FY 1998 SuperNOFA Guidebook

Coordination of HUD's Competitive and Formula-Based Programs
Example 2: Continuum of Care/Supportive Housing and CDBG

A nonprofit organization whose mission is to help battered women and their children had grown substantially in experience and resources over its 15-year history and was ready to undertake a project it had planned for years. The project was multi-faceted and would enable the organization to serve the long-term and short-term needs of its clients. It entailed the construction and operation of a large facility that included an emergency shelter for battered women and their children, 12 transitional housing units, a childcare facility, and office space.

The nonprofit had strong community support and was able to raise significant funds from private donations for the operating and service costs of the facility. It had also accumulated some development funds through a special fundraising drive that it began a few years earlier. Though the money was not enough to cover all of the acquisition, design, and construction costs, it could be used as matching funds in a variety of grant programs for which the organization could apply. It decided to form a partnership with the local and State governments, the local public housing agency, and HUD. A local nonprofit was able to acquire Continuum of Care Supportive Housing Program funds from HUD, which it used to cover a portion of the costs of acquisition, construction, and operation of the transitional housing portion of the facility. It also paid for some of the supportive services provided, such as child care. One of the reasons the grant was awarded to the nonprofit was because of the extensive amount of additional resources that the funding would leverage, including local funds, foundation money, and State housing agency grants. In addition, because the emergency shelter portion of the building served very low-income persons, the nonprofit received CDBG funds for a portion of the acquisition and construction costs from the city. The city now provides an annual allocation of CDBG funds to cover the operating expenses of the facility.

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