The money comes from the Community Project Funding program.
Rep. David Trone (Md. 6rh)
Frederick, Md (KM) Sixth District Representative David Trone was in Frederick last week, handing out checks for several local projects. He provide $698,000 in Community Project Funding to Frederick’s Crisis Center which will be located at 340 Montevue Lane, and is undergoing renovations. Trone took a tour of the site. “It was a hard hat visit. The walls are coming down. They’re building this Crisis Center out. It’s going to have mental health; it’s going to have addiction health. It’s going to have everything together under one roof to help this opioid and behavioral health challenge we have in our country,”: he said.
The funds will be used to purchase medical equipment.
He also visited the City of Frederick’s Permanent Supportive Housing, Food Distribution Center and Soup Kitchen at 100 South Market Street, where he presented a check for $1.315-million to help with production, storage and distribution of fresh, healthy foods on site. “Two-thousand folks every night in Frederick County go to bed worrying ‘I don’t’ know where my next meal is going to be from,’ and America is better than that . This is another effort to continue to address that issue of food insecurity,”: he says.
A check for $4-million was presented to the City of Frederick for the East Street Trail Liberty Road Bridge Crossing. The money will be used to build a bridge over Route 26 to carry a shared use pathway. “It’s rally going to speculator,” Representative Trone said. “It’ll be wonderful for kids and adults to get them off the roads and in a safe environment,”: he says.
While he didn’t present them with a check, Representative Trone visited the Orenda Center in Buckeystown for a ribbon cutting. “It holds 18 beds for adult men. They already have one for adult women. Orenda does fantastic work in helping those with opioid addictions,” he said.
Trone says that money comes from the Community Projects Funding program, where members of Congress are allocated a certain number of projects in their districts they can proposed for federal funding. He says local governments, civic groups and other organizations can approach legislators and tell them what is needed in their communities, and ask for funding. “It’s really knowing the community and being present in the community,” says Representative Trone. “We put together an 80-page book about how to go about this. And then I analyze as a member of the Appropriations Committee. Remember, I’m a business guy so I think about this as a business: how do I get the most dollars, where the dollars are at, and bring it back to our community,” he says.
Any local government, civic group or other organizations can apply for these funds. “Right now, we’re looking for stuff to put forth and get executed. So it’s a perfect time to reach out to the office and begin the process,” Representative Trone says. He also reminds constituents that he has a district office in Frederick at 30 West Patrick Street.
By Kevin McManus