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Community development block grants (CDBG) help revitalize and stimulate economic development in communities, providing lower-middle-income housing and infrastructure improvements. Grants are administered by federal and state governments, targeting municipalities, small towns, businesses, and Native American tribes. Funding is limited and projects are selected on a competitive basis.
Community development block grants, sometimes referred to by the acronym CDBG, are grants designed to help revitalize and stimulate economic development in a community. Typically, the program provides lower-middle-income housing in deprived areas. Some of the money is provided directly to cities at the federal level by the US government, and some of that goes to the states. States then distribute the money to various cities or other forms of local government based on a competitive grant process.
Grant program qualifications differ based on the division of the community development block a location is seeking. The portion awarded directly to municipalities and counties directly by the federal government is known as the Communities of Rights grant. Eligible cities include major cities within a metropolitan statistical area, but some cities may qualify in other ways based on population. Projects funded by these grants include real estate acquisition, relocation, and construction. While grants are commonly associated with housing, infrastructure improvements such as sewers and roads are possible grant targets as well.
State governments also administer grants to community development blocks through the CDBG Small Town Program. In this program, each state presents criteria by which projects will be evaluated. While all projects may be required to meet certain federal standards, states are given a lot of latitude in choosing the projects that are right for them. Some smaller city grants are also administered directly by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
An area of community development block grants tend to be heavily used by businesses. This is the Brownfields Economic Development Initiative. The program takes commercial and industrial locations that have been abandoned or are left unused and helps redevelop them. In this case, the places must pose some sort of contamination threat to the environment if not cleaned up properly. Thus, most companies would not be interested in the sites without some sort of financial assistance for rehabilitation efforts.
Some community development block grants also target Native American tribes in an effort to help those living in poverty on tribal land. These grants may also target housing or some types of business development, but they specifically address the needs of a unique population. As with all of these grants, funding is limited and therefore projects may be selected on a competitive basis. However, groups have a better chance of receiving money because the competition is more limited.
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