Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) announced that she secured the inclusion of over $7.8 million for eight community projects in Alabama’s 7th Congressional District in House Democrats’ FY2022 government funding bills. With the passage of these bills in the House of Representatives this week, funding for these community projects has cleared a key hurdle. The bills must now face negotiations in the Senate.

“I fought hard to secure funding for community projects in Alabama’s 7th District in the 2022 government funding bills, and I am beyond thrilled to announce that over $7.8 million was included for projects in our district,” said Rep. Sewell. “By including funding for these projects, House Democrats are bypassing bureaucracy and getting money directly into the community where it’s needed. I am hopeful that the Senate will swiftly approve this funding and I look forward to seeing President Biden sign it into law.”

In April, Rep. Sewell submitted requests to the House Appropriations Committee to fund community projects in Alabama’s 7th District. Funding for eight of these projects, totaling $7,829,355, was included in House Democrats’ appropriations package that passed in the House this week. The bills will now make their way to the Senate where they will face additional negotiations before being passed and signed into law by President Biden. Rep. Sewell looks forward to her other community project funding requests being included in Appropriations bills still pending before the House of Representatives.

Rep. Sewell secured funding, totaling $7,829,355.00, for the following community projects in the House’s government funding bills:

*NOTE: Funding for these projects must still be passed by the Senate.

• Jefferson County - Greater Shiloh Baptist Church - Employment and Training Project
  • Recipient: Cornerstone Revitalization Foundation, Inc.
  • Award: $1,500,000.00
  • Project: To reduce recidivism, CWD will afford adults ages 25 and older opportunities to learn trade and technical skills. Participants will also have the opportunity to get their GED and pursue post-secondary education opportunities and help with obtaining affordable housing. The program is about assisting participants with not just jobs but careers. 
• Jefferson County - North Birmingham Community Development Rehabilitation Project
  • Recipient: City of Birmingham
  • Award: $3,000,000.00
  • Project: The North Birmingham Community has suffered from environmental justice concerns for over a century. A largely redlined area, the community includes multiple coal refinement operations, the 35th Avenue Superfund site, and parts of the community sustain flood damage regularly. This project would remove environmental concerns in the old North Birmingham Elementary School. The redevelopment of the North Birmingham site would provide a transformative redevelopment investment in North Birmingham.
• Jefferson County - Small Business Accelerator Program
  • Recipient: Central Alabama Redevelopment Alliance
  • Award: $474,355.00
  • Project: The Small Business Accelerator provides micro companies and small businesses access to instructional workshops, key resource providers, and other support to help them expand and create jobs for the local community. The Accelerator helps Alabama small businesses establish core systems and processes that would allow their business to survive a natural disaster, economic downturn, or other business interruptions.
• Lowndes County - Wastewater Disposal Treatment System Project
  • Recipient: Lowndes County Unincorporated Wastewater Program
  • Award: $700,000.00
  • Project: Failing septic tanks and deteriorating wastewater infrastructure in Lowndes County have left many families with untreated sewage in their yards and in local waterways. This is not only an infrastructure crisis, but a healthcare crisis. This funding would facilitate the installation of septic tanks for homes in unincorporated areas without proper wastewater disposal systems. 
• Perry County – Drinking Water Infrastructure Project
  • Recipient: City of Marion
  • Award: $480,000.00
  • Project: The improvement of the City of Marion’s water infrastructure is critical to the health and economic vitality of the community. Failures of the water system after recent natural disasters have threatened the continued operation of local institutions like Marion Military Institute and Judson College. These funds will help provide functional water systems to a community that is combating intergenerational poverty in the Black Belt.
• Sumter County - Hill Hospital Construction Project
  • Recipient: Hill Hospital
  • Award: $575,000.00
  • Project: For several years, Hill Hospital has faced persistent challenges to provide comprehensive health care to the citizens in Sumter County. Geographic isolation, economic fluctuations, and the COVID 19 pandemic have magnified these challenges. This funding will improve the facilities and patient rooms at Hill Hospital so they can continue to serve the county and provide healthcare to the rural community. The long-term viability of Hill Hospital will prevent residents from traveling to other counties and states to seek health care.
• Tuscaloosa County - Community Health Worker Initiative
  • Recipient: West Central Alabama Area Health Education Center
  • Award: $300,000.00
  • Project: The Community Health Worker Initiative will develop and implement a training program throughout Alabama to improve access to healthcare, increase community resilience, and promote health education in rural areas. Nearly half of Alabama’s state population lives in a rural county, and on average, those individuals are more likely to be low-income, uninsured, and suffer from higher rates of chronic health conditions. This program will help aid these communities while also addressing the primary care, dental, and mental health workforce shortage in Alabama.
• Tuscaloosa County - TRAMS CORE Improvement of Postsecondary Education
  • Recipient: Stillman College
  • Award: $800,000.00
  • Project: The Translational and Mechanistic Science for Collaborative Organic Research Environment (TRAMS CORE) program addresses traditional roadblocks for research and will provide a platform to generate new research efforts on the campus of a HBCU. Subsequently, the successful integration of shared resources will support continued growth in biomedical research in the community. This proposal is part of a long-term commitment toward the development and sustainability of biomedical research facilities at Stillman College.