Rural eNews

January 2021

Funding & Finance Opportunities

Covid-19

THE ALASKA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION'S AK Can Do COVID-19 response grant opportunity will support nonprofit organizations throughout the state who have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those who have funding gaps that remain as a result of low or no funding awarded through the CARES Act and other foundation funding sources. This final round of funding will focus on supporting housing stability, but not to the exclusion of other needs. Grants will range from $5,000 to $20,000. Alaska nonprofit organizations, tribal organizations, schools, faith-based organizations, housing authorities, and local government agencies may apply. Deadline:  applications will be accepted through 1/14/2021.  Visit the website here to review program guidelines.

LOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION RURAL RELIEF SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS are available for up to $20,000.  Grants support small businesses and enterprises affected by Covid-19 across the country, especially those in underserved communities, including entrepreneurs of color, women- and veteran-owned businesses that often lack access to flexible, affordable capital.  Deadline:  2/2/2021.  Click here to learn more about these grants and to apply.

Health

THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES is offering grants for Community Health Access and Rural Transformation Track grants to state and local government; Native American tribal governments and organizations; institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations; and for profit entities.   Deadline:  2/16/2021.  Click here for application guidelines.

THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES is offering grants to recruit and train emergency medical services personnel in rural areas.  Deadline:  2/16/2021. Click here to review program guidelines.

THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES is offering grants to address the opioid crisis in tribal communities by increasing access to culturally appropriate and evidence-based treatment, including medication-assisted treatment. Funds may also be used to address stimulant misuse and use disorders, including cocaine and methamphetamine.  Deadline: 2/16/2021.  Click here to review application guidelines.

THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES is offering grants through the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program – Implementation program.  Grants are offered to strengthen and expand substance use disorder/opioid use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery service delivery in high-risk rural communities.  Deadline:  3/12/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines.

Food

USDA is offering grants through the Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program.  Grants may be used to plan or implement food projects designed to meet the needs of low-income individuals and increase community self-reliance concerning food and nutrition.  Deadline:  5/4/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines.

Other

Ms. Foundation Launches 'Ms. South' Grant to benefit organizations led by women and girls of color in the south.  Ms. South is a multiyear grantmaking strategy to support the sustainability and leadership of organizations led by women and girls of color (WGOC) in the southern region of the United States.   Deadline: 1/8/2021(Letters of Inquiry).  For more information, click here.

HUD is offering grants through The HOPE VI Main Street Grant Program.  The program offers support to small communities to assist in the renovation of a historic or traditional central business district, or "Main Street" area, by replacing unused, obsolete, commercial space in buildings with affordable housing units. The objectives of the Program are to redevelop central business districts, preserve historic or traditional Main Street area properties by replacing unused commercial space in buildings with affordable housing units, enhance economic development efforts in Main Street areas, and provide affordable housing in Main Street areas. Deadline:  1/19/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines.

US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR is offering YouthBuild grants to organizations providing pre-apprenticeship services that support education, occupational skills training, and employment services for at-risk youth, ages 16 to 24, while performing meaningful work and service to their communities. Training includes affordable housing construction skills and other in-demand industries, such as healthcare, information technology, hospitality, retail services, and logistics.  Deadline:  2/2/2021.  Click here for additional information.

US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE is offering grants to states and local governments to implement programs and services to address the needs of incarcerated parents and their children. Projects in rural communities are a priority.  Deadline:  2/5/2021.  Click here for funding guidelines.

THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS is offering funding through Grants for Arts Projects. Guidelines and application materials for funding are now available on the National Endowment for the Arts’ new website here. Grant applications previously submitted to the Art Works category will now be submitted to the Grants for Arts Projects category.   Deadlines: February 11 & July 8, 2021 for projects taking place beginning in 2022.  Please note, the February deadline is the only opportunity to apply for Design funding for 2022.

FRONTLINE SOLUTIONS is offering grants through the Elevate Initiative, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focusing on addressing structural and systemic barriers to economic opportunity and ensuring equitable outcomes in the American workforce. Up to ten grants of between $100,000 and $300,000 will be awarded to nonprofit organizations nationwide that demonstrate a strong commitment to intersectional racial justice, and an ability to address economic disparities that affect black and brown workers as the result of structural racism. Examples of approaches include emerging industry access, systems change initiatives, and workforce development programs. Preference will be given to organizations with people of color in leadership positions. Deadlines: initial applications are due 1/11/2021; invited full proposals must be submitted by 2/12/2021. Visit the Frontline Solutions website here to review the RFP.

THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE is offering grants to provide reentry services and programs to reduce recidivism and combat violence by facilitating the successful reintegration of individuals returning from incarceration, especially those with substance use disorders. Rural communities are a program priority.  Deadline:  2/16/2021.  Click here for more information and to apply.

Training Events and Conferences

WEBINARS and other Online Events

Join the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia for a webinar where you’ll learn more about the Federal Reserve’s notice asking for public input on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and how to submit a comment.  Register for a session: January 6, 2021, 2:00 –3:00 PM ET; January 27, 2021, 10:00 –11:00  AM ET.  Click here to register.

Grounded Solutions Network will host “CLT Basics & Beyond,” a course offering an introduction to the nuts and bolts of the CLT model, with a focus on CLTs providing permanently affordable homeownership opportunities for new practitioners, board members, advocates, CLT partners, and funders, will be offered Thursday, January 14, 2021, 2:00 PM ET – Thursday, January 28, 2021, 4:00 PM ET.  Click here to learn more and to register.

CDFA's Fundamentals of Economic Development Finance WebCourse, the foundation for all of CDFA’s educational offerings with a focus on the development finance tools needed to restore and preserve local communities will be offered January 27-28, 2021.  The last day for early bird rates is January 8, 2021.  CDFA's President and CEO, Toby Rittner, along with a panel of expert speakers from across the country, will discuss the variety of development finance tools available including bonds, tax credits, tax increment financing (TIF), federal financing programs, RLFs, Opportunity Zones, and access to capital lending resources.  Click here to register.

The Rural Policy Research Institute is hosting a virtual research agenda-setting conference on the important role that arts and cultural capital play in rural innovation, community well-being, and rural community sustainability and resiliency, February 23 & 25, 2021.  Registration will be available soon here.

 Webinar and Conference Recordings

“How Community Development Organizations Change When They Embrace Arts and Culture” Recorded Webinar.  PolicyLink developed a series of webinars to support ArtPlace America’s Community Development Investments initiative to share experiences and lessons for community development corporations, nonprofit housing developers, health services providers, park associations and economic development agencies.  Listen to the webinar here.

Save the Date...

The National Housing Conference will host Solutions for Housing Communications online 2021 convening, taking place Thursday, March 18, 2021.  Look for more information to be posted here.

Save the dates of March 30-31, 2021 for NLIHC’s Virtual Housing Policy Forum 2021: A New Day!  The forum will feature keynote speakers and panels on Racial Equity and Housing Justice, Coronavirus and Current State of Play, State and Local Emergency Rental Assistance Programs, Achieving a Housing Entitlement, What the Election Means for Affordable Housing/Capitol Hill Insiders Panel, Best Practices in Organizing, and more. Register here.

Information and Other Resources

Articles, Reports, and Tools

Thrive Rural released an updated version of “Equitable Recovery and Resilience in Rural America.” In it, Brian Dabson explores place-based rural realities and inequalities and provides transformational ideas and pivotal moves that government at every level can take to help rural communities become more dynamic, healthy places where everyone belongs, lives with dignity, and thrives.  Click here to get the publication.

Enterprise Community Partners announced a new five-year $3.5 billion initiative, including a $25 million commitment from Netflix, to “dismantle the deeply-rooted legacy of racism in housing – from the types of homes that are built, where they’re built, who builds them, and the wealth that is generated from them.” The Equitable Path Forward initiative will work to fill the capital gap, strengthen housing providers and support new career pathways for more diverse leadership in real estate.  Read more about the initiative here.

The Federal Reserve's latest Consumer & Community Context features articles analyzing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Get a copy of the report here.

The Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response provides guidance to communities on how to use a wide range of federal funding sources, including CARES Act programs, strategically across key public health and economic recovery strategies to meet public health goals, increase housing stability, and prevent future increases in homelessness – all with a racial justice and equity lens.  Download the Framework here.

2020 ROAD Sessions highlight and unpack rural development ideas and strategies that are critical in response to COVID-19 and to long-term rebuilding and recovery. All four ROAD Sessions to-date feature stories of on-the-ground practitioners who have experience, wisdom and savvy to share. The series reflects and emphasizes the full diversity of rural America, spotlights rural America's assets and challenges, and lifts voices and lived experience from a wide range of rural communities and economies. The ROAD Sessions virtual exchanges are co-designed and hosted by Aspen CSG's Thrive Rural in collaboration with the Housing Assistance Council, the Rural Community Assistance Partnership and Rural LISC.  Click here to watch the videos and learn more about the exchanges.

Barbara McAneny, MD, Discusses New Challenges Facing Native American Populations during COVID-19. The American Medical Association posted a discussion with Dr. McAneny that highlights the challenges facing the Navajo Nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discusses delayed cancer care, personal protective equipment shortages, lack of broadband, and social determinants of health, among other factors, as challenges facing the Navajo Nation. The video and translation also addresses the future vaccine rollout.  Watch the video or read the transcript here.

New Aspen Series: In Focus is a new multimedia series that tackles society’s greatest challenges, produced by Aspen Institute staff, advocates, and program participants. The first installment examines the “structural inequities in our education system,” how the COVID-19 pandemic and national reckoning on race have exacerbated them, and where we go from here, including Noa Myer's blog for Aspen CSG on the challenges of rural higher education during the pandemic. Take a look at “Helping Rural Students Head to College in Uncertain Times.”

The second installment of In Focus explores the “gears of democracy” during an American election year unlike any other. Is our democracy really under strain? A healthy press is crucial for holding politicians to account and bringing voters the information they need to make informed decisions. Yet, as Aspen CSG's “Revealing Rural Realities” shows, ongoing changes in the structure and business of media and journalism contribute to the gap between rural realities and public perception of rural America.

A new Freddie Mac white paper examined the role of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program in supporting the multifamily housing market and general housing needs of low-income households in rural Persistent Poverty Counties (PPCs).  Get the paper here.

An article in the Rural Monitor discusses how Lakewood Engage tackled food insecurity in rural Minnesota.  When staff at Lakewood Health System, located in rural Minnesota, started discussing how they might address social factors affecting their patients’ health, they kept coming back to food access. Patients experiencing food insecurity faced greater health disparities and often found it difficult to follow through on their care outside of the clinic.  Alicia Bauman, the Community Health Director for Lakewood Health System, gave an insight into the type of difficulties that clinic staff encounters. A doctor was frustrated that a patient hadn’t been taking her medication, even though the patient had been filling all her prescriptions. The doctor struggled to figure out why, until realizing that the medication needs to be taken three times a day with food ― and the patient admitted that she can only afford to eat one meal per day. “Their ability to take their medication was hindered not by accessing that medication, but by the ability to have consistent and stable access to food.”  Read the full article here.

Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General has published “Opioids in Medicaid: Concerns About Opioid Use Among Beneficiaries in Six Appalachian States in 2018.”  Authors examine the rates of opioid use of Medicaid beneficiaries in 6 Appalachian states in 2018, and discuss the amount of the prescriptions issued, the amounts of opioids received, and the amount of providers with questionable prescribing practices, among other opioid-related measures.  Get the paper here.

USDA has published “Rural America at a Glance: 2020 Edition.”  The document provides an overview of social and economic factors affecting rural America, with a focus on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and includes data on rural COVID-19 cases and deaths, demographic and healthcare access issues that make rural counties vulnerable, unemployment during the pandemic, and COVID-19 cases in meatpacking-dependent counties.  Get the publication here.

Explore rural podcasts from the Daily Yonder, plus other favorites produced by friends and colleagues around the country. You can find it all in the podcast feed here.

The Natural Hazards Center, in partnership with FEMA, is offering the “Making Mitigation Work Webinar Series.” These free one-hour webinars feature innovative speakers and highlight recent progress in mitigation policy, practice and research. The next webinar is on Tuesday, February 9, 2021 from 1:00-2:00 PM ET. The specific topic for the webinar has not yet been announced. Click here to learn what topics will be covered, and register. View recordings of previous webinars here.

Policy Link has announced the relaunch of www.communitydevelopment.art with new briefs, videos, and new resources that examine the intersection of arts, culture, and equitable development.  A much wider spectrum of experiences beyond CDI is also now shown on the site. The Communities and Issues sections have been greatly expanded to include reports, videos, and websites about many other organizations and campaigns, each one of them breaking new ground. There are introductions to other PolicyLink projects, from an upcoming presentation with the voices of “We, the 100 Million” to an exploration of the practice and theory of social cohesion — bringing people together through arts and culture and what that means for community well-being.

Adirondack Daily Enterprise posted an article on “The Future of Rural.”  The article says that “As COVID-19 upended urban places and economies, people found space and safety in rural communities. For many towns, this is the first influx of new (potential) residents in years; for some it has been a generation since their populations increased.” Read more of this article here.

USDA launched the AskUSDA Contact Center to transform how the public interacts with USDA to provide a streamlined approach to improve customer service. Contact AskUSDA by phone at (833) ONE-USDA. Representatives are available 9:00 AM- 5:30 PM ET on weekdays. The website is available 24/7 and includes live chat agents available 10:00 AM -6:00 PM ET on weekdays. Inquiries may also be sent to askusda@usda.gov.  Visit the website here.

COVID-19 INFORMATION

USDA:  The COVID-19 Pandemic and Rural America

This page provides overview information on how the pandemic is affecting rural America, including the spread of cases and unemployment among the U.S. metro and nonmetro populations, and by ERS' county economic types.  Click here to view this page.

Rural LISC works with 92 partner organizations creating sustainable rural communities across 45 states. Visit our website here and sign up for the Rural LISC RSS feed here. If this email was forwarded to you and you would like to sign up to receive the Rural eNews each month, click here.

Send information on funding opportunities, events, publications, resources, or rural-related issues to sfelzke@lisc.org. Announcements will be published at our discretion based on space and applicability.  Please do not copy this document without permission.