BATON ROUGE, LA — May 10, 2019 — Baton Rouge has been selected by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to receive a Choice Neighborhoods grant. This $30 million grant announcement is a significant win for East Baton Rouge Parish and will afford us a transformative opportunity to both invigorate and rejuvenate the neighborhoods of Smiley Heights and Melrose East, and to continue expanding assets within our parish.

Our team of stakeholders on this grant opportunity focused on developing a comprehensive plan as part of our application. The plan highlighted resilience, placemaking, and innovation, and I’m confident this is why the HUD chose Baton Rouge for this incredible award.

I want to thank our Congressional delegation members for their support of our application, as well as our local partners the East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority, the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority, and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. I especially want to recognize the residents of the Smiley Heights and Melrose East neighborhoods, and Councilmember Donna Collins-Lewis, who worked collaboratively with us to produce a winning presentation. This is another great day for Baton Rouge!