Urban and Rural Community Economic Development (CED)

Purposes

The focus of the Urban and Rural Community Economic Development program is to create projects that provide employment and business ownership opportunities for low-income people through business, physical, or commercial development. Generally the projects should improve the quality of the economic and social environment of TANF recipients, low-income residents including displaced workers, at-risk teenagers, custodial and non-custodial parents (particularly those of children receiving TANF assistance), individuals residing in public housing, individuals who are homeless, and individuals with developmental disabilities.

How Funds May Be Used

Grants are available in eight different priority areas. Grantees must develop projects that will:

• Further HHS goals of strengthening American families and promoting their self-sufficiency, and OCS goals of promoting healthy families in healthy communities.
• Create a significant number of business ownership opportunities for low-income residents of the community or significantly aid such residents in maintaining economically viable businesses. Projects may include business startups, business expansions, development of new products and services, and other newly undertaken physical and commercial activities.
• Create full-time permanent jobs except where an applicant demonstrates that a permanent part-time job produces actual wages that exceed the HHS poverty guidelines.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants for the Community Economic Development Program are private, non-profit Community Development Corporations (CDCs), including faith-based and community-based organizations. A CDC is a private, non-profit corporation, governed by a board of directors consisting of residents of the community and business and civic leaders. The principal purpose of a CDC is planning, developing, or managing low-income housing or community development projects.

Sponsoring Bureau: Office of Community Services

Fiscal Year 2005 Grants: Information about funding levels and grant competitions in Fiscal Year 2005 will be available in Spring of 2005. An excellent way to learn more about this program is to read the Fiscal Year 2004 program announcements. In Fiscal Year 2004, five separate programs were announced. See www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/grants_ocs.html (click on programs with “Community Economic Development” in the title).

FY 2004 Program Announcement:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2004-ACF-OCS-ID-0022.html

Contacts
Debbie Brown
Phone: 202-401-3446
E-mail: dbrown@acf.hhs.gov

Barbara Ziegler Johnson
Phone: 202-401-2344
E-mail: bziegler-johs1@acf.hhs.gov