 The purpose of this press conference is to bring awareness to the National Community Development Week, a week-long celebration observed all over the nation that brings the community together with government officials through events that are designed to showcase the impact of CDBG and home investment partnership funding throughout our community. These funds are allocated annually from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to improve the physical, economic, and social conditions of our community and to provide decent, safe, and affordable housing. An example of CDBG funding impact is this very facility where we're located today. This is the new Art Center for the City of Columbia. And if you all recall, when we had the flood back in 2015, the building that housed the Art Center on Calhoun Street was damaged by the flood. So as a result, we were able to use CDBG dollars in addition to other leverage funding by the City of Columbia to up-fit this particular location. In addition to that, we used home funding over the past year to continue the revitalization of the Lion Street community. And with funding to the Columbia Housing Authority, they actually built 12 new homes in that area, and the City provided home dollars to construct five of those homes. We also use our CDBG dollars to provide affordable financing for those individuals and families whose household income is less than 80% of the AMI. So as you can see, those funding sources are very important to our community to continue to grow the community and serve those populations that are considered to be low to moderate income and the most vulnerable. This morning, we do have with us a representative from the congressman's office. Since he's not here yet, I'm going to have to call on Mr. Trezvant to come forward and make some remarks. But before that, we're going to call our city councilman Mr. Howard DeVall who's going to bring the welcome and also share some other remarks with you. Thank you, Ms. Said. This is a great day. I have had the pleasure of participating in Community Development Week for many years, going back to my time in Chirol. But this is an unusual week, Ms. Said, because the congress has already acted. And usually when we have this Community Development Week, it's the start of a big push to get congress to enact community development funds. I'm pleased to say that this year the congress has done that. They've authorized $3.3 billion in community development block grant funds, which is an increase of $300 million over last year. And they've authorized $1.362 billion in home funds, which is an increase of $412 million over the previous year. It is great that the congress has recognized the importance of authorizing these funds early. It prevents us from wasting time trying to politic for additional funding, but it is also necessary for us to be able to plan adequately to use these funds. The City of Columbia has a great history of leveraging community block grant funds. In 2015, we got $3.3 million in funds. We leveraged that to $5.1 million by using our partners in community development. In 2016-17, we got $2.5 million invested, which leveraged $2.6 million in private investment in areas all over the City of Columbia. The CDBG program is very important. It gives us the ability to impact the communities that would not have the resources to develop out of our general fund budget. So I want to compliment Mrs. Iede and her staff for the fine job that they do with CDBG and home funds. And for our congressman and his representative, thank you for getting these funds already appropriated so that we can begin to plan how to efficiently use these federal dollars. Thank you. Good morning. On behalf of Congressman Clark, the congressman was supposed to be here this morning. He's got a little family issue that he's dealing with so he cannot join us. But on his behalf, I'd like to commend the City of Columbia for their use of CDBG dollars. As you've heard from Councilman Duvall, you've heard about the increases in CDBG funding for 2018. And we hope to have the same type of impact in 2019. The City of Columbia has done an excellent job utilizing CDBG dollars over the course of the years of the program. You can see from the facade program, housing programs, other projects such as the Art Center, that the City of Columbia has leveraged federal money to have an impact in communities all over the City of Columbia. And for this, we'd like to commend Gloria, her staff, and the rest of the City of Columbia for their judicious use of taxpayers' dollars. Thank you very much. Thank both of you. I'd now like to ask City Councilman Sam Davis to come forward as well and make some comments in reference to CDBG and home. Thank you. This is one topic that I don't mind being repetitious about, and that is that the CDBG program has really impacted all aspects of the City of Columbia. Families, environments, neighborhoods, the downtown area. This very building has been mentioned where we stand now is an example of the impact when it comes to economics as well. This facility is in the very center of the City, which is kind of unusual in some aspects, but we're here. The families that have benefited from the relief provided during the floods, housing in neighborhoods, housing for families who have to receive assistance through the housing authority. It's a team effort. Everyone is involved, and as usual, everybody benefits. And I agree with Howard. Today, I was geared up to encourage folks to call their Congressperson and ask them to make sure that the funding comes through for the program. But that's in the past because they did step up to the plate, but I would encourage you to call Congressman Clyburn and thank him for his efforts. He's been our champion, and he has been able to garner support from his colleagues in Washington, so it's always good to have a voice to speak on your behalf. And also, our staff is the best. The fact that we are here, the fact that this building stands, and the fact that we are experiencing an increase this year. That is the result of the tenacious effort of Ms. Said and her staff, and we thank them for that. And so I know I can expect to hear from Council very soon about getting that money spent, right? Yes. Okay. Okay. So in celebrating Community Development Week, there are some other things that we're doing. We want you to be aware of. Throughout the city, we will have displays highlighting some of the work that CDBG and home dollars have funded, those projects that have been funded over the years. You can see those displays at City Hall and also at Washington Square. And in addition to that, we'll have some other activities going on this week. Well, we will have home buying workshops on Tuesday, April 3rd and Wednesday, April 4th. So that's tomorrow and Wednesday from 6 to 8. And we're going to have those. That would be Richland County Library. Okay. All right. And so that will be held at the Richland County Library on St. Andrews Road. So we're excited about that as we're trying to branch out and offer our services, you know, beyond our inner city location, but branch out to Richland County and also Lexington County to encourage people to move into the city. In addition to that, I want to say again that it's important to recognize the value of CDBG and home investment partnership programs so that we can continue to urge our representatives. And again, we do thank Congressman Clyburn for his hard work. I know that he's always working on our behalf to continue to get more money for our city. But we need to continue to do that because, you know, last year was really a little different kind of situation. And this year we're very happy to know that they've increased funding for both CDBG and home. So if you'd like any more information about National Community Development Week, please contact our department. That phone number is 545-3373. 545-3373. And I also would like to say that if any of you are interested in a tour of the facility before you leave today, we can certainly make sure that happens.