U.S. HUD CONDUCTS FREE FAITH-BASED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION CONFERENCE
Federal Strategy Emphasizes Training Faith-Based Entities

JACKSONVILLE - The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) conducted a FREE, two-day, intensive Grant Writing Training Workshop for Faith-Based & Community-Based Organizations in Jacksonville, on March 4-5, 2004, at the Westside Church of Christ, located at 23 West 8th Street.

This Jacksonville-based Workshop is one of 80 seminars held across the nation over the past 6-weeks in an effort
to present concepts to faith-based community organizations on grant proposal writing techniques, accessing government funds, HUD programs available to nonprofit organizations, how to work with local governments, organizational capacity building, and the importance of coalition building. Participants included faith- and community-based organizations' staffs, proposal writers, planners, board members, clergy and lay people.

HUD is one of several federal agencies with an intensive organized outreach to faith-based organizations, which are
all part of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. For information about faith-based and other HUD activities in Florida, visit our website.

Another unique aspect of HUD's Faith-Based effort relates to one of its primary goals - that of increasing homeownership. Through The Reaching the Dream Initiative, launched last Fall, faith-based and community organizations, financial institutions, local officials and others, together, are addressing the needs of first-time homebuyers in their communities.

Nearly 70 percent of all Americans own their own homes yet slightly less than half of all African-Americans, and right at 50% of Hispanic families, are homeowners. To close this "homeownership gap," the Bush Administration issued a challenge to increase minority homeownership by 5.5 million families by the end of the decade.

Accomplishing this national goal will require legislative and regulatory changes that remove barriers that exclude
faith-based and smaller grassroots organizations from federal grant programs. Funding opportunities vary widely
across the federal agencies, making it disproportionately difficult for smaller grassroots organizations to take advantage of federal grant programs.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities, creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans, supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as
enforces the nation's fair housing laws. For more information about HUD and its programs, logon to our website and espanol.hud.gov.

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