Cumberland County Seeks Community Feedback on use of ARPA Funds
County residents are invited to offer priorities for funding through online portal
PORTLAND -- Cumberland County Government is seeking feedback from residents, in order to prioritize use of the County’s second tranche of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Residents of Cumberland County are encouraged to take the survey at https://cumberlandcounty.org/ARPANEEDS.
In 2021, the Cumberland County Commissioners established a volunteer citizen Advisory Committee made up of volunteers and policy area experts in the region. The panel meets twice per month to review applications for funding, and conducts outreach across the County in order to identify the most critical issues that ARPA funds could support to create lasting improvements.
The resident survey will help to inform the direction of the Committee, which provides funding recommendations to the County Commissioners.
Cumberland County made eleven million dollars available to area nonprofits and businesses in the first tranche, and has so far invested more than eight million dollars with regional partners - focusing primarily on affordable housing, substance use disorder treatment, behavioral health, and utility infrastructure.
Funds from projects that the County has invested in so far will create 233 new affordable housing units; construct 20 family homes; increase support for more than 4,000 people with various health disorders; facilitate more than 3,000 rides to work and appointments for people without reliable transportation; and create over 1,400 more emergency meals.
Cumberland County has already committed more than $4 million in Tranche 2, toward new shelters with wraparound services for people experiencing homelessness in Portland and Brunswick; and a study into needs for people who are housing insecure in the Lakes Region.
For more information about how Cumberland County is deploying ARPA funds in the region, visit the dedicated ARPA page on the County’s website: https://www.cumberlandcounty.org/ARPA