Hop in! We’re heading to two cities
We hit the road to follow pandemic relief that went to Springfield, MA, and Coeur d’Alene, ID, during the first 18 months of the pandemic. How did city officials use funds, and how did they
impact communities?
City officials used—and even repurposed—relief funds to help respond to the pandemic, supporting programs focused on transportation and housing to small businesses and education. Let’s take a closer look at Springfield and Coeur d’Alene.
Springfield, Massachusetts
Put the pedal to the metal for underserved communities
Our first stop brought us to Springfield, the third largest city in Massachusetts, with a population of 154,064. The pandemic disproportionately impacted low-income and minority populations working at businesses that had to shut down. The federal government provided over $444 million through pandemic-related unemployment insurance programs to help city officials address Springfield's peak unemployment rate of 21.6 percent in April 2020. At the time of our visit in May 2022, the effects of the crisis lingered—underserved communities continued to struggle to secure essential services, like childcare, which were affected by increased costs and decreased availability.
Wired to respond
City officials used their previous emergency response experience to quickly put funds to use to help the community. Springfield received more than $1.8 billion in federal funds, which were used in the following federal programs:
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program helped make small business assistance available before federal emergency funding was received. Once CDBG CARES Act funds were available, the city then provided an additional $684,927 to small businesses and non-profit organizations.
- The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority used $10.6 million of a $36.6 million grant to maintain operations, provide essential services, and keep staff fully employed.
- The Provider Relief Fund payments helped nursing homes cover costs of personal protective equipment and staffing.
Read the full report to learn more about nine of the federal programs that helped Springfield respond to and ease the effects of the pandemic.
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Jumpstarting the city
 We continued on to Coeur d'Alene, one of the top 10 largest cities in Idaho, with a population of 56,733. The city experienced many people moving in from other states and regions, likely due to the Idaho governor’s reopening plan that was implemented in the summer of 2020. This created a high demand for housing, which, along with inflation, increased the cost of housing and other necessities. At the time of our visit in June 2022, Coeur d’Alene still struggled to address the increased housing demand caused by the significant increase in population.
Shifting gears to meet demand
City officials used pandemic relief funding to respond to the increased demands of their community. For example, of the more than $314.4 million received, federal programs impacted the Coeur d’Alene community in the following ways:
- The Department of the Treasury’s Coronavirus Relief Fund helped 19 subrecipients pay public health and safety employees, facilitate distance learning, increase the capacity of hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients, and address the shortage of skilled healthcare workers by providing training in fields such as medical coding.
- Kootenai County Transit System officials used $4.9 million in formula grants from the Federal Transit Administration to continue free bus and on-demand van services.
- With the support of nonprofit organizations, city officials used more than $446,000 from the CDBG program to expand childcare access, provide food for families and seniors, provide housing and utility access for workers, and provide rental assistance.
Read the full report to learn more about eight of the federal programs that helped Coeur d’Alene respond to and ease the effects of
the pandemic.
Federal funding helped drive results
Our tank is full, and we’re ready to share more valuable information about six diverse communities’ experiences with pandemic funding and programs. Stay tuned as we provide closer looks at rural communities, including two Tribal communities.
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