk improvements along Bonita Drive, the Widefield Community Park will receive $195,000 for ADA accessibility improvements, and the the town of Ramah will have $65,000 to conduct drainage repairs.

LaTier said that the applications were chosen to benefit ongoing larger infrastructure projects.

The project with the largest funding amount at $203,500 will increase ADA accessibility at the Ellicott Open Door Church, which LaTier said served more than just parishioners in eastern El Paso County.

“In rural areas, we really see churches and schools acting as community hubs,” she said.

El Paso County residents became eligible for the federal program in 2009, when its population reached 200,000 outside the confines of the city of Colorado Springs. The city itself has a separate grant program.

Each project can only receive funding for two years before a mandatory off year.

“This ensures that none of our local agencies become dependent on federal funds that may not exist in the future,” said LaTier.

The finished list of projects will now be sent back to HUD for final approval, then implementation by the county.