CLEVELAND — Editor's note: Video in the player at the top of this story was originally published on March 11, 2021, as Marcia Fudge was confirmed as the new HUD Secretary.
U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge is coming back to Cleveland on Friday for a Choice Neighborhoods groundbreaking in the Buckeye Woodhill neighborhood., the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced.
The City of Cleveland and the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority was awarded a Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant back in May of this year, enabling the community to begin its transformation plan.
Not only will Fudge be in attendance, but so will U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority CEO Jeffery K. Patterson and several other local elected officials. The event will take place at 1 p.m. at 9511 Buckeye Road in Cleveland.
The Choice Neighborhoods initiative, “supports the revitalization of communities through an emphasis on linking housing improvements with comprehensive social services and physical neighborhood improvements. Local leaders, residents, and stakeholders, such as public housing authorities, cities, schools, police, business owners, nonprofits and private developers, come together to create and implement a plan that revitalizes distressed HUD-assisted housing and addresses the challenges in the surrounding neighborhood," according to a press release. "This year’s awardees were selected from a pool of 20 applications.”
As for Fudge, she formerly represented Ohio’s 11th Congressional District but her seat was vacated when she was selected to serve as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Joe Biden.
Next week, voters will decide who will fill Fudge's open seat. The race is between Democratic candidate Shontel Brown and Republican candidate Laverne Gore.