Rural eNews

March 2021

Funding & Finance Opportunities

Arts

CITIZENS’ INSTITUTE ON RURAL DESIGN (CIRD).  For 2021, the CIRD program consists of two different opportunities. Through the Local Design Workshops track, up to four communities will be selected to participate in an on-site rural design workshop. The workshops will bring together local residents and leaders from nonprofits, community organizations, and government agencies to develop actionable solutions to the community’s specific design challenge. Each workshop includes a $6,000 stipend to the host community. In addition, up to 15 rural communities will be selected to participate in the Design Learning Cohort track. Rural community leaders from government, nonprofits, local businesses, and civic organizations will be invited to gather together for learning, training, and support to make their community’s vision a reality. Deadline: the application deadline for both tracks is 3/12/2021. Visit the CIRD website here to download the Request for Applications.  Also, applicant communities can learn more by watching this prerecorded webinar or by following us on Facebook for announcements about our online office hours.  

Community

COMMUNITY HEART & SOUL is inviting resident-driven groups in small cities and towns to apply for $10,000 in startup funding to implement the Community Heart & Soul model. Based on three powerful principles–involve everyone, focus on what matters most, and play the long game–Community Heart & Soul helps towns move toward a brighter, more prosperous future by bringing the residents of a community closer together. Learn more and apply here.

The AARP COMMUNITY CHALLENGE GRANT PROGRAM will support quick-action projects that can help communities become more livable for people of all ages. Nonprofit organizations and government agencies may apply for grants for community-based projects to improve public spaces, housing, transportation, civic engagement, coronavirus recovery, diversity and inclusion, and more. Projects that demonstrate the ability to accelerate and sustain the community's livability for all, especially those 50 plus, and/or projects that focus on diversity and inclusion are of special interest. Deadline: 4/14/2021. Visit the AARP website here to find out more about the Community Challenge and to submit an online application.

Food

WHOLE KIDS FOUNDATION SCHOOL GARDEN GRANT PROGRAM is offering grants to support new or existing edible gardens at K-12 schools and nonprofit organizations.  Deadline:  3/31/2021.  Click here to review application guidelines.

USDA – National Institute of Food and Agriculture – Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program - Awards grants to enhance or expand existing farm to school initiatives and other experiential learning initiatives related to food and agriculture, especially in underserved areas. Promotes engagement between parts of the food system, farms, and schools in order to increase understanding of agriculture and improve children's nutritional health. Aims to increase low-income children's access to school meals, while improving the quality of food served in schools. Deadline: 5/3/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines.

Military

NEWMAN'S OWN AWARDS is offering grants to organizations working to improve quality of life for military members and their families, including programs for job training, housing, caregiver support, and mental health.  Deadline:  4/22/2021.  Click here for application guidelines.

Native Americans

SEVENTH GENERATION FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES is offering grants for native community projects in the areas of violence against women, crisis response, community empowerment, cultural vitality, and land and water stewardship.  Deadline:  3/15/2021.  Click here to review funding guidelines.

Other

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES – Rural Communities Opioid Response Program – Implementation. The Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) is a multi-year initiative by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) aimed at reducing the morbidity and mortality of substance use disorder (SUD), including opioid use disorder (OUD), in high risk rural communities. This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under RCORP-Implementation. Application Due Date: 3/12/2021.  Click here for program details.

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR is offering funding through The Pathway Home Program which seeks to provide incarcerated individuals in state correctional facilities or local or county jails with workforce services prior to release. The program also seeks to continue services after release by transitioning the participants into reentry programs in the communities to which they will return. These projects ensure that transitioning offenders are prepared to meet the needs of their local labor markets with the skills valued by employers. The application deadline is 3/16/2021.  Click here to apply.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE is offering grants to develop and implement outreach strategies targeted at, and provide victim services for, underserved populations of adult and youth victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.  Deadlines:  Letter of Intent (optional): 3/16/2021; application: 3/23/2021.  Click here for more information and to apply.

THE AMERICAN WATER ENVIRONMENTAL GRANT PROGRAM supports nonprofit organizations that address a watershed or source water protection need in local communities within American Water service areas in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Source water protection projects should result in the protection or improvement of the community's public drinking water supplies. Watershed protection projects should focus on activities that improve, restore, or protect one or more watersheds. Grants of up to $10,000 will be provided for environmental sustainability activities such as watershed cleanups, reforestation efforts, biodiversity projects, streamside buffer restoration projects, hazardous waste collection efforts, etc. Deadline:  applications must be postmarked by 3/31/2021. Visit the company's website here to download the 2021 Program Brochure and the Grant Application Form.

USDA is offering low interest loans and need-based grants to develop affordable housing for year-round, migrant, seasonal, retired, and/or disabled domestic farm laborers.  Deadlines:  Letter of Intent 4/1/2021; application 8/2/2021.  Click here to review application guidelines.

MARY KAY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER GRANT PROGRAM is offering grants to support domestic violence shelters. The Foundation will award a grant to at least one domestic violence shelter in every state that applies, and many grants have gone to rural areas.  Deadline:  4/30/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines.

Veterans

USDA is offering funding through The Enhancing Agricultural Opportunities for Military Veterans Competitive Grants Program which seeks to increase the number of military veterans gaining knowledge and skills through comprehensive, hands-on, and immersive model farm and ranch programs that lead to successful careers in the food and agricultural sector. Supported projects will offer onsite, hands-on training and classroom education leading to a comprehensive understanding of successful farm and ranch operations and management practices. Projects may also offer workforce readiness and employment prospects for service-disabled veterans. Deadline:  3/23/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines.

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS is offering funding through The Grants for Adaptive Sports Programs for Disabled Veterans and Disabled Members of the Armed Forces program to support to plan, develop, manage, and implement adaptive sports activities. Eligible activities include instruction, participation, and competition in adaptive sports; training and technical assistance to program administrators, coaches, recreation therapists, instructors, VA employees, and other appropriate individuals; and coordination, Paralympic classification of athletes, athlete assessment, sport-specific training techniques, program development (including programs at the local level), sports equipment, supplies, program evaluation, and other activities related to the implementation and operation of the program. The application deadline is 3/31/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines.

HOME DEPOT FOUNDATION is offering funding for nonprofit organizations and public agencies in the United States that are using volunteers to improve communities, with a focus on veterans and diverse, underserved communities. Grants are given in the form of gift cards for the purchase of tools, materials, and services.  Deadline:  12/31/2021.  Click here to review application guidelines.

Training Events and Conferences

WEBINARS and other Online Events

On Monday, March 1, 2021, from 2 p.m. to 4:00 PM ET, a webinar, “Racism and the Economy: Focus on Housing,” the fourth installment of the Federal Reserve System’s virtual series examining the impact of structural racism on our economy and advancing ideas to improve economic outcomes for all Americans will be held.  Register here.

“Back to Work: Leveraging Your Skills to Find Better Opportunities” is a webinar hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to be held on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, 10:00 AM – 11:45 AM ET.  Recent research by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and others shows that Black and Hispanic workers have borne the weight of the economic crisis, disproportionately losing jobs or seeing a reduction in wages.  Click here to register.

On March 4, 2021, NEA will celebrate the 2020 NEA National Heritage Fellows with the premiere of The Culture of America: A Cross-Country Visit with the National Heritage Fellows. Viewers are invited to armchair travel with storyteller Queen Nur into the homes and communities of the 2020 honorees.  The free program starts at 8:00pm ET and will be broadcast here.  Learn more about the 2020 NEA National Heritage Fellows and The Culture of America here.

SAMHSA: Elevate community-based organizations webinar, March 4, 2021, 2:00–4:00 PM ET.  Click here for more information; click here to register.

Novogradac Initial Lease Up and Maximizing First-Year Credits Webinar will be held Thursday, March 4, 2021, 1:00-4:00 PM ET.

Housing Assistance Council will offer a webinar March 9, 2021, 2:00 PM ET, “Redefining ‘Nonmetro’: What Does the Proposed Metropolitan Area Definition Change Mean for Rural America?”  The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Outside Metropolitan Areas Definition is often used as a proxy for “rural” areas. This designation is also frequently used by federal and state agencies to distribute billions of dollars in federal resources and make policy decisions.  Click here to register for the webinar.

The National Housing Conference will host Solutions for Housing Communications online 2021 convening, taking place Thursday, March 18, 2021.  Register here.

USDA Rural Development and members of RWIN will offer a workshop on March 11, 2021 with representatives from USDA Rural Development, USDA Food and Nutrition Services and the U.S. Department of Labor will explore Federal resources that rural leaders can use to foster workforce training and skill development for individuals in their communities.  Register for the workshop here.

Novogradac 2021 Affordable Housing Virtual Conference, April 29-30, 2021.  Click here to register.  Register here.

Save the Date...

Information and Other Resources

Articles, Reports, and Tools

A 2021 Guide to the National Endowment for the Arts provides an overview of all the outstanding and important work the agency is doing, as well as information about and deadlines for our various grant programs and initiatives.  Click here to get the guide.

“Opportunity Zones: State of the Marketplace 2021,” this 2021 EIG report explores whether the Opportunity Zones policy and regulations are working as intended, what its early effects have been, and details the improvements needed to ensure the policy fulfills its promise.  Click here to get this report.

“Distressed Communities and the Role of Economic and Tax Incentives” is a report from The Pew Charitable Trusts on how state policymakers can better direct what the report refers to as place-based, or geographically targeted economic development efforts, to help people living in those communities. This discussion includes tax increment finance, Opportunity zones, tax credits, and other financing programs.  Get the report here.

"We're Just Patching Holes," Amanda Abrams, Shelterforce.  With all of their resources focused on their residents' immediate needs during the pandemic, some community development organizations fear they’re a few months away from financial disaster. Read Full Article here.

Study finds significant barriers to Black homeownership.  Black households are more than twice as likely as White ones to be rejected for mortgage loans and to have student loan debt, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) finds in a new report on race and home buying.  Get the report here.

A new case study from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation examines the construction of a permanent supportive housing development in San Francisco whose cost and timeline were significantly below what is typical for the area to draw lessons for quicker and cheaper affordable housing development. Off-site construction of units – which allowed for site work and unit construction to occur simultaneously – and stakeholders’ commitment at the start to firm goals for both the cost and duration of the project were particularly important to the project’s success.  Get the report here.

NBC News reports that mobile home dwellers hit even harder when facing eviction.  Affordable housing advocates have celebrated the Biden administration's extension of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's moratorium on evictions as a critical move that could help people fight to stay in their homes as the pandemic continues to gut the economy. But the order includes loopholes that financially stretched landlords have been able to use to remove tenants who fall behind on rent.  Read more here.

America's 100 "most disadvantaged communities" are largely in rural regions that are "blind spots" to philanthropy, according to a new "Index of Deep Disadvantage" by the Stanford Social Innovation Review.  Read the article here.

An interactive data tool from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows total SSBCI investments, percent of investments in LMI and rural areas, investments by MSA, investments by loan programs, CDFIs, and more.  Access the tool here.

The Daily Yonder reports that rural transit systems reported over a 50 percent decrease in ridership since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and experience difficulties restoring ridership. The piece describes how public transit drivers are often part of high-risk groups and that they should be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccine as it is a high-exposure job.  Click here to read the article.  https://dailyyonder.com/rural-transit-systems-must-balance-the-safety-of-passengers-and-drivers/2021/02/17/

“Bringing Broadband to Rural America,” from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond explores the economic impacts of broadband access in rural areas, including telemedicine opportunities and local business benefits. The report discusses challenges related to the broadband infrastructure cost-funding gap and initiatives to expand broadband access.  Get the report here.

Research from the National Low Income Housing Coalition includes a paper in City & Community, “Predicting Mobility: Who is Forced to Move?,” uses the 2013 American Housing Survey (AHS) to examine which households are more likely to experience voluntary or forced moves. The authors use a broad definition of displacement that includes evictions, foreclosures, and other reasons why households might involuntarily leave housing. The study found that renter households with children, older householders, and householders with less education are more likely to experience an eviction or forced move.  Read more here.

As more renters fall behind on rent, utilities and other household bills, “the most desperate are already improvising by moving into even more crowded homes, pairing up with friends and relatives, or taking in subtenants,” according to a recent New York Times article. “Such changes are not directly reflected in rent rolls or credit card bills, but various studies show that disrupted and overcrowded households have a host of knock-on effects, including poorer long-term health and a decline in educational attainment.”  Read the article here.

A new article from Shelterforce offers “three big, but basic things” policymakers, lawmakers and industry leaders can do to improve equity in the U.S. housing market. The article, written by Tiffany Manuel, president and CEO of TheCaseMade; Michael McAfee, president and CEO of PolicyLink; and Ruby Bolaria Shifrin, director of the Housing Affordability program at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, says the first step is to protect households at risk of losing their homes to eviction or foreclosure. “Next, local lawmakers must act to permanently preserve housing for cost-burdened tenants and provide new pathways for ownership,” the authors say. “Third, and critically, we need to produce more housing, especially affordable housing.”  Read the article here.

USDA offers an updated guide for building sustainable farms, ranches, and communities for producers, researchers, nonprofits and landowners to easily find programs to help them achieve their goals.  Get the guide here.

Aspen Institute has published, “Equitable Recovery and Resilience in Rural America.” The report focuses on geographic, economic, and cultural diversity in rural America, addressing issues of equity, health disparities, and economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. Authors offer recommendations for local and federal action related to broadband internet access, small business development, and collaboration to support rural economic vitality and equity.  Click here to get this report.

Though there has been much focus on increased demand for larger homes with more space during the pandemic, an analysis from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies Housing Perspectives blog finds that “demand for smaller homes, which tend to be more modestly priced, remains strong.” The analysis notes that this demand has not gone unnoticed by home builders, many of whom have “increased their production of units targeting entry-level buyers,” which tend to be smaller and less expensive.  Download the analysis here.

“New Deal for Housing Justice” is a set of policy recommendations to help solve the U.S. housing crisis made worse by the pandemic. The playbook lays out a set of critical actions the new administration and Congress could take in the first 200 days.  Get the playbook here.

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.