Newport News City Manager Cindy Rohlf and Redevelopment and Housing Authority Executive Director Karen Wilds have released the following joint statement regarding Newport News’ Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant application.
“We received notification from HUD that our application for $30 million in grant funds to transform the Marshall-Ridley neighborhood was not selected for funding. We are disappointed with this decision, and we intend to apply again in September for the next round of grant funds. We will soon be meeting with HUD officials for a debrief and to gain a better understanding of how we can strengthen our application.
“We are deeply thankful to everyone who worked so very hard on this application with us, including our citizens in and around the Marshall-Ridley neighborhood as well as many nonprofit and business partners. It is an honor to have been named a finalist for the funding out of 20 applications submitted from across the country, competing in the final round with some localities that are much larger than Newport News such as Baltimore, Tulsa and Phoenix.”