Friday, Oct. 2, 2009

Fairfax County Receives Fiscal Year 2010 Grant Award

Fairfax County received approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of its Consolidated Plan One-Year Action Plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 and the total grant assistance of $8,953,939.  The award covers three programs:

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program     $5,982,304
HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program             $2,707,657 
Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) Program                         $   263,978

CDBG is a federal annual entitlement grant program that funds activities to carry out one of three national objectives: benefit to low- and moderate-income persons, aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight, or address urgent needs as defined in the program regulations.  Types of projects generally eligible for funding include acquisition and rehabilitation of facilities and housing, development of public improvements, public services (up to 15% of the grant), and removal of architectural barriers.

HOME provides funding limited to housing activities and can be used for acquisition, rehabilitation, and new construction of affordable housing; tenant-based rental assistance; and home buyer assistance.  A minimum of 15% of the annual funding must be set aside for housing development activities of Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs), as defined by HUD.

ESG funds are provided by HUD to improve the quality of existing emergency shelters and to increase the number of shelters developed for the homeless.  Fairfax County will utilize its funding to off-set operating expenses at five shelters throughout the county.