GRANTS ADMINISTRATION AND SPECIAL PROJECTS SECTION

Background:

The Grants Administration and Special Projects Section is responsible for administering the housing and community development related grants Montgomery County receives annually from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  The grants include the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the HOME Program Grant, and the Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG).

The Section is also responsible for preparing Montgomery County’s “Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development,” which described the County’s policies for how it will spend these federal funds to address such pressing issues as affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, and homelessness.  To find out more about the works of the section, please click on one of the links below:

·        Funding Sources

• Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
• HOME Program
• Emergency Shelter Grants
• Public Service Grants 
• Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) *NEW*

Related programs administered by other agencies:

• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) 

Other important information: 

• Electronic Benefit Data Reporting
• Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice
• 2009/2010 Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development

FUNDING SOURCES

Community Development Block Grant:       back to top

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program provides Montgomery County and other local governments with the opportunity to develop viable communities by funding activities that provide decent housing and a suitable living environment and by expanding economic opportunities, principally for low and moderate income persons. Funds are awarded to carry out a wide range of community development activities directed toward neighborhood revitalization, economic development, and the provision of improved community facilities and services.

The County received over 5 million dollars in CDBG funds in fiscal year 2008. These funds are available for activities such as: Housing Rehabilitation; Public Service Grants; Commercial Revitalization activities in selected areas.

The following jurisdictions do not participate with the County in the CDBG, ESG and HOME programs; therefore, no activities may be funded for these areas: Town of Barnesville, Town of Chevy Chase, Chevy Chase View, Chevy Chase Village, Village of Chevy Chase (section 3), Town of Laytonsville, Village of Martin's Additions, and Town of Poolesville.

HOME Program:       back to top

The HOME Investment Partnership's program is designed to increase affordable housing choices for low-income households through the development of rental housing. HOME funds are loaned to non-profit and for-profit developers for a variety of affordable housing activities including acquisition, rehabilitation, new construction, and tenant-based rental assistance. In fiscal year 2008, Montgomery County received almost 3 million dollars in HOME funds.

Non-profit and for-profit developers of housing may contact DHCA to see if their project qualifies for HOME funds.

Emergency Shelter Grants:       back to top

The Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) program enables Montgomery County to provide temporary housing and other services to persons who are homeless or about to be homeless. ESG funds are awarded for a variety of activities relating to emergency shelter for the homeless, including renovation or conversion of buildings to be used as shelters and the maintenance/operation of facilities that house the homeless. Funds may be used for essential services, including services concerned with employment, health, substance abuse, or education. Funds may also be used to provide financial assistance for families facing eviction or utility service cut-offs. The County received $200,000 in ESG funds in fiscal year 2008.  

Public Service Grants:       back to top

Each year, Montgomery County awards funding to non-profit organizations to carry out programs that directly serve low-income people, often people with special needs. These "special needs" populations include some of our most vulnerable residents: the elderly, children and youth, recent immigrants, the homeless, people with mental and physical disabilities, people with chronic illnesses, people with addictions, and victims of violence.

These public service awards are funded with Montgomery County's CDBG and ESG funds - in fiscal year 2008, the County awarded approximately $600,000 to support 30 non-profit groups and governmental agencies throughout the County. (for a list of funded agencies, click here) Applications for public service funding are accepted once a year usually in mid-September with awarded funds provided in the form of fee-for-service contracts.

Neighborhood Stabilization Program

In 2009, the Federal Government awarded Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds nationally to states and local governments to address the national housing foreclosure problem.

Montgomery County received $2,073,965 of NSP funds as a direct allocation.  The State of Maryland also received a direct allocation of NSP funds from the federal government and established the "Neighborhood Conservation Initiative Program (NCI) and made a portion of these monies available to participants through a competitive process.  Montgomery County received $2,500,000 of these NSP funds through the state's NCI program.

Montgomery County will use its current total of approximately $4.5 million NSP monies to provide funding to the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC), to our local public housing authority, for HOC to purchase and rehabilitate 15 to 20 foreclosed houses for lease to low-income county residents.  The majority of the people to be housed will have household incomes at or below 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and with emphasis on homes that will accommodate larger families, for whom the current affordable housing shortage is most acute.  HOC will rehabilitate these homes as necessary to make them as low-maintenance and energy efficient as possible.

Although currently Montgomery County does not have an NSP-funded Homeowner Purchase Program for individual purchasers, it is possible that if additional NSP funds were to be awarded, such a program may be established.

For further information, please contact Stevens Brown at 240-777-3685 or via email at stevens.brown@montgomerycountymd.gov.

PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED BY OTHER AGENCIES

Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)       back to top