Rural and Tribal Data Gaps Grant Program – Sep 6

Posted by Enterprise Community Partners on August 13, 2019

Enterprise Community Partners is accepting proposals for its Addressing Rural and Tribal Data Gaps Grant program.

Reliable community data is a critical tool for planners, but rural and tribal practitioners face unique challenges in accessing and using data to support housing stability. Frontline and non-technical staff may come from organizations with limited capacity and have fewer of the rich open-source resources or data portals that are available in large cities. Individuals working in areas with small or disbursed populations may find standard data sources are unreliable. They may also find that existing data do not accurately depict the needs or experiences of rural or tribal residents who are especially likely to be needing an affordable, safe home or who are vulnerable to changes in affordability.

The Addressing Rural and Tribal Data Gaps Grant program is designed to help practitioners resolve some of the challenges of using data to expand housing stability for low-income people and other vulnerable populations in rural and tribal communities. Through this RFP, grants of up to $60,000 over twelve months will be awarded to community development corporations (CDCs) and community housing development organizations (CHDOs) serving rural and/or tribal populations that are interested in or working to overcome challenges of data availability, reliability, and/or sufficiency. Recipients also will receive one-on-one monthly technical support conference calls through which they receive direct technical assistance and guidance from Enterprise’s Knowledge, Impact, & Strategy team.

Projects or programs identified by ECP that expand housing stability include but are not limited to coordinated efforts to assess local housing needs; cross-sectoral partnerships aimed at reducing homelessness; surveys to measure the impact of affordable homes; analyses to solve affordability concerns; needs assessments aimed at mitigating overcrowded or unsafe conditions; and the creation of maps that cab be used to close equity gaps.

As funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 4 Capacity Building for Affordable Housing and Community Development program, general federal grant requirements apply to all organizational applicants (Appendices A to H). Applicants must be a CDC or CHDO. Other eligible organizations, as determined by Enterprise, may include organizations serving Native American populations with a defined mission such as Tribes, Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs), or Tribal Housing Authorities (THAs). Applicants must also have a physical presence in, or primarily serve, individuals located in Section 4-designated rural communities, Indian reservations, or tribal trust lands; and/or primarily serve members of Native American populations. Proposed community projects or programs for which grantees are collecting and/or analyzing data must address the needs of families and persons of low income as required under the Section 4 program (80 percent average median income or lower).

To determine whether the area where grant activities will take place qualifies as a Section 4-designated rural community, enter the zip code or city here.

http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=ad890ce1aafa44c8a9ecf55f21af9a91&extent=-98.1879,30.0915,-65.7343,45.1383

See the Enterprise Community Partners website for complete program guidelines and application instructions.

Deadline: September 6, 2019

Learn more and apply: https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/financing-and-development/grants#address