The City of Greenbelt has launched three services to offer financial support to Greenbelt residents who are either first-time homebuyers; college, university or vocational students; or uninsured and underinsured persons needing health care. These are all grants, not loans, with no repayment required. They are intended to support residents whose financial well-being, education or health care was reduced, delayed or impeded by the Covid pandemic and its economic and family impacts.
The services are funded from $22.88M Greenbelt received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which Congress passed in March 2021 for Covid-19 emergency response and economic recovery. After gathering input from residents, businesses and staff on allocating the funds, council funded 60 projects in five categories: household needs, infrastructure, mental health resources, public safety and small business assistance (see Residents, Council Focus on ARPA Funding Choices, Greenbelt News Review, May 19, 2022). All the funds must be assigned by December 2024 and spent by December 2026.
Scholarship
Many people postponed or interrupted education because of Covid and its family or financial impact, and may find it difficult to resume education toward personal, professional and lifetime financial goals. The Greenbelt Education Scholarship will provide up to $10,000 across two school years for Greenbelt residents who 1) completed high school or a GED program in or since 2020, or will do so in 2023, 2) are admitted, accepted or enrolled in a two-year or four-year college, university or vocational school, during the 2023-24 or 2024-2025 school years, and 3) meet income limit requirements. The awards can be used for tuition, expenses such as school/lab/class fees, and other costs directly related to education and training. They will be paid directly to educational institutions. The city allocated $500,000 for scholarships. For those with goals for a university degree, this scholarship is even more powerful when combined with the University of Maryland College Park’s commitment to provide up to $20M for tuition and fees for in-state full-time students (UMCP Fills Funding Gaps for In-state Undergraduates, Greenbelt News Review, December 22, 2022)
Debi Sandlin, interim assistant city manager, and Liz Park, Greenbelt CARES director, described the target audience as 17- to 23-years old, emphasizing the scholarship is not merit-based, but focused on Covid impact, economic need, students who may have missed scholarships for new graduates because of pandemic-induced education delays and especially those who are the first in their family pursuing education beyond high school. So far, they have communicated the program to guidance counselors, PTAs, Greenbelt homeschoolers, unions, trade schools and Franklin Park residents.
The scholarship requires application by email, including an essay, references and documentation of Greenbelt residency, transcripts, income and application/acceptance at an educational institution. Applications must be received by 5 p.m. March 31, 2023, for the 2023-2024 school year. Greenbelt’s Advisory Committee on Education will evaluate the applications, with applicants to be notified by mid-June. One resident has already applied. Learn more and apply at greenbeltmd.gov/Home/Components/News/News/498.
First-time Homebuyers
Since the average DMV monthly rent is $2,555, Sandlin noted it may be more economical to buy a house, with which a family can begin accumulating generational wealth. The Greenbelt Home Advantage Program will grant up to $15,000 for closing costs and/or down payments for FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgages. Eligibility requirements include being an existing renter in ZIP code 20770 for 12 or more consecutive months; purchasing a home in 20770 for their own occupancy; income and purchase price limits; owning no other real estate at purchase time and taking a homebuyer education class. U.S. citizenship is not required. The program is for first-time homebuyers, persons who haven’t owned a home in the past three years, and honorably discharged veterans who previously used a first-time homebuyer program. The program currently does not support purchase of Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI) homes, but support for GHI purchases is forthcoming. The city allocated $400,000 for non-GHI grants, and $100,000 for GHI grants.
Greenbelt partnered with the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development/Community Development Administration Maryland Mortgage Program (MMP) to administer the service, since MMP already has similar programs and processes, including lower interest rates to first-time homebuyers. Buyers work with MMP to confirm eligibility, and select a lender and prequalify for loans; and identify a homebuyer class. Lenders advance the $15K to the seller at closing, and the state’s Community Development Administration reimburses the lender with Greenbelt’s funds. One prospective Greenbelt homebuyer has prequalified so far. Learn more from http://ow.ly/Xyyp50My37l, realtors and lenders, and city-hosted information sessions expected to begin in February, where attendees can talk directly with city and MMP staff. Sandlin said realtors and lenders serving Greenbelt are already familiar with the program.
Healthcare Vouchers
Know someone who delayed healthcare because of the pandemic? To support healthy Greenbelters, this program partners with two Greenbelt healthcare providers, CCI Health Services and Old Greenbelt Family Health (OGFH), to provide free medical, dental and behavioral healthcare to Greenbelt residents affected by Covid. The city coordinated with the U.S. Treasury to allow the funds to be applied with broad guidelines, including delayed healthcare, pandemic impacts on mental health, and healthcare for those in Covid high risk groups. Eligibility requirements include being uninsured or underinsured, income limits and ineligibility for other programs such as Medicaid. The city allocated $450,000 for vouchers at CCI, and $50,000 at OGFH.
The program is already operational at CCI, and expected in mid-February at OGFH. Eligible residents will pay nothing for care, with no limit to the number of visits, while funds last. To speed patients’ access to care, both CCI and OGFH plan simple processes. When patients arrive for their appointment, the office will assess their eligibility according to family size, income and insurance. Care is available at CCI’s two Greenbelt locations, and Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Wheaton, Rockville, Gaithersburg and Germantown, useful to Greenbelt residents who work near those locations. OGFH will provide care at its Granite Building location in central Greenbelt. Both CCI and OGFH have Spanish-speaking providers. Learn more at cciweb.org/for-patients/free-healthcare-greenbelt and ogfhealth.com.
The need for this financial support can be seen in that 39 percent of CCI’s 2022 Greenbelt patients were uninsured. CCI President and CEO Dr. Sonya Bruton said, “Through this partnership with the City of Greenbelt, CCI Health Services is helping residents without health insurance alleviate the burden of finding affordable quality health care. We are grateful to the City of Greenbelt for taking an innovative approach to using federal dollars to help the community….”
Services Still to Come
The city is also planning the following to directly support residents: a childcare voucher program with up to $400,000 in grants; grants for work-related training such as certification programs or other professional skills; and coordinating with Luminis Health (Doctor’s Community Hospital) to provide funds to support Luminis’ mobile diabetes clinic and expand its birth doula program, again for Greenbelt residents who are under- or uninsured and meet income limits. Readers can monitor the resources in the box below to watch for these service launches, the GHI first-time homebuyer program and still more ARPA-funded services on the way.
