David Toland, the Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of Commerce for Kansas recently announced the allocation of grants aimed at rejuvenating and modernizing small community downtown buildings spread across the state. This grant will be the second round released under the auspices of the Historic Economic Asset Lifeline (HEAL). This Fall 2022 grant round will see a combined $850,000 in grants spent on projects.
Historic Economic Asset Lifeline is funded by both the Department of Commerce and the Patterson Family Foundation. The core agenda of the program is to revitalize obscure downtown buildings and equip them as utility spaces for useful enterprise such as housing, new businesses, expansion of existing businesses, entrepreneurship, childcare, arts & culture, and civic engagement.
Through this initiative, Â the HEAL program is positioned to shrink the financial gaps limiting the restoration of properties that remain underutilized. It will also enhance the economic potentials of the downtown districts across the state. One of the prerequisites for evaluating projects eligible to be submitted are the economic currency of such projects for the community.
Some adjustments have been made to the current round of the HEAL program which distinguishes it from the previous round. Awardees will access the HEAL matching grants either as facade or through building construction projects. To be eligible, prospects must be organization representing building owners. Examples of such categorized organizations include: economic development organizations, Kansas Main Street programs, local community foundations, counties, cities, Â 501c3 or 501c6 organizations. However communities which have benefited from the previous round of grants are exempted from participating in the current round.
To apply, building owners must present a proof of matching funds. Applications opened on Monday, September 12 and will close by October 21. Awardees will be notified of their status early December. After the current HEAL Fall round, a Spring round will follow by February 2023.
To understand all the peculiarities of the HEAL grants, prospective can connect to a virtual webinar scheduled to be held on Tuesday, September 13 by 11:30 A.M. Participation is free but requires preregistration to receive the Zoom link for the webinar. This is an opportunity for the building owners and organizations interested in the HEAL grants to get clarity on all their concerns. To learn more about this opportunity, prospective can also visit the Kansas commerce Department website  www.kansascommerce.gov/healfall2022.
As originally reported in https://www.ksal.com/more-downtown-building-revitalization-funding-available/
