HUD grants provide housing, stimulate community development

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson on May 14 unveiled HUD's simplified Notice of Funding Availability for fiscal year 2004, which makes available $2.3 billion in funding opportunities. According to a HUD news release, the funding will help produce more affordable housing, assist homeless individuals and families, and promote community development. Specifically, the notice includes 49 separate funding opportunities that will help states, local governments and nonprofit grassroots organizations to house and serve lower income families living in their communities. It continues HUD's efforts to improve the grant-application process and promote access for faith-based and community organizations.

According to the release, HUD intends to have all of its applications for fiscal year 2005 available on www.grants.gov.

"I'm proud to announce we've streamlined HUD's grant application process," Jackson said. "This new simplified process is creating a more level playing field for organizations of all sizes to apply for funds and demonstrate their capacity to build neighborhoods, strengthen communities and help our most vulnerable neighbors."

This year, HUD is placing the highest priority on funding local communities and organizations that are working toward removing excessive and burdensome regulations that restrict the development of affordable housing at the local level. HUD will begin awarding priority points to certain applicants in communities that have successfully demonstrated efforts to reduce regulatory barriers that prevent many families from living in the communities where they work. In addition, the department is continuing to level the playing field for faith-based and other grassroots community organizations applying for federal funding. HUD also is seeking to remove unnecessary federal regulations that prevent faith-based and community groups from competing on an equal footing with other grant applicants.

To ensure that HUD programs are accessible to small, disadvantaged or women-owned businesses, the department continues to require grantees make every effort to contract with these business partners in their HUD-funded programs.

The grant opportunities announced with the Notice of Funding Availability are in addition to the $31.5 billion HUD allocates to state and local communities, pubic housing agencies, and Native-American tribes in the form of block grants, housing choice vouchers and other formula-based funding.