WASHINGTON, DC – March 1, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced $5 million is being made available in Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grantsto help communities begin the comprehensive neighborhood planning process to transform, rehabilitate and preserve public housing and privately-owned HUD-assisted housing. Read HUD’s FY 2011 Choice Neighborhoods Notice of Funding Availability.
“This is the third year communities across the U.S. will have the opportunity to compete for this funding that will allow them to begin the grassroots efforts to creatively link affordable housing with quality education, public transportation, good jobs and safe streets,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “The Choice Neighborhoods program is a central element of the Obama Administration’s interagency, place-based strategy to support local communities in developing the tools they need to revitalize neighborhoods of concentrated poverty into neighborhoods of opportunity.”
The Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants will enable communities to create a comprehensive transformation plan to transform public and/or assisted housing within a distressed.
The funding is intended to help communities transform distressed public and assisted housing into sustainable, mixed-income housing that connects to key services, such as education and transportation, and supports positive outcomes for the neighborhood’s families. Eligible applicants are public housing authorities, local governments, tribal entities, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit developers that apply jointly with a public entity. Applicants must demonstrate their plan to revitalize the neighborhood through public-private partnerships that seek to develop high-quality public schools and early learning programs, improve public transportation, and improve access to jobs and well-functioning services.
Applicants have until May 1, 2012 to apply for the FY2012 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants. HUD anticipates awarding approximately 17-20 grants with a maximum award of $300,000 each. For more information on current grantees, please see www.partner.hud.gov.
Choice Neighborhoodsis a centerpiece of the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative(NRI). HUD partners with the Departments of Treasury, Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services on the NRI, an interagency effort to align federal housing, education, justice, and health programs to transform distressed, high-poverty neighborhoods into neighborhoods of opportunity.
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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
http://espanol.hud.gov. You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on facebook at
www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD’s News Listserv.
Contact:
Donna White
(202) 708-0685
