Through the CARES Act, the State of New Hampshire was allocated approximately $5.4 million to be deployed under the Community Development Block Grant program to respond to the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19). These funds, known as CDBG-CV, are to be used specifically for the prevention of, preparation for, and response to COVID-19.
CDFA is focused on rapidly deploying these additional funds, as well as shifting existing resources, to meet the needs of New Hampshire communities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. To that end, CDFA will begin accepting applications for CDBG-CV Public Services funds (approximately $3.7 million available) on July 8, 2020 with applications due by no later than August 17, 2020 at 4:00 PM. Please note, we are still awaiting additional guidance and approvals from the Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding our requests for flexibility.
The balnce of CDBG-CV funds will support microenterprises and business technical assistance. Application guidance and deadlines for those programs are forthcoming.
CDBG-CV Program Timeline
- Application workshop: June 29, 2020 – REGISTER HERE
- Application opens: July 8, 2020
- Pre-application meetings: throughout July
- Application due: August 17, 2020 by 4:00 PM
- Award decisions: October 1, 2020
- Additional guidance to be released on-going as available
Next Steps for Applicants
As you prepare your community to apply for CDBG-CV funds, applicants should take the following steps.
- Sign-up for the CDBG-CV application workshop – register here.
- Schedule a pre-application meeting with CDFA staff. Contact Shelley Hadfield, Director of Housing and Community Development (shadfield@nhcdfa.org / 603-717-9112) to schedule. Applications submitted without a pre-application meeting will not be considered.
- Begin a community needs assessment. Guidance for how to conduct an assessment is available here. The completion of an assessment will be considered when scoring applications.
- Hold a public hearing to adopt a Housing and Community Development plan if your community does not have one.
Accessing Additional CDBG Funds to Respond to COVID-19
Housing and Public Facilities applications that clearly demonstrate consistency with the directive of the CARES Act to prepare for, respond to or recover from the COVID-10 pandemic; and, which also meet CDFA’s CDBG Emergency Program criteria may be submitted through the CDBG Emergency Program application process. Applicants with potential projects must contact CDFA for a pre-application meeting to determine if the proposed project meets the criteria. A circular with additional information is available here.
Relevant Resources
All relevant Community Development Block Grant – CV program resources can be found on CDFA’s Resource Hub: https://resources.nhcdfa.org/programs/community-development-block-grant/. These resources include:
We will post additional information related to CDBG-CV as we receive further guidance from HUD.
CDFA is continuing to work diligently to respond to community needs, provide flexibility and deploy resources as quickly as possible to support critical work. For more information on other COVID-19 resources available to our current grantees/borrowers, municipalities, nonprofits and businesses, please visit: https://nhcdfa.org/covid-19-resources/.
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