ST. LOUIS – Six metropolitan areas, one rural region and one tribal community have been designated as Promise Zones under an Obama administration program that seeks to revitalize high-poverty communities.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro announced the new Promise Zone designations after touring a job-training center in St. Louis, one of the eight new participants in the program that began last year. The program seeks to increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, improve health and reduce violent crime.
The other new Promise Zones are Camden, New Jersey; Hartford, Connecticut; Indianapolis; Minneapolis; Sacramento, California; the Low Country of South Carolina, and Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.
The designation gives impoverished areas of the communities a leg up in obtaining grants and other federal assistance.
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