|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, AL-07, will welcome U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge to Birmingham, Alabama to talk about community investments and initiatives in Birmingham and across the country.
Rep. Sewell, Secretary Fudge, and Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin will meet with residents at Smithfield Court and hold a press conference with city officials and community members. The leaders will visit Smithfield Court public housing property and surrounding Smithfield, College Hill, and Graymont neighborhoods. They will meet with the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District (HABD) and the City of Birmingham.
“I look forward to welcoming Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge to the City of Birmingham this Wednesday and to participate in the major announcement and tour,” said Rep. Sewell. “I have been working with the City of Birmingham to address the housing needs in the Smithfield, College Hills, and Graymont neighborhoods. If awarded, this funding would be the catalyst for transformational change in the City of Birmingham.”
“I am looking forward to visiting Birmingham to support the city’s efforts to transform neighborhoods and make Birmingham a great place to live,”said Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “At HUD, we are excited to actively support communities in their efforts to create impactful changes.”
Throughout Birmingham’s history, the abundance of art and culture, particularly in the Smithfield, College Hill, and Graymont neighborhoods, has given the city its unique cultural personality and creative character. For decades the larger Smithfield area was a thriving African American community. But several factors ultimately led to the community’s decline beginning with mortgage redlining and racial zoning in the 1930s; the construction of Interstates 65 and 20 in the 1950s, which wrap around the neighborhoods and cut off the area from Birmingham’s Central Business District and neighboring communities; and a lack of investment in schools and infrastructure over the last three decades.
Rep. Sewell worked with the City of Birmingham and the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District on a community-driven effort to change the narrative for the Smithfield, College Hill, and Graymont neighborhoods. The plan for neighborhood investment reflects the City’s philosophy of ‘Putting People First’ with input from residents and community stakeholders. The HUD Secretary will hear about this work during her visit.
