GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Kent County commissioners announced how it plans to spend its $127.6 million share of funds received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
$108 million will be allocated to the following 30 projects, according to the Kent County government:
- $17.5 million: Kent County Revolving Housing Fund – Kent County/Fund Administrator TBD
- $500,000: Kent County Equitable Housing Initiative – Housing Next
- $500,000: Four Star Theatre Renovation – Marcus Ringnalda
- $4 million: Boston Square Hub – Amplify GR
- $2 million: Krause Memorial Library – City of Rockford
- $1 million: The Junior Achievement Free Enterprise Center – Junior Achievement of the Michigan Great Lakes
- $2 million: Nourish Tomorrow Advancement Campaign – Feeding America West Michigan
- $1 million: Preventative Animal Control by Increasing Pet Owner Access to Veterinary Care – Community Spay Neuter Initiative Partnership (C-SNIP)
- $3,923,356: Behavioral Health Crisis Center – Kent County/Network 180
- $15 million: Kent County Greenway/Parks – Kent County
- $2,837,500: School Safety Radio Network – Kent County/Kent County Sheriff’s Office
- $6 million: Medical Examiner Facility – Kent County
- $3.8 million: Lead Remediation – Paint, Pipe and Training ∙ Kent County/Kent County Health Department
- $1.5 million: Sports Complex Expansion – West Michigan Sports Complex
- $6 million: Wyoming City Center Bridge and Trail Activation – City of Wyoming
- $6 million: The Grand Agricultural Center of West Michigan Kent County Youth Agricultural Association – Kent County Youth Agricultural Association
- $6 million: John Ball Zoo
- $1 million: Grand Rapids Public Museum West Entry and Gathering Space – Grand Rapids Public Museum
- $4 million: Kent County Domestic Violence Action Network – Domestic Violence Community Coordinated Response Team
- $8.5 million: Transforming Kent County's Road Network – Kent County Road Commission
- $500,000: Capital Enhancements for Facilities Serving Older Adults – Kent County/Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan
- $1 million: United Methodist Community House 900 – United Methodist Community House
- $3 million: PFAS Remediation - Water Main Extension in Cascade Township Phase I and II – City of Grand Rapids/Cascade Township
- $1 million: Fuel the Movement: Innovative Workforce Development for Economic Mobility – Grand Rapids Center for Community Transformation
- $1 million: West Michigan Construction Institute Phase II Expansion – West Michigan Construction Institute
- $138,000: SMB & Workforce Development Support & Training – Wyoming/Kentwood Chamber of Commerce
- $1.5 million: Community, Economic and Workforce Development Through A Community Development Financial Institutions Fund in Kent County’s Hispanic Community – Hispanic Center of West Michigan
- $4 million: Community Development Financial Institutions Fund for Kent County’s African American Community – Urban League of West Michigan
- $1 million: A Place-Based Approach to Reducing Health Disparities in Kent County’s African American Community – Grand Rapids Health Institute
- $2 million: Live. Work. Thrive – AYA Youth Collective
“The projects approved today exemplify the kind of broad-reaching, impactful initiatives that we as a board envisioned and the community called for in our ARPA funding engagement process,” says Stan Stek, Kent County Board of Commissioners chair. “We invested in initiatives ranging from expanding access to behavioral health services, to increasing lead remediation programs, to helping curb domestic violence, to creating loans for affordable housing developments, to deploying 800 MHz radio consoles in every K–12 school building to increase communication in emergencies.”
