The council agreed to Youthworks’ application for up to $40,920 in reimbursement to support rehabilitation of its emergency shelter for youth. The project includes roof replacement, upstairs flooring replacement and bathroom replacement.

The Minot Commission on Aging requested $47,399 for its congregate and home-delivered meals for low-income residents.

“This block grant will kind of fill a gap,” said Roger Reich, executive director for the commission. “We do get money from the state every year to help with the cost of meals. That is $8.89 a meal for our home-delivered meals. But our real cost for a meal is $13.06.”

The CDBG funds will help fill in that difference.

JILL SCHRAMM/MDN Brooke Houle, a volunteer with First International Bank, collects her tote at the Minot Commission on Aging Tuesday, May 5, to deliver to Meals on Wheels clients.

“We think it’ll probably help us serve about 72,000 meals to 365 low- to moderate-income individuals,” Reich said. The funds will be tied directly to serving clients who qualify as income eligible, such as those living in senior housing for lower income residents.

Reich estimated the commission has seen a 10% increase in the number of meals being delivered monthly, which in part is likely due to inflationary costs.

“We’re just trying to fix that void and make sure that they don’t have to make a hard decision whether to eat or buy medication,” he said. Home-delivered meals also ensure clients are eating nutritionally and that volunteers or staff are stopping by regularly to make those welfare checks, he added.

The City of Minot was designated an Entitlement Community in 2023 to receive direct Community Development Block Grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, rather than competing for funding allocated to and distributed by the state. The city received $215,527 in program year 2024, $252,792 in program year 2025 and $287,456 for program year 2026. With the funds, the city can enter agreements with subrecipients to assist them in conducting eligible activities.

The agreement with the Commission on Aging uses the remainder of the city’s funds available in its CDBG public service category. The council’s agreement with Youthworks leaves a balance of $164,724 in the city’s CDBG category of public facility and infrastructure projects.