Last week, I completed visiting each of our Community Project Funding recipients for Fiscal Year 2023. These projects are community nominated and community driven and are unique to our district. I’m proud to have elevated these projects that help every corner of our community. These projects met the strict standards set by the House Appropriations Committee! For Fiscal Year 2023, and our office was able to secure funding for 14 projects, bringing more than $10 million in federal funds to our community! During the first few months of this year, I made sure to visit all 14 organizations in both Berks County and Chester County and I’m looking forward to seeing more of their great work in action! Keep reading for more details on my most recent visits.  

Last Monday, I visited West Chester University, along with Senator Bob Casey. The two of us worked together and secured $715,770 for WCU to establish their “I Want to STEM!” program. This will provide mentorship and accessible resources to young people in our community for STEM education.  

A few weeks ago, I toured the new Kennett Library to see how they are using their Community Project Funding to complete the new building. I secured $750,000 for the library to purchase resources of furniture and equipment for our community’s use. The library will expand their important services to our community, and I am glad to provide support for an institution dedicated to knowledge, literacy, and collaboration

I was also in West Grove and saw plans for the Oakland Avenue sidewalk revitalization project, which received $216,656 in Community Project Funding. The roadway and sidewalks right now are in disrepair, making the street dangerous for pedestrians because the sidewalk is inaccessible. These funds will make critical improvements and create safer walkways for area residents

I also visited Coatesville’s Ash Park, which received $1,000,000 in Fiscal Year 2023 to help transform the park. Our beautiful and accessible public spaces are some of the many reasons we all love living in our community, and I’m glad funding like this can help protect and improve these areas. However, this is just one part of the work needed to support the park. I’m excited to announce that I requested another $2 million for Ash Park for the Fiscal Year 2024 budget. This will help them complete their master plan so that we can all enjoy this space together.

Looking ahead to 2024, I recently announced the 14 other organizations I submitted on behalf of our community to the House Appropriations Committee. You can find the full list and read more about those projects here. In the past two years we’ve had great success getting approval for the projects we’ve submitted. These are all fantastic initiatives and I’ll keep working to bring this funding back to our community.

I also know that some of you may have more questions about the Community Project Funding process. I recorded a video to explain in more detail how these projects get approved and answer some of the questions you may have about the process. You can find that video below. If there are other things about Congress or our office that you have questions about, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Last week, the House passed, in a bipartisan manner, the Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace Act which requires the Biden Administration to develop a strategy to address China's surveillance balloon program and diminish the Chinese military's capacity to construct, operate, or maintain surveillance balloons. This was an important bipartisan step to protect the U.S. from the increasing threat of Chinese aggression. 

Karis, a resident of Birdsboro submitted a passport renewal but had not heard back from the passport office about the status. 

“My husband and I submitted our passports for renewal on January 9 for a trip taking place mid-April. Three weeks out from our trip we still had not received our passports, so I contacted Chrissy Houlahan's office for help and received immediate assistance and help and received our passports in time for our trip. Her office was very helpful and kept in communication with us regarding the status of our passport requests and tracking information once the passports were mailed.” 

As always, please contact my office if you need assistance. 

Be well and be kind to one another.  

Chrissy Houlahan 

U.S. Member of Congress 

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