Community Economic Development Projects

The Office of Community Services (OCS) will award approximately $18.57 million in Community Economic Development (CED) discretionary funds to Community Development Corporations (CDC) to enhance job creation and business development for individuals with low income. Projects should be well-planned, financially viable, and innovative. CED awards will be made as part of a broader strategy to address objectives such as decreasing dependency on federal programs, chronic unemployment, and community deterioration in urban and rural areas. CED projects are expected to actively recruit individuals with low incomes to fill the positions created by CED-funded development activities, to assist those individuals in successfully maintaining employment, and to ensure that the businesses and jobs created remain viable for at least one year after the project period. CED projects can be non-construction or construction projects. In states with current projects, OCS encourages applicants to target rural and underserved areas.Furthermore, OCS encourages potential applicants to explore how proposed projects can be aligned and/or integrated with other OCS-funded programs and priorities to more comprehensively address the needs of rural and urban communities with high rates of poverty, unemployment, and substance-use disorder, as well as communities experiencing persistent poverty, as identified by US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.

To be eligible for the CED program, an applicant must meet three conditions:1. Applicant must be a private, non-profit CDC with 501(c)(3) status;2. Applicant must have articles of incorporation or bylaws demonstrating that the CDC has, as a principal purpose, the planning, developing, or managing of low-income housing or community economic development activities; and3. The Board of Directors must have representation from each of the following: community residents, business leaders, and civic leaders.Note: The CDC designation does not need to be specified on any official documents as long as the three requirements stated above are met. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships), federal entities, and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from the merit review and funding under this funding opportunity. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible for awards under this funding opportunity.

The criteria for selecting proposals will be published in the NOFO.

This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Fiscal Year2020: Current funded CED project can be found at: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/map/ced-map-current-grantee-locations-fy-2020. RCD funded projects can be found at: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/grant-funding/rcd-fy2020-grant-awards.Fiscal Year2021: CED projects develop new products, services, and commercial activities that result in the creation of new, full-time, full-year jobs � at least 75 percent were filled by individuals with low incomes. A CED project uses $800,000 in CED funds to make a loan to an adult day care center, to expand facilities, upgrade technology and equipment, and add additional staff with behavioral management licensing. The total project created 32 jobs of which 75% were fill by individuals with low-incomes. A second project which was a CED-Energy community grant recipient uses $800,000 in CED funds to support the construction of meeting and conference center that provided lodging accommodations, meeting venues, recreation amenities, and hospitality facilities on a former coal mine site. Another CED-Energy community expand the local public market, stimulating agricultural production and the distribution of locally grown produce and...