Rural eNews

April 2021

Funding & Finance Opportunities

Arts

National Endowment for the Arts Challenge America program offers support primarily to small organizations for projects in all artistic disciplines that extend the reach of the arts to populations that are underserved. Challenge America features an abbreviated application, a robust structure of technical assistance, and grants for a set amount of $10,000.  Deadline:  4/22/2021.  Click here for more information.

Community

AARP COMMUNITY CHALLENGE, is an opportunity that provides small grants to fund quick-action projects that can help communities become more livable for people of all ages. Applications are accepted for projects to improve public spaces, housing, transportation, civic engagement, coronavirus recovery, diversity and inclusion, and more. Application Deadline: April 14, 2021.  Review application guidelines here.

KUBOTA TRACTOR CORPORATION announced a first-ever community revitalization grant program, “Hometown Proud,” and is calling on all cities, towns, municipalities and nonprofits to submit an application for a chance to win $100,000 in funding and use of Kubota equipment to refresh, refurbish or revitalize a public space. The application process is open now through April 27, 2021, and any community project – from parks, playgrounds, and baseball fields to rodeo and community arenas, and more – will be considered. Five finalists will be selected and put to public vote in May; the community project with the highest combined score from points and votes will be awarded the grant during summer 2021.  Visit the website here to enter.

THE APPALACHIAN COMMUNITY FUND (ACF) encourages grassroots social change in Central Appalachia (eastern Tennessee, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, and all of West Virginia). ACF's General Fund provides grants of up to $3,000 to grassroots groups that are working for social, economic, racial, and environmental justice in Central Appalachia. Applying organizations must be community-led, community-driven, and community-based. The focus is on organizations with budgets of less than $250,000. Awarded funds may be used for general support purposes as well as specific projects or programs. DEADLINE:  4/30/2021.  Visit ACF's website here to review the funding guidelines and application information.

Food

USDA’s Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program seeks to increase the knowledge of agricultural science and improve the nutritional health of children. The Program's goal is to increase the capacity for food, garden, and nutrition education within host organizations or entities, such as school cafeterias and classrooms, while fostering higher levels of community engagement between farms and school systems by bringing together stakeholders from distinct parts of the food system. The Program is part of a broader effort to not only increase access to school meals for low-income children, but also to dramatically improve their quality. Deadline:  5/3/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines.

Native Americans

NOTAH BEGAY III FOUNDATION is offering Community Empowerment Grants to Native American communities for community-led, culturally-rooted programs that promote physical activity, healthy nutrition, youth development, and cultural connections.  Deadline:  4/12/2021.  Click here to visit the website for program guidelines.

Other

The Center for Regional Development and BGSU unveiled the Reimagining Rural Regions (R3) Initiative at the 2021 State of Region Conference. An informational webinar was subsequently held on March 16th and is available for review on the R3 web page here alongside a written copy of the questions and answers given following the short informational presentation.   The R3 Initiative, initially funded by a grant to CRD from the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) CARES Act, is a community-led placemaking effort that is designed to leverage the expertise and capacity of BGSU faculty, students, and staff to enhance community assets to better position communities to retain and attract young workers, executives, and skilled workers. Communities interested in more information or in applying for the program are encouraged to visit the R3 web page here.

TechSoup is launching a new initiative, through the generosity of the Truist Foundation, to engage a cohort of nonprofit organizations to help them use technology to adapt to the challenges presented by COVID-19, and deliver vital services to their communities both now and well into the future.  The value to be received by participant organizations is up to $10,000. Click here to apply.

THE CAN'D AID CRUSH IT CRUSADE offers support to help get community recycling programs off the ground throughout the United States. Crush it Crusade grants provide recycling bins, training on how to launch and manage a recycling program, and seed funding, typically ranging from $5,000 to $7,000. Support is provided to organizations at all stages of development, launch, and improvement. Seed funding can be used for staff and volunteer training as well as various supplies needed to get a recycling program started. Applications may be submitted at any time. Visit the Can'd Aid Crush it Crusade website here to review the FAQs before applying.

HUD’s Older Adult Home Modification Program supports comprehensive programs that make safety and functional home modifications and limited repairs to meet the needs of low-income elderly homeowners. The goal of the Program is to enable low-income elderly persons to remain in their homes through low-cost, low-barrier, high-impact home modifications to reduce older adults' risk of falling, improve general safety, increase accessibility, and to improve their functional abilities in their home. This will enable older adults to remain in their homes—that is, to "age in place"—rather than move to nursing homes or other assisted care facilities. Deadline:  5/4/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines.

THE EPA’S ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM supports and empowers communities working on solutions to local environmental and public health issues. The Program is designed to help communities understand and address exposure to multiple environmental harms and risks. Special emphasis is placed on projects focusing on COVID-19 impacts, as well as climate and disaster resiliency. The application deadline is May 7, 2021.  Click here to review application guidelines.

Training Events and Conferences

WEBINARS and other Online Events

Policy Link is offering “Advancing Equity in the First 100 Days and Beyond: A Listening Session” Wednesday, April 7, 2021 10:00 am – 12:00 pm PT / 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET.  A historic movement for racial and social justice has underscored the need for transformative action to address the compounding effects of the pandemic, systemic racism, and extreme economic inequality. This moment calls for bold policy, and also requires government leaders to ensure our institutions are capable of equitably implementing solutions to these challenges.  To register for this session, click here.

New Markets Tax Credits Webinar, April 8, 2021, Online, 1:00-4:00 PM EDT.  To many economic development practitioners, the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) offers promise as a tool to get deals done - but understanding how to use it in an actual project is often very challenging. This course takes participants through a general understanding of the program to its detailed, step-by-step application in actual deals. NDC, as the recipient of one of the nation's largest, total NMTC allocations, is at the leading edge in developing and applying the best models for this powerful economic development tool.   Student:  $285.00.  Register here. 

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is hosting “Racism and the Economy Focus on the Economics Profession” April 13, 2021, 12:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET.  This event will focus on how racism affects the people and practice of economics. Panelists will discuss the factors that contribute to the underrepresentation of people of color in economics as well as strategies to increase inclusion at every level, from recruitment and hiring to mentoring and publishing.  Click here for more information and to register.

CDFA is offering an Intro Opportunity Zones Finance WebCourse April 28-29, 2021.  This course will bring together program designers, fund managers, communities, investors, and policy experts to educate and review strategies on how to maximize Opportunity Zone designations and attract investments.  Click here to learn more about this course.

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

Novogradac is offering a virtual conference, “Investing in Puerto Rico and USVI” Virtual Conference Thursday, May 6, 2021, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. ET.  A panel of experts share how the new president and new Congress will affect affordable housing and community development tax incentives that are at play in Puerto Rico and the USVI.  Hear about how new leadership at HUD will impact Puerto Rico and the USVI and whether to expect expansion or extension of the incentives that encourage community development.  Other discussions include:  The View from Ground Level, Thursday, May 6 | 3:40 to 4:30 p.m. ET.  Interactive Marketplace, Thursday, May 6, 2:40 to 3:30 p.m. ET, Friday, May 7 | 2:10 to 3 p.m. ET   Click here to register for $99.00.

Save the Date...

Save the Date: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Policy Summit 2021: Pathways to Economic Resilience in Our Communities, June 23–25, 2021, Virtual

Information and Other Resources

Articles, Reports, and Tools

A new report from Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies Shows Strong Growth in Housing Improvements.   Although homeowners with job and income losses have struggled to keep up with mortgage payments, let alone home maintenance, the outlook for the remodeling industry is promising: the aging of the US population and the housing stock, as well as an increase in climate-related disasters, will likely keep remodeling growth strong for years to come.  Download the report here.

This year, the Economic Development Administration’s Build to Scale Venture Challenge will award approximately $32 million in funding to rural communities, regions, or combinations of regions to support the advancement of local entrepreneurship and innovation. Is your community ready to apply? What should you consider as you develop your application?  In this webinar, the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) and Rural Innovation Strategies, Inc (RISI) share best practices to help rural communities develop compelling applications for the Build to Scale Venture Challenge.  Download the presentation here.  More information can be found on the EDA website here.

HUD released the 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), Part 1, which provides estimates of homelessness in the U.S. The 2020 report estimates 580,466 people were experiencing homelessness in January 2020, which reflects a 2% increase from 2019.  Get the report here.

National Low Income Housing Coalition, the NYU Furman Center, and the Housing Initiative at Penn have released Learning from Emergency Rental Assistance Programs: Lessons from Fifteen Case Studies. The report focuses on the key challenges programs administrators faced, the innovative strategies they used to address these challenges, and the lessons current and future program administrators can take away.  Click here to review this information.

HUD announced a major investment of $450 million through Indian Housing Block Grants (IHBG) for Native American communities to respond to COVID-19. The relief funds will go towards housing development, operation and maintenance, housing modernization, housing services, and affordable housing development in nearly 600 tribal communities across Indian country.  Read the full announcement here.

HUD’s 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress.  This report outlines the key findings of the Point-In-Time (PIT) count and Housing Inventory Count (HIC) conducted in January 2020, as well as estimates of chronically homeless persons, homeless veterans, and homeless children and youth. The report found that 580,466 people experienced homelessness in the United States on a single night in 2020, an increase of 12,751 people, or 2.2 percent, from 2019.  Get the report here.

Soaring lumber prices are causing disruptions to housing construction across the country, further constraining the supply of available housing at a time when inventory is already lower than it has been in decades. Lumber is now more than twice as expensive as it was in the middle of last year, bucking the usual industry trend of a slowdown in the winter months and putting further upward pressure on already rising home prices.  Read more here.

Everywhere Radio, a new podcast from the Rural Assembly, has begun.  Hosted by Whitney Kimball Coe, Everywhere Radio features rural leaders and allies spotlighting the good, scrappy, and joyful ways rural people are building a more inclusive nation.  The first episode features Wendy Feliz, the Founding Director of the Center for Inclusion and Belonging at the American Immigration Council. Whitney and Wendy talk about building common purpose between new immigrant communities and long-time rural residents, the prospects for progress on national immigration policy, the importance of welcoming and inclusion, and much more.  Click here to access the podcast.

“Household Rental Debt During Covid-19: Update for 2021” is a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.  Current and proposed policies help address rental debt to some extent, but gaps remain. This suggests that alternative policies, such as local rental assistance programs, may be needed to address these gaps and ensure an equitable economic recovery.  Read the full report and explore more of the research on this topic here.

A study published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction examines the long-term recovery trajectories of different types of housing in the wake of Hurricane Ike in Galveston, TX. The article, “Housing Type Matters for Pace of Recovery: Evidence from Hurricane Ike,” finds that the recovery of multifamily housing and duplex homes lagged behind single-family homes.  Read more of the article here.

NLIHC released its annual report, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, which finds a shortage of nearly seven million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income renters. Even before the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis began, low-income households struggled to find decent, affordable homes. The report calls for policies that would ensure everyone has access to affordable, stable housing: expansion of rental assistance to all eligible households; significant and sustained investments in the national Housing Trust Fund, public housing, and the preservation of the existing affordable housing stock; a permanent National Housing Stabilization Fund to prevent evictions and homelessness; and robust protections to keep renters stably housed.  Get the report here.

The Florida Housing Coalition (FHC), an NLIHC state partner organization, is attempting to address disparities in housing in Florida by creating a Center for Racial Equity. The center serves as a composite platform for the Coalition's efforts focused on race and equity in public and private investments, regulations, and legal and policy frameworks that shape Florida's neighborhoods, cities, and regions.  Read more here.

Grounded Solutions Network has Released New Inclusionary Housing Resources.  Done right, inclusionary housing can be an important tool for racial equity. But what exactly does "doing it right” look like in practice? Two new reports co-authored by Grounded Solutions and the Center for Mixed-Income Communities address how to best incorporate racial equity into inclusionary housing programs—both in the content of the program and in the process of developing the program.  Get the reports here.

The New 'Rural'? The Implications of OMB's Proposal to Redefine Nonmetro America.  Brookings Institution, Center for Sustainable Development have published this report that provides an analysis of a new proposal from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that seeks to increase the population threshold for the core of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) from 50,000 to 100,000. Describes and compares the potential changes in nonmetro and metro counties, and discusses potential demographic and financial implications from the proposed policy change.  Get the report here.

LISC Institute has published an article, “Elements of an Equitable Recovery: How to Bring Manufacturing Back to Cities — and Bring People of Color Along Too.”  The article explores how local governments can promote equitable recovery by strengthening business development networks, enacting innovative legislation and promoting inclusive workforce development to help BIPOC manufacturers and their workers thrive. Read the full article here.

Grounded Solutions Network hosted six (6) of the nation’s leading nonprofit community development organizations came together to share their visions and actions for mutual support, scalable impact, and a resilient future for organizations, families being served, and communities we are all striving to assist achieving racial equity and socioeconomic justice. This ‘CEO Circle of Color’ discussed the importance of recruiting and ascending people of color into decision-making leaders and sharing individual and collective aspirations for 2021 and beyond.  View the recording here.

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Job Opportunities

Apply Now: CASA of Oregon is looking for a Manufactured Housing and Cooperative Development Center Technical Assistance Manager.  CASA began its work 30 years ago helping local organizations provide housing for farmworkers and other marginalized populations in primarily rural areas.  CASA is committed to the wellbeing of Oregon’s disadvantaged. CASA’s work culture is inclusive and equitable, builds teams, works collaboratively, makes transparent and shared decisions, and cultivates staff through professional development. CASA is most effective when working collaboratively with a variety of stakeholders at local, state, and national levels.  Click here for more details about this opportunity and to apply.

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The South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition is seeking a Program Director.  Click here for a full position description.  To Apply:  please send a cover letter and resume by April 16, 2021 to:

Tawney Brunsch, Executive Director, Lakota Funds, PO Box 340, Kyle, SD  57752, Email: tbrunsch@lakotafunds.org

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.