Rural eNews

July 2020

Funding & Finance Opportunities

Community

Department of Labor is offering grants through the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) program which seeks to address economic distress and workforce development activities in the Appalachian and Delta regions. The goal is to ensure a workforce capable of succeeding in current and future job opportunities. The WORC program takes a long-term view toward assisting eligible communities in diversifying their economies by investing in local strategies developed by regional partners. This long-term view also acknowledges the impact of the opioid crisis and the significant challenges it presents to a community's workforce. The application deadline is July 29, 2020.

The BBVA Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that are making a positive impact in the communities the bank serves in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, and Texas. The Foundation provides grants of up to $5,000 through the Small Grants Program to organizations that address one of the following focus areas: community development, education, health and human services, arts and culture, environment and natural resources, and diversity and inclusion. Priority is given to organizations that target individuals or communities with low-to-moderate income levels. Deadline: 7/31/2020. Visit the BBVA website here for more information about the Foundation's Small Grants Program application process.

HUD has issued the NOFA for The Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) awards grant funds to eligible national and regional nonprofit organizations and consortia to purchase home sites and develop or improve the infrastructure needed to set the stage for sweat equity and volunteer-based homeownership programs for low-income persons and families. Through this NOFA, HUD is making $10,000,000 of FY 2020 SHOP Program grant funds available to national and regional nonprofit organizations.  Deadline:  08/18/2020.

The Healthy Relationships Community Grants, an initiative of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), seeks to address positive relationship health, with self and others. Through this initiative, MLB and MLBPA will jointly award $3 million in funding to U.S.-based nonprofit organizations and global non-governmental organizations over 2020 and 2021. The focus is on three distinct areas: building and improving relationship skills of the next generation as a prevention strategy, building and improving mental health resiliency for vulnerable populations, and strengthening and providing critical services to survivors of domestic violence. Grants of up to $50,000 are provided. Requests will be reviewed quarterly for the next two years. The remaining deadlines for 2020 are 9/1/2020 and 12/1/2020. Online application guidelines are available on the MLB website here.

COVID-19 Funding

The LyftUp COVID-19 Community Grants program provides support to organizations in the U.S. as well as British Columbia and Ontario, Canada. Through the Essential Deliveries program, organizations that need delivery services for essential goods—such as groceries, medical supplies, auto parts, and home necessities—are matched with Lyft drivers, who can carry the deliveries out. Additionally, in collaboration with 500+ community partners, Lyft is helping provide essential services, including trips to the grocery store, pharmacy, healthcare appointments, etc., to those in need. Requests may be submitted at any time.  Click here for an application form.

Michigan College Access Network's COVID-19 Response Grants provide a flexible funding pathway for Michigan high schools, Local College Access Networks, community-based nonprofit organizations, and higher education institutions to offer emergent post-secondary projects and programs in their communities. Funding is offered through two pathways: up to $2,500 in mini-grants targeted toward high schools and up to $10,000 targeted toward a community response. Deadline: 7/31/2020. To apply, click here.

The TD Ready Challenge, an initiative of the TD Bank Group, is an annual North American initiative that provides support to catalyze innovative solutions for a changing world. Grants are awarded to organizations in the United States and Canada that have impactful and measurable solutions that will help open doors for a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow. The theme of the 2020 Challenge focuses on addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically for communities that are experiencing these impacts disproportionately. Funded solutions must also address at least one of the four interconnected drivers of change of the TD Ready Commitment: Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities, and Better Health. Grants will range from $350,000 to $1 million (CAD). The application deadline is 8/13/2020.  Detailed information about this year’s Challenge is available on the TD Ready Challenge website here.

The Red Backpack Fund will make at least 1,000 grants of $5,000 each to female entrepreneurs in the U.S. to help alleviate the immediate needs and support the long-term recovery of those impacted by this crisis. Eligible applicants include majority women-owned and led businesses and nonprofits with annual revenues less than $5M, at least one additional paid employee, and fewer than 50 individuals on staff. Applications will be accepted during specific periods through August 2020.  Click here to visit the website. 

Food

You can now apply for USDA's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which provides direct payments to farmers and ranchers to offset impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. Through CFAP, USDA is making available $16 billion for vital financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who have suffered a 5% or greater price decline due to COVID-19.  Click here to learn more about this opportunity. 

The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), a public-private partnership administered by Reinvestment Fund on behalf of USDA Rural Development, is currently offering grants ranging from $20,000 to $200,000, as well as technical assistance, to eligible healthy food retail projects across the country that seek to improve access to healthy food in underserved areas. Funded projects must 1) plan to expand or preserve the availability of staple and perishable foods in underserved areas with low- and moderate-income populations, and 2) accept or plan to accept benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP). Deadline:  letter of interest is 7/10/2020. Visit the HFFI website here to learn more about the eligibility guidelines and application process. 

Native Americans

Indian Health Service is offering grants to assist federally-recognized tribes and tribal organizations in assuming all or part of existing Indian Health Service programs, services, functions, and activities. Funds may also be used to obtain technical assistance for program planning and evaluation, including development of management systems for contract management; and for planning, designing, monitoring, and evaluating federal programs serving tribes.  Application Deadline: Aug 24, 2020.

Other Opportunities

USDA is offering grants through the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants program.  The program helps rural communities use the unique capabilities of telecommunications to connect to each other and to the world, overcoming the effects of remoteness and low population density. For example, the program can link teachers and medical service providers in one area to students and patients in another. Funds may be used for the acquisition of eligible capital assets, such as broadband transmission facilities, audio and video equipment, data terminal equipment, computer hardware, network components and software, and inside wiring and similar infrastructure that further telecommunications services; the acquisition of instructional programming that is a capital asset; and the acquisition of technical assistance and instruction for using eligible equipment.  Deadline: 7/13/2020.  Click here for more information.

Finance Fund is a statewide nonprofit community development organization that enables the revitalization of economically distressed communities across Ohio.  Finance Fund provides grants to nonprofit community-based organizations that are dedicated to meeting the needs of low- and moderate-income communities throughout the state. The following grant opportunities are offered: Predevelopment Grants of up to $30,000 support nonprofit organizations that work to meet the affordable housing needs of low- to moderate-income communities. Economic Development Grants of up to $100,000 support nonprofit organizations with self-sustaining projects that create permanent, private sector jobs to strengthen an area's economic base. Applications for both types of grants will be accepted through 7/31/2020. Information about the eligibility requirements and application guidelines is available on the Finance Fund's website here. 

Kent Richard Hofmann Foundation is offering grants to support community-based organizations providing direct services, education, or research in the areas of HIV and AIDS, with priority given to smaller communities and rural areas.  Deadlines:  letter of intent: 7/31/2020; application deadline: 8/28/2020.  Click here for details.

The Equality Can't Wait Challenge, sponsored by Pivotal Ventures with program support from Lever for Change, will award $30 million to help expand women's power and influence in the United States by 2030. The Challenge is calling on nonprofit organizations to submit creative solutions to expand power and influence for women of all backgrounds, especially women of color, so they can be in positions to make decisions, control resources, and shape policies and perspectives.  Registration deadline is 9/1/2020; applications must be submitted by 9/22/2020. Visit the Challenge's website here to review the rules and to complete the Organizational Readiness Tool.

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.  The Federal Communications Commission provides funding to bring high-speed, fixed broadband service to rural homes and small businesses that lack access. Deadline: October 22, 2020.

Training Events and Conferences

WEBINARS, Online Events, and Calls

“Housing Justice Amid COVID-19: A Roundtable Discussion.”  Shelterforce is partnering with Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ)—a publication that focuses on supporting nonprofits—to explore the state of housing justice in the U.S. and highlight present-day stories in a webinar on July 1, 2020 at 2:00 PM EDT.  Register here.

On Wednesday, July 1, 2020, the Healthy Food Access Portal and The Food Trust's Center for Healthy Food Access will offer a webinar, “Healthy Corner Stores: response to COVID-19 and Emerging Best Practices.”  Register here.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author and creator of the New York Times Magazine’s “The 1619 Project,” and Marla Newman, NLIHC board chair, will host a conversation on “Racial Equity and Housing Justice during and after COVID-19” on July 7, 2020 at 2:00 PM EDT. Register for this live-stream event here. Be sure to submit questions for Nikole through the registration page or via social media using #RacialEquityandCOVID.

A CHAM webinar, “Underwriting for Resilience,” will be held Wednesday July 8, 2020, 12:00-1:25 PM EDT.  The development and underwriting of affordable housing is changing due to the pandemic and our country’s rising awareness of racial equity. This webinar explore the emerging awareness in our industry -- from a vision of housing that is financially sustainable to that of resilient housing that promotes health, equity, and can weather disasters.  Register here.

CDFA-ARI Rural Finance Webinar Series: "Access to Capital and Community Facilities" Wednesday, July 8, 2020 - 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Central.  During the fourth installment of the CDFA-ARI Rural Finance Webinar Series, join us for a discussion of community facilities resources and other accessible capital for rural community development.  Register here.

Grounded Solutions Network is offering a free webinar, “Deferring Program Fees: COVID-19 Considerations,” Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at 2:00 PM EDT.  Homeownership programs with lasting affordability are rightly seeking ways to support their homeowners in this challenging time, including reducing monthly housing costs where possible. Join Grounded Solutions Network in unpacking why, when and how some programs are deferring or waiving monthly ground lease and other program fees, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Register here.

Camp Prosperity 2020: Advocacy Summer Camp Webinar Series:  Tuesday, July 14 - Tuesday, August 4, 2020.  Webinar 1: Advocacy 101.  The first webinar will take place July 14th from 2-3:30pm EDT. This webinar is intended for beginner-level advocates and will focus on the critical role that nonprofits play in advocacy. Best practices for effective organizational advocacy will be shared, and leaders will discuss strategies that resonate with legislators and their staff and why it’s more important than ever for service providers to engage legislators at every level.  Register here.

“The Challenge of Voting While Homeless” - Next Our Homes, Our Votes 2020 Webinar on July 16, 2020, 3:00 PM EDT.  The next NLIHC Our Homes, Our Votes 2020 webinar will explore “The Challenge of Voting While Homeless” and what advocates, shelter providers, and outreach agencies can do to ensure people experiencing homelessness can and do vote. Register for this webinar and NLIHC’s entire 15-month “Third Thursdays at Three” webinar and podcast series on nonpartisan voter and candidate engagement, free to the public, here.

Upcoming Webinar:  “COVID-19 Vulnerability and Mortality in Nursing Homes: Why Systemic Changes are Needed Now,”  part of “Aging and COVID-19: What Does Science Actually Tell Us?,” a Webinar Series Presented by the American Federation for Aging Research and Grantmakers in Aging, Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 12:00 - 1:00 PM EDT.  Register here.

A new webinar, “How to Know if Your Programs Are Effective,” presented by Elevate, is for non-experts who want to understand the fundamentals better. The webinar carries a $69.00 registration fee, will be held on July 29, 2020 at 2:00 PM EDT. It will make monitoring and evaluation easy to understand and focus on practical tips and case studies.  By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to understand the purposes of program evaluation, link it to their organization's goals, and have concrete tips and techniques to begin or improve evaluation efforts.  Register here.

Registration is now open for the 2020 Virtual Prosperity Summit September 30 – October 2, 2020.  Prosperity now is offering an early bird discount rate of $189, which would save $100 on the full registration price if you register before July 22.  Get more information and register here.

 Webinar and Conference Recordings

A recording is available of the Rural Strategies conversation “Rural Resilience: Hurricanes, Wildfire, and COVID-19.” For those of you who could not join or who would like to revisit the conversation you can find the recording here.

National Housing Conference held its Annual Member Meeting virtually in June.  If you want to view the recording and slides, click here. 

Save the Date...

The next Regards to Rural (R2R) conference scheduled for fall 2020 will transition to a virtual event.

Grounded Solutions Network National Conference will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 21-24, 2020.

Radically Rural: Remote will be a one-day online event designed to host panels of speakers and allow audiences to interact with their own questions. It will take place on September 24, 2020.

Prosperity Now will host The 2020 Prosperity Summit, at the National Harbor, Maryland, September 30-October 2, 2020.

The 2020 GIA Annual Conference, “Bigger, Bolder, Older: Promoting Innovation for All Ages,” will take place at the Austin Marriott Downtown, Austin, Texas October 14-16, 2020.

Information and Other Resources

Articles, Information, and Reports

Global Citizen, Usher & LISC.  LISC joined in rallying for an equitable response to Covid-19 with Global Citizen's Unite for Our Future all-star concert. And Usher is donating proceeds from his latest record to ramp up our work on behalf of minority small businesses and nonprofits.  Click here to read more.

A Daily Yonder article, “Native American Tribes’ Pandemic Response Is Hamstrung by Many Inequities,” reports that a history of systemic inequities from disrupted food systems to extractive industries exploiting native lands hamper tribal response to the coronavirus outbreak, resulting in more deaths among Native Americans.  Read more here. 

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) released a five-point plan for addressing the Black-white homeownership gap. The plan, outlined by NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, includes building more homes, increasing access to down payment assistance, and expanding alternative credit scoring models.  Read the plan here.

The National League of Cities released the results of a survey of over 1,100 municipalities across America, showing that “the national economic recovery is at even greater risk of stalling if Congress fails to provide direct federal aid to America’s cities, towns and villages.” Read the survey results here.

An article in Shelterforce, “What Would It Mean to Cancel Rent?” speaks to the growing organizing demand to cancel rent raises a host of questions for the affordable housing movement.  Read the article by clicking here.

Novogradac Reports that Pandemic-Related Economic Struggles Could Ultimately Increase Investment in Opportunity Zones.  Investment in the opportunity zones (OZ) incentive was expected to accelerate in 2020, as the incentive matured and the Department of the Treasury issued final regulations. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the stock market plunged and the economy hit a bump.  Read more here.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy launched a new resource to support rural communities impacted by drug addiction.  The Rural Community Toolbox is an on-line, interactive clearinghouse that helps rural leaders connect to funding, technical assistance, and information resources for addiction from 16 federal departments and agencies all in one place.  Major departments and agencies featured in the Rural Community Toolbox include:  Appalachian Regional Commission; Corporation for National and Community Service; Federal Communications Commission; Small Business Administration; Environmental Protection Agency; Federal Communications Commission;   U.S. Department of Agriculture; U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Department of Education; U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; U.S. Department of Justice; U.S. Department of Labor; U.S. Department of Transportation; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; National Rural Transit Assistance Program.  Here are links to the Rural Community Toolbox website; a factsheet; and a press release.

In this conversation, the Daily Yonder's Mikhal Ben-Joseph speaks with certified nurse midwife Lodz Joseph-Lemon. Joseph Lemon discusses the need for rural people to continue to push for racial justice and inclusion in the midst of extraordinary times. You can also read Mikhal's full article in the Daily Yonder: "Providing in Pandemic: The Challenges of Rural Maternity Care Just Got More Difficult."  Watch the video here.

To meet an aggressive goal to require all city electricity to be renewable by 2032, Washington, D.C. teamed up with NextGrid, an experienced renewable power company based in California.  NextGrid installed 15 residential solar systems on the roofs of qualified low-income households participating in Solar for All. The city’s program aims to provide solar electricity for up to 100,000 low-income households while cutting their energy bills by half by 2032. Through NextGrid, each household will have a 15-year contract to receive free solar energy.  Read more here.

Older Americans see the pandemic as a major health risk. Younger adults mainly see a financial threat. The Pew Research Center looks at how experiences with the outbreak differ across the age spectrum.  Read the report here.

An article in Shelterforce, “Why to Build Tiny House Villages During the Pandemic,” reports that placing homeless people in hotels may appear to be a solution, but it's a short-term and expensive quick fix. Tiny house villages are a better option.  Learn why by reading the article here.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) released the 2020 edition of its “State of Homelessness” report, which showed that 567,715 people in America were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2019, 37% of whom were unsheltered. The report examines the risks posed by the COVID-19 crisis to the homeless population, with over 200,000 homeless individuals over the age of 50. In an accompanying blog post, Joy Moses, NAEH homelessness research institute director, wrote, “Expected growths in the homeless population growth will add further strain to emergency services – services that already weren’t meeting the needs of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, years before the crisis began.”

University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics has released a report that summarizes a webinar on rural populations' vulnerabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper discusses rural hospital closures, rural demographics and healthcare disparities, access to broadband and telehealth services, and the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model. Includes a recording of the webinar.  Get the report by clicking here.

A new paradigm is emerging – one in which mainstream investors increasingly want to invest in the social, economic and environmental well-being of communities. Local Initiative Support Corporation's (LISC’s) research paper, “CDFIs and the Capital Markets: Tapping into Impact Investors,” lays the foundation for the CDFI industry to seize on the opportunities stemming from this paradigm shift. It provides an analysis of the CDFI industry’s initial forays into the capital markets on a rated basis, and examines how CDFIs can expand their role as trusted intermediaries for capital investment in people and places where disparities in health, employment, wealth and financial security, and overall quality of life have stemmed from a lack of capital access.  Get the paper here.

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) released the Housing Opportunity Toolkit last week, a collection of guides and resources to help realtors and local chapters address affordability challenges in their communities. The toolkit offers best practices from other associations, practical tips, and examples for a range of activities including housing fairs, buyer education classes, housing forums and more.  Get the toolkit here.

A new rural learning initiative, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is focused on better understanding promising and emerging approaches, practices, models, and conditions that support and advance diverse and robust rural leadership. As a part of this effort, an inventory of programs and initiatives that develop and/or support rural leadership is being built. Getting responses from programs and initiatives supporting and developing rural leaders of color, Indigenous leaders living in rural areas, low-income rural leaders, and rural youth is particularly needed.  Learn more by clicking here.

How should the government respond to the demands for justice and do what it hasn’t done in four centuries — address systemic racism? A good place to start is with investments in community infrastructure, Geoffrey Canada argues in a CNBC op-ed. He urges leaders to adopt the kind of sweeping, results-focused approach he used in establishing the Harlem Children’s Zone: comprehensive strategies that make rebuilding community and the ending of generational poverty the goal.  Click here to read more.

Urban Institute researchers published a blog post on Tuesday examining the risk posed by natural disasters to communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the blog post, disparities in wealth and power, not just physical exposure, affect how communities will fare in the wake of disasters. Read the blog post here.

USDA Rural Development has taken several immediate actions to help rural residents, businesses, and communities affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Rural Development will keep its customers, partners, and stakeholders continuously updated as more actions are taken to better serve rural America.  Read more here.

Brookings has released a report, “Thoughtful design can create high-quality affordable multifamily housing.”  Developers who build affordable housing face a lot of hurdles: complex subsidy programs, expensive labor and materials, onerous local land use regulations, and, of course, community opposition. Neighboring residents often worry that low-cost housing will be ugly and comprised of hulking, boxy structures with cheap-looking facades.  Read more here.

“Counties turn to apps, alert systems in pandemic,” the title of an article in the County News that reports “With the ability to use apps — the sky’s the limit,” according to Rich Collins, director of Emergency Services for Sarasota County, Florida.  Officials in Sarasota County launched a notification system and are using mobile applications to efficiently spread information during the COVID-19 outbreak.  The notification system, Alert Sarasota County, was launched in partnership with four cities and is a product of Everbridge, a telephone notification service that has a contract with the state of Florida. Emergency Management Chief Ed McCrane said this is an additional benefit for the county because the state is funding the system.  Read more here.

Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan has produced a video as part of a virtual series focused on examining poverty as well as practices and factors that influence poverty in rural, urban, and suburban settings.  Speakers discuss how journalists should consider historical context when reporting on poverty-related disparities.  Watch the video here.

“Feeding People in a Pandemic” is the title of an article in Shelterforce, that shows how across the country, community organizations and food-related businesses have found creative ways to provide meals and groceries to low-income people in need.  Read the article here.

National Association of Counties’ new issue brief, “Nursing Homes and COVID-19,” highlights key challenges and the landscape of federal resources for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and nursing homes to address the coronavirus pandemic. Across the country, counties own and operate 758 long-term care facilities; approximately 30 percent of county nursing homes are not-for-profit and could require significant resources to successfully mitigate the virus.  Get the brief here.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would be awarding $107.2 million in funding to 310 recipients to increase the health workforce in rural and underserved communities. Recipients across 45 states and U.S. territories received funding to improve the quality, distribution and diversity of health professionals serving across the country.  Read more here.

The National Housing Law Project (NHLP) and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) have prepared a two-page flyer for public housing and voucher residents that explains the CARES Act eviction moratorium. The flyer provides sample policies that public housing authorities (PHAs) can adopt for interim income recertifications, repayment plans, minimum rent, and hardship exemptions – all of which will be important after the eviction moratorium ends on July 24.  Read the flyer here.

With the demand for labor expected to shift in the post-pandemic economy, new research from the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia and Cleveland, “Rethinking Occupational Mobility In A Post-Crisis Economy,” examines how transferable skills could both pave the way for lower-wage workers to move up to higher-paying positions and help meet the talent needs of employers.  Based on an analysis of job advertisements in the 33 largest metro areas in the country, the report finds a high degree of similarity between the skills employers seek when filling lower-wage jobs and the skills demanded for opportunity occupations, or occupations that do not typically require a bachelor’s degree and that pay above the national annual median wage (adjusted for local cost-of-living differences).  Read more here.

Using Technology to Optimize Leasing in an Age of Social Distancing:  The COVID-19 pandemic spurs adoption of virtual leasing.

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COVID-19 Resources

North Carolina Rural Health Research Program has gathered a collection of reports and visualizations examining the impact of COVID-19 on rural areas, including rural hospital and community vulnerability, hot spots, and more.  Get the reports here.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Children and Families released strategies to support families experiencing homelessness and housing instability during the pandemic.

National Housing Conference recently spoke with Cathy Alderman, vice president of communications and public policy of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) on CCH’s multi-pronged approach to addressing homelessness during the pandemic: housing, health care, supportive services, and advocacy. Cathy spoke on their work to create a clinical triage, contract with local motels to provide the necessary space for isolation/quarantine and more. Learn about all CCH implemented to meet the needs of homeless individuals during COVID-19 in this best practice feature here.

NACo has released a series of issue briefs that highlight ways in which COVID-19 has impacted America's counties and replicable county responses.  Click here to read the issue briefs, and send your county's COVID-19 solutions to research@naco.org.

The Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health and the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at NYU recently added a “COVID Local Risk Index” to their City Health Dashboard. The index uses housing, health, demographic, and economic indicators from the American Community Survey (ACS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to report levels of COVID-19 risk across the 500 largest U.S. cities. The index allows users to identify which cities are at higher risk for coronavirus infection and for more severe cases.  Access the index here.

The National Housing Law Project (NHLP) and National Alliance on Safe Housing (NASH) published last week guidance for housing providers on protecting survivors of domestic and sexual violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released, “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Communication Resources.”  The resources are designed to help public health professionals, health departments, community organizations, and healthcare systems and providers communicate information about COVID-19. Includes guidance documents, public service announcements, a social media toolkit, images, videos, and more.  Access these resources here.

A group of national organizations and leaders has gotten together to give communities a template for their COVID-19 homelessness response; one incorporating a racial justice and equity approach. Get the template here.

HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) posted “Federal Funding Priority Order for Non-Congregate Shelter During COVID-19” on June 23. The document provides information to recipients of federal funds on how best to use specific federal resources for the operation of non-congregate sheltering (NCS) projects. Guidance focuses on funds from the FEMA Public Assistance (PA) Category B Emergency Protective Measures, Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG-CV), and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-CV) programs.

NLIHC’s most recent national call on coronavirus, housing, and homelessness took place on June 22. NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel announced a new partnership among several national organizations and leaders to help communities navigate their response to COVID-19 with a racial justice and equity lens. Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City and principal investigator at Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, introduced a new tool to track evictions during the pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released updated digital tools, guidance and other resources for conducting contact tracing. Newly added tools include the COVIDTracer, a spreadsheet-based tool that allows state and local level public health officials and policymakers to compare three different contact tracing/monitoring strategies.  Get these resources 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.