VERMONT RECEIVES $11.7 MILLION FROM HUD TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Final FY 2011 Block Grant allocations

BURLINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the final Fiscal Year 2011 block grant allocations to approximately 1,200 state and local governments under the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), and the Emergency Shelter Grant Program (ESG). Read more about the block grant funding to be allocated within Vermont on HUD's website.

The FY2011 Continuing Resolution significantly reduced funding for the CDBG and HOME programs compared to last year. The CDBG overall funding was reduced by more than $600 million or approximately 16.5 percent while the HOME program funding was reduced by more than $200 million or approximately 11.7 percent.

"These programs are absolutely critical to communities across Vermont," said HUD New England Regional Administrator Barbara Fields. "As we work under the challenges of our nation's deficit, we must also understand that these
programs are essential in promoting community development, producing affordable housing, helping our homeless and even supporting long-term disaster recovery."

HUD's FY 2011 formula-based block grant programs in Vermont include:

• $   7,555,362 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds;
• $   3,836,282 million in HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) funding;
• $      365,227 thousand in Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG).
  $11,756,871 VT TOTAL

Since 1974, HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program has provided approximately $132 billion to state and local governments to target their own community development priorities. The rehabilitation of affordable housing and the improvement of public facilities have traditionally been the largest uses of CDBG although the
program is also an important catalyst for job growth and business opportunities. Annual CDBG funds are distributed to communities according to a statutory formula based on a community's population, poverty, and age of its housing stock, and extent of overcrowded housing.

HOME (HOME Investment Partnerships Program) is the largest federal block grant to state and local governments designed exclusively to produce affordable housing for low-income families. Since 1992, HOME has produced 381,883 rental units, assisted 428,373 homebuyers, rehabilitated 197,780 owner-occupied units, and helped 242,768 tenants. In the past two decades, HOME produced more than one million homes for low income families. HOME funding is cost-effective, leveraging nearly $4 in other investments for each HOME dollar spent.

Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) provides homeless persons with basic shelter and essential supportive services. It can assist with the operational costs of the shelter facility, and for the administration of the grant. ESG also provides short-term homeless prevention assistance to persons at imminent risk of losing their own housing due to eviction, foreclosure, or utility shutoffs. HUD will allocate ESG funds in a two-stage process: (1) $160 million will be
immediately allocated under the existing Emergency Shelter Grants regulations; and (2) at least $65 million will be allocated once HUD publishes the new Emergency Solutions Grant regulations.

HUD is instituting several important program priorities in the upcoming year. First, the Department's consolidated planning process will be enhanced. Largely unchanged since the mid-1990s, the 'Con Plan' will be simplified by integrating HUD's technology systems and eliminating the need to prepare a separate annual performance report. Second, HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development is moving rapidly to implement its unified OneCPD technical assistance process which is particularly important as many local governments continue to struggle with budgetary pressures resulting from the economic downturn. Finally, HUD is again urging grantees to consider the needs of returning veterans and their families in the design and administration of these formula programs.

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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and  transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.