HUD recently announced $7.35 million in available funding to offer technical assistance, advice and training to Tribes and Tribally Designated  Housing Entities (TDHE) so they, in turn, can improve living conditions for  Native Americans, Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians.  This is the first time these grants are being offered on a competitive basis.

“This is a smarter approach in delivering technical assistance quickly to the Native American communities that need it the most,” said Rodger Boyd, HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Native American Programs. “Groups that have expertise with native housing issues will be able to compete for training grants to support neighborhood development and affordable housing in target communities.”

This Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)  has three categories:

• Up to $2 million is available to national and regional nonprofit organizations representing Native American housing interests to provide training and technical assistance to Tribes and tribally designated housing authorities eligible to receive funding through HUD’s Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) Program.

• Up to $5 million is available to national and regional nonprofit organizations representing Native American housing interests as well as for-profit entities to provide training and technical assistance to Tribes and tribally designated housing authorities eligible to receive IHBG funding.

• Up to $350,000 is available to national and regional nonprofit organizations, as well as for-profit entities to provide training and technical assistance to the Department of Hawaiian Homelands and sub-recipients of Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant (NHHBG) funds.

The application deadline is October 16, 2012. Applications must be submitted online through the government-wide Grants.gov portal by the deadline.