Local communities celebrate National Community Development Week

Key Takeaways

National Community Development Week (CD Week), held annually during Congress’ spring recess, recognizes the importance of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) programs. Local governments, businesses, non-profits and residents come together during CD Week, April 22-26, 2019, to highlight these programs’ accomplishments and community benefits through local events and meetings with members of Congress.

CDBG helps counties address housing, community and economic development, water, infrastructure and human service needs, and HOME assists counties in funding affordable housing for low-income families. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), every $1.00 of CDBG leverages another $4.09 in additional public or private sector funding. For every $1.00 of HOME funding another $4.20 is leveraged in other public or private sector funds.

NACo encourages county officials to host activities in their counties during CD Week to help bring national attention to both the CDBG and HOME programs, particularly the need for increased program funding. Members of Congress will be back home in their districts this week, so please consider the following:

• Invite your member of Congress to your CD Week activities or to view a project funded by CDBG or HOME.

• Schedule a meeting with your congressional representatives in their district office to discuss the ongoing need for CDBG and HOME program funding.

• Send the district office information about CDBG and HOME-funded projects and how funding cuts in recent years have impacted your county.

While the CDBG and HOME programs received essentially level funding for FY 2019, both programs have been cut significantly since FY 2010. Both programs were also slated for elimination in the administration’s FY 2018, 2019 and 2020 budget proposals, though they have both received funding from Congress in each of those years. It is important to remind members of Congress how essential these grants are to local communities. CDBG is currently funded at $3.3 billion and HOME is funded at $1.24 billion for FY 2019, and NACo supports $3.8 billion for CDBG and $1.5 billion for HOME in FY 2020.

For more information and suggested activities for CD Week, please click here to view the National Community Development Week webinar that NACo co-hosted with other national partner organizations.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and tag @NACoTweets in any posts you share about CD week!