ARPA Social Impact Programs

Lowell Housing Authority Building Portfolio Updates and Improvement  

Working with the Lowell Housing Authority, this project will fund long-needed upgrades to every facility across the LHA's portfolio of affordable housing, as well as pay for pre-development costs associated with the new "River's Edge" housing development. the projects include: 1) Repair the elevator at 198 South St - elderly and disabled housing; 2) Update all smoke detection devices across the portfolio of properties to comply with HUD "NSPIRE" requirements for all federally funded housing bedrooms; 3) Replace all domestic hot & cold water piping across the North Common Village Complex; 4) help with the pre-development costs for the River's Edge Project (32 new units of affordable housing).  

Career Center Job Training Programs  

Provide medical training opportunities to the unemployed and underemployed residents of Lowell, that would allow a graduate/certificate holder to be able to be gainfully employed quickly after finishing their specific program. 

Although many educational and training programs exist within Lowell Career Center, there are some that require specialized training facilities and/or facilitators. Outsourcing these programs to a third party allows for an immediate impact in getting job seekers trained, and into the workforce. Building out facilities to accomplish a similar outcome would be both cost and time prohibitive. 

Affordable Housing & Redevelopment Plan  

Provide legal services and expertise in drafting a plan for the development and disposition of publicly owned parcels within the City of Lowell, in order to create affordable housing and economic development opportunities.  

This vendor will be providing legal expertise to improve upon current zoning districts in the City of Lowell, as well as facilitating the expansion of affordable housing and small business improvements within the City. They will also be instrumental in the Transportation Overlay District project, which is intended to help spur additional economic development opportunities within the City. 

With the work being completed as part of the overlay districts project would help promote a critical mass of residents and activity downtown, which will enhance ongoing revitalization efforts. The overlay districts would also help expedite permitting and approvals of residential projects downtown, and specifically near the Gallagher Terminal which is the central transportation hub for the City of Lowell. 

Pollard Memorial Library Bookmobile  

This new bookmobile will greatly enhance the reach of the Pollard Memorial Library within the City of Lowell. During the pandemic, when the library was closed to visitors, a bookmobile would have been able to provide an expanded reach to residents of the city, and the 14,000+ students who were otherwise unable to obtain reading and reference materials who were studying in a remote learning environment.  

Career Center Administrative Costs  

The salaries, benefits, and misc. supplies costs for Career Center staff who are directly associated with the rollout of Lowell's ARPA Job Training and Employment Placement programs with unemployed and under-employed Lowell residents, placing these individuals into job training programs so they may learn valuable career skills and be more readily prepared to enter to workforce and be successful. 

City Hall Wayfinding Project 

Project to translation kiosks to Non-English speaking visitors to Lowell's municipal buildings. Roughly 40% of Lowell residents do not speak English as their primary language. Installing this equipment will increase our resident’s ability to access municipal information and departmental locations in more than 100 languages.  

Lowell CO-OP Program 

The Lowell Community Opioid Outreach Program (CO-OP) is an innovative program made up of first responders and clinicians that brings together public and nonprofit organizations to address the opioid crisis in the City of Lowell. The CO-OP is a partnership between the City of Lowell's Fire Department, Health Department, Police Department, along with Lowell House Recovery and Addiction Treatment, and Pridestar EMS. The Lowell CO-OP builds relationships with treatment providers and other local resources as a means to best serve the community and committed to reducing the number of deaths attributed to opioid overdose by helping its clients towards the path to recovery and bridging the gaps in treatment services. 

Office of Homelessness Initiatives  

The mission of the Office of Homeless Initiatives is to foster community collaborations that work to prevent and reduce homelessness in the City of Lowell, by organizing and maintaining a crisis response system that provides shelter for all citizens and focuses on rapid connection to resources. The City has created the Office of Homelessness Initiatives to help coordinate efforts on a Federal, State, and Local level to provide outreach and services to the City of Lowell's unhoused individuals and families. 

Career Center ARPA Computer Training Lab  

The Career Center reconfigured existing space within their facility to create the ARPA Skills Center. ARPA funding was used to furnish the space, and provide computer technology, which accommodates a larger pool of job seekers than prior facilities were able to. Costs associated with the completion of a computer lab space within the Career Center, and the hiring of a Contractor(s) to teach basic computer literacy skills to the unemployed or underemployed residents within the City of Lowell. 

Equipment Upgrades for Lowell Senior Center 

Senior citizens were one of the more disproportionately impacted populations from the COVID-19 pandemic. This investment in new equipment will allow for both an improvement in overall food preparation of nutrient rich meals and efficient meal service for seniors. It will also enable patrons to engage in physical activity, improving cardio capacity and reducing muscle mass loss, while using more ergonomically appropriate equipment. 

Abandoned Residential Property Demolition – 7th Street  

The abandoned property at 49 7th street was demolished as it presented an imminent threat to public health and safety. The asbestos siding on the residence could not be removed from the structure independently as the entire building was unstable. The structure was razed, removed, and processed at an appropriate asbestos mitigation facility.  

Translation Services  

By investing in a translation services program, the City can reduce the language barriers to information that residents experienced during the pandemic, and better serve the community. The Translation Services Program will enable the City to more effectively reach the diverse citizenry that reside within the City of Lowell, either in their native language, or a language that is more familiar to them than English. The program seeks to provide: Online information and/or social media posts available in multiple languages; Real-time translation of televised public meetings; Translation services within municipal buildings. 

Transportation Services  

Transportation contract to transport individuals and families from Homeless encampments to area shelters, or transitional housing as needed, Funds to transport individuals and families that are experiencing homelessness to area shelters, or transitional housing. Most individuals in this situation lack the resources to be able to travel to a shelter or other transitional setting. This service provides reliable transportation to a safe location for them and their families. 

Summer Youth and Family Recreational Programming  

This program would provide free admission to local amusement parks and entertainment centers to low income families in City of Lowell.  

Incidental Work Support Program  

The MassHire Lowell Career Center is using ARPA funding to provide supportive services to unemployed and under employed City of Lowell residents. These specific funds will be used to provide Career Center service recipients with gift cards (specific to local/regional retailers) to be used for obtaining: appropriate work clothing or uniforms, groceries to address food related insecurities, and transportation assistance via bus passes or the use of pre-paid gas cards.  

Free Outdoor Public Fitness Programming  

The Free Outdoor Public Fitness Program provides a community-focused approach to inspire positive transformations within the program’s participants. Encouraging people to exercise in a communal setting, outdoors, also helps ward off the unintended impacts of COVID-19 lockdown requirements, isolation and quarantine mandates, and social distancing practices.