RUMFORD — Town officials learned Monday that Rumford will soon get $300,000 to restore dilapidated housing.

The money will be awarded through the Community Block Development Grant program, through which Maine distributes federal funds to local communities, grant writer Phil Blampied of Rumford said Monday in a news release.

He said the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development notified Rumford officials by letter of the award and will meet with them in the coming few weeks to finalize the details.

“I have to give credit to Phil Blampied for working on this and getting the money here for the people who need to do those improvements,” Town Manager Carlo Puiia said Tuesday.

“Phil’s done a great job. This will certainly make a big difference.”

Also, Community Concepts “will also be pitching in some money, so this is a win-win situation,” he said.

Rumford applied for the grant this past spring, competing with communities throughout the state for a limited number of grants in the 2012 round, Blampied said.

The Housing Assistance Grant Program provides funding to address housing problems of low- and moderate-income persons.

Earlier this year, Rumford had identified hundreds of thousands of dollars of work needed on properties owned or inhabited by low- to moderate-income residents, Blampied said.

The town argued in the application to the state, “that the aging housing stock, high unemployment and other economic challenges facing the town made the grant money necessary,” he said.

This is the second CDBG housing grant won by Rumford. In 2009, the first one provided nearly a half million dollars of restoration work and repair, Blampied said.

The grants are administered by Community Concepts, a nonprofit that can bring additional matching funds to the work from its other programs.

Rumford doesn’t have to provide any local tax dollars for the grant just awarded, because Community Concepts has pledged to provide them, Blampied said.

Dozens of Rumford property owners have made preliminary applications to be included in the housing grant this year.

This summer, they will be contacted by Community Concepts to review their applications and to determine which properties are eligible to be included in the grant work, Blampied said.

The federal guidelines for the CDBG program require that the money benefit low- and moderate-income persons, prevent and eliminate slum and blight conditions, and meet community development needs having a particular urgency, among other standards, Blampied said.

“In a community which has experienced many setbacks, the help coming from DECD and the CDBG program has been one bright light. Thank you very much,” Blampied wrote via email Monday to a DECD official.

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