Millions Available to Help Communities Plan for Public and Assisted Housing

SILVER SPRINGS, MD, March 29, 2013 (Press-News.org) The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Public and Indian Housing and Office of Multifamily Housing make available $5 million for planning grants in connection with HUD's Choice Neighborhoods program, according to a report in Federal and Foundation Assistance Monitor and Community Development Digest..

Community partnerships, including public housing authorities, nonprofits, local governments and for-profits, are encouraged to apply for awards of up to $500,000 each.
The deadline for applications is May 28.

These grants are intended to help communities create comprehensive plans to transform public and assisted housing within distressed neighborhoods. To achieve the program's core goals, communities must develop and implement a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy or "Transformation Plan."

The Plan is the guiding document for the revitalization of the public and assisted housing
units, while simultaneously directing the transformation of the surrounding neighborhood and producing positive outcomes for families.

The three core goals of the Choice Neighborhoods program are:
• Housing: Transform distressed public and assisted housing into energy efficient, mixed-income housing that is physically and financially viable over the long-term;
• People: Support positive outcomes for families who live in the target developments and the surrounding neighborhood; and
• Neighborhood: Transform distressed, high-poverty neighborhoods into viable, mixed-income neighborhoods with access to well-functioning services and schools.

Choice Neighborhoods applicants also may be eligible to apply for HUD's new Rental
Assistance Demonstration (RAD) to aid Sec. 8 rental efforts. For more RAD information, visit http://www.hud.gov/rad.

Applicants can get a sense of winning efforts by reviewing summaries of last
year's grantees at: http://tinyurl.com/boq6ows.

The Choice Neighborhoods program also provides Implementation Grants (CFDA Number: 14.889). These funds help communities implement their plans. According to Federal and Foundation Assistance Monitor sources, approximately $108 million will be available for these awards and the solicitation is due out soon.

Additional information, including summaries of last year's winning efforts, is located at: http://tinyurl.com/c4wt9wy. For more about these and other funding opportunities, visit CD Publications at http://www.cdpublications.com/samples.

CD Publications is an online Washington, DC based subscription news service established in 1961, focusing on federal and private funding insights, housing, and community development issues and legislation, and aging policy. For more information contact us at 1-301-588-6380