Congressman Aderholt Statement on Project Funding for Northern Alabama

For Immediate Release: July 13, 2021

Washington, D.C. — Congressman Robert Aderholt released the following statement on funding for Capstone Rural Health Clinic-Nauvoo, Sheffield Housing Authority, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and the Institute for Digital Enterprise Advancement.

"I am very pleased to see four staples of Northern Alabama receive funding in the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills in the House of Representatives. While this is the first step in the complete appropriations process, it is great to have these four projects already included. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I was happy to request this funding and detail why it is needed. These designated funds will go directly towards providing expanded health care services in Nauvoo, creating low income housing in Sheffield, promoting STEM learning at the Space and Rocket Center, and supporting a new program for systems engineering technology education in North Alabama. I am confident this funding will not only benefit these four great organizations, but will bolster the entire region for years to come."

The specific funding for each project is below:

• Capstone Rural Health Clinic-Nauvoo
  • Requested: $725,000.00
  • At the new clinic, services that would be provided include:
  • access to primary and behavioral healthcare; increased space to accommodate an additional primary care provider; case management services; a dedicated room to provide Telehealth Services to patients when primary or behavioral health care providers are not in the clinic; ADA-compliant access to pharmacy services.

• Sheffield Housing Authority
  • Requested: $625,000
  • Funding for the Demolition of Blighted Properties and Purchase and Rehab of Tax Sales and Foreclosed Properties, Sheffield, AL, Colbert County, AL04, would be used for demolishing blighted structures in the City of Sheffield; and to purchase and rehabilitate tax sales and foreclosed properties for use by Sheffield Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher programs.

• U.S. Space and Rocket Center
  • Requested: $400,000.00
  • The Space & Rocket Center is building a new facility for new STEM and cyber education classrooms that are sorely needed. This request will help provide equipment for the new building and directly assist the Center's outreach to underserved and rural schools with the goal of enhancing student achievement in STEM areas of their studies. The funding will specifically support the Center in providing equipment, teacher training, curricula development, computers and books.

• Institute for Digital Enterprise Advancement
  • Requested $550,000.00
  • This project brings a new workforce development pathway for a new skillset needed by the research and development community. Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is a vital capability that can accelerate the research and development timeline by modeling/automating existing processes in the project life cycle and deliver new technology into the hands of the warfighter significantly faster. This 2-year System Engineering Technology (SET) Associate Degree provides a low cost, accelerated entry into the high tech field of engineering and should be attractive to graduating high school seniors, returning veterans, or workforce up-skilling/re-skilling.