Communities are recognizing the importance of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program during National Community Development Week this week, April 6-11.
CDBG and HOME are critical to communities – rural, suburban, and urban; providing a flexible source of funding to use in devising local solutions to prevent physical, economic, and social deterioration in communities across the nation. The federal investment provided by the programs is important; creating jobs, leveraging dollars, and adding to the overall GDP.
Why National Community Development Week?
The National Community Development Association (NCDA) created National Community Development Week in 1986 – 29 years ago – to bring national attention to CDBG. National CD Week initially focused solely on CDBG but has been expanded in recent years to also focus on HOME. Both CDBG and HOME have each been cut by nearly $1 billion since Fiscal Year 2010. National CD Week provides the opportunity for grantees, their sub-recipients, beneficiaries, and State and local partners to come together to showcase CDBG and HOME projects and educate the community and Congressional Members on program benefits.
CDBG and HOME make their way into the local economy through an extensive network of non-profit organizations and local contractors and businesses and remain a lifeline for families and communities. These programs are the building blocks for community development efforts; attracting other investment, providing gap funding, and acting as the catalyst for project development. The consequences of the program reductions are real: fewer jobs, fewer services, fewer businesses assisted, fewer public improvements, and fewer affordable housing units.
CDBG: 40 Years of Building Strong Communities
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program was enacted into law as part of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. CDBG provides direct annual grants to over 1,200 State and local governments. CDBG’s main purpose is to provide decent, safe and sanitary housing, a suitable living environment and economic opportunities to low- and moderate-income people. Based on the data that grantees have reported to HUD over the past ten years (FY05-FY14), the CDBG program has created/retained 353,237 jobs during this time period. For every $1.00 of CDBG investment, another $4.07 in private and public dollars is leveraged. Since the start of the program in 1974, CDBG has invested over $144 billion in local economies.
HOME: More than 20 Years of Providing Decent, Safe, Affordable Housing
Enacted into law in 1990, the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program is used to expand the supply of decent, safe, and affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households through public-private partnerships. HOME provides direct annual grants to over 600 state and local participating jurisdictions. HOME eligible activities include new construction and rehabilitation of rental and home buyer units, down payment assistance to qualified home buyers, and tenant-based rental assistance. Every $1 of HOME funds leverages another $4.16 in non-HOME funds. In addition, the HOME program has completed over one million affordable housing units including nearly 493,000 units for new home buyers, over 230,000 units for owner-occupied rehabilitations, and over 464,000 rental housing units.
The CDBG Coalition, a coalition of 20 national organizations that represent local elected officials, CDBG grantees, and local non-profit organizations, is working to protect funding for both programs and many of its local agencies and organizations will participate in National CD Week activities.
###Media Contact: Community Development Manager Sylvester Cantu