Marcia Fudge
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge will be in St. Thomas on Friday where a number of events are planned, including a visit to the Sugar Estate Seniors Affordable Housing community where Ms. Fudge is expected to speak with community members.
Ms. Fudge's office told the Consortium Wednesday that the trip is part of a mission to hear from residents and learn about their experiences, and to talk about the HUD-USVI collaboration as well as HUD's commitment to the territory as it recovers from the hurricanes of 2017.
The U.S. Virgin Islands has received hundreds of millions of dollars from HUD as part of disaster recovery funding. In August 2021, HUD approved the territory’s Community Development Block Grant – Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Action Plan, giving the Virgin Islands through the Housing Finance Authority (VIHFA) authorization to spend $774 million (Tranche Four) for disaster mitigation and planning efforts that minimize or eliminate risks and reduce losses from future disasters.
The visit will also include a tour of Estate Donoe - Tutu Phase I Redevelopment Project. Local participants of the tour include Robert Graham, executive director of the V.I. Housing Authority, and Dayna Clendinen, interim executive director of the V.I. Housing Finance Authority.
Following the site tours, a roundtable with nonprofit organizations will be held at 2:00 p.m. at Government House, St. Thomas.
