The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLBank) has awarded five Blueprint Communities in Delaware a total of $86,000 in grant money for the next phases of neighborhood renewal and community planning.

The grants, which take the form of seed funds, mini-grants and a competitive grant under the Bank’s Affordable Housing Program (AHP), were presented to civic leaders from the Browntown, Edgemoor and Little Italy/West Side neighborhoods of Wilmington; the Simonds Gardens community in New Castle County; and the Town of Georgetown. The awards were bestowed during a community revitalization symposium for the state’s Blueprint Communities on the University of Delaware’s Wilmington campus, conducted by FHLBank and the university’s Center for Community Research and Service.

The grants presented today include:

• $5,000 in seed money to the Browntown Blueprint Communities team to support a youth basketball team, cheerleading squad and revitalization of the Eddie Michael playground;
• $5,000 in seed money to the Georgetown Blueprint Communities team to establish a downtown business district beautification program and a children’s arts program;
• A $10,000 mini-grant to the Edgemoor Blueprint Communities team to support a community development organization;
• A $10,000 mini-grant to the West Side Grows team to support development of a Main Street organization; and
• A $56,000 AHP grant to Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County to help 14 lower-income residents in Simonds Gardens repair owner-occupied homes during 2013.

Delaware’s Blueprint Communities initiative – co-sponsored by FHLBank and the University of Delaware since 2008 – helps civic leaders in older, smaller communities develop enhanced leadership skills, create greater capacity to enact positive change and formulate a fresh vision and strategy to meet pressing community needs.

Blueprint Communities is expected to serve as an ongoing catalyst for projects of local importance. Six of the state’s Blueprint Communities teams (the Eastside, West Side Grows and Riverside teams in Wilmington and the Edgemoor, Historic Overlook Colony and Vicinity and Simonds Gardens teams in northern New Castle County) were recertified in March 2011 as a result of their progress in formulating detailed plans for neighborhood renewal. Two newer Blueprint Communities (Browntown and Georgetown) joined the initiative in November 2011.

FHLBank Pittsburgh is a wholesale bank that serves the housing finance and community and economic development needs of its owner-member financial institutions in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. FHLBank Pittsburgh provides reliable access to low-cost funds, competitive pricing in the purchase of mortgage loans, correspondent banking, technical assistance, affordable housing grants and other programs so members can better serve their communities. FHLBank Pittsburgh is privately capitalized and funded. As of September 30, 2012, the Bank had 294 members across the three states it serves and approximately $60 billion in assets.