Rural eNews

December 2020

Funding & Finance Opportunities

Covid-19

Apply NOW for the next round of LISC Rural Relief Small Business Grants.  As part of our continuing commitment to elevate our impact in rural America, OneLISC is inviting small business owners in rural locations across the country to apply for the LISC-Lowe's Rural Relief Small Business Grants program. Deadlines: December 29, 2020 - January 5, 2021; and January 26 - February 2, 2021. To find out more about who is eligible, to sign up for updates, and to apply, please visit the LISC website. 

Housing

HOUSING ASSISTANCE COUNCIL is offering short-term loans at below market interest rates to local nonprofits, for-profits, and government entities that are working to develop affordable housing for low-income, rural communities.  Deadlines: December 15, 2020 is the deadline for applicants to create an account and complete the initial eligibility quiz.  Applications accepted on an ongoing basis.  Click here to learn more.

Native Americans

THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES is offering funding through The Community Opioid Intervention Pilot Projects that seeks to address the opioid crisis in American Indian/Alaska Native communities by developing and expanding community education and awareness of prevention, treatment, and recovery activities for opioid misuse and opioid use disorder. The intent is to increase knowledge and use of culturally appropriate interventions and to encourage an increased use of medication-assisted treatment. Deadline: 12/15/2020.  Click here to review program guidelines.

FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE Invites applications for gather food sovereignty grant.  Grants of up to $32,000 will be awarded for work that contributes to building a national movement that advances a vision of Native communities and food systems that are self-directed, well-resourced, and supported by community policies and systems.  Deadline: 1/14/2021.  Click here to review grant guidelines.

Other

THE HOME DEPOT FOUNDATION'S Veteran Housing Grants Program awards funding to nonprofit organizations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico for the new construction or rehabilitation of permanent supportive housing for veterans. Grants ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 are available for the physical construction or repair of housing for veterans (hard costs); the grant amount must comprise less than 50% of the total development cost of the project. Rural areas will be considered; however, high priority will be given to large metropolitan areas that have a dense veteran population. Nonprofit organizations that have been in existence at least five years and have a current operating budget of at least $300,000 are eligible to apply. Upcoming application deadlines are 12/18/2020, and 3/26 and 7/9/2021. Visit the Foundation's website here to review the funding guidelines.

USDA is offering funding through the Technical Assistance and Training Grant Program that seeks to address water and waste issues. The Program provides support to identify and evaluate solutions to water problems relating to source, storage, treatment, or distribution; identify and evaluate solutions to waste problems relating to collection, treatment, or disposal; assist grant applicants to the Rural Utilities Service in the preparation of water or waste loan or grant applications; and provide technical assistance or training to water/wastewater system personnel that will improve the management, operation, and maintenance of water and waste disposal facilities. The application deadline is 12/31/2020.  Click here to review program guidelines.

Corporation for National and Community Service has announced the availability of funding for FY 2021 AmeriCorps State and National Grants.  The mission of CNCS is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. Through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Volunteer Generation Fund, CNCS has helped to engage millions of citizens in meeting community and national challenges through service and volunteer action.  Deadline:  applications are due 1/6/2021.  Click here for more information and to apply.

USDA is offering grants for the Farm to School Grant Program.  Grants to plan, establish, and/or sustain a Farm to School program that improves access to local foods in schools.  Deadline:  1/8/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines and to apply.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES is offering funding to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds in becoming registered nurses using evidence-based strategies to support nursing students from enrollment through graduation. The purpose is to expand and support a workforce to provide quality, culturally-aligned care to rural and underserved communities in need.  Deadline:  1/19/2021.  Click here to review program guidelines.

Training Events and Conferences

WEBINARS and other Online Events

A webinar, “Promoting Equitable Industrial Recovery,” hosted by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), will include a panel discussion about how cities, intermediaries, community organizations, and philanthropy can advance equitable economic outcomes.  Wednesday, December 2, 12:00 to 1:00 PM ET.  Register here.

The Housing Assistance Council offers a virtual meeting to discuss the state of rural housing and strategize replicable approaches that drive equitable rural development.  “Rural Housing Symposium: Recovery Through Resiliency,” will take place December 2-3, 2020.  Register here.

The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council and HUD are hosting a webinar series for local economic development leaders and stakeholders in communities with designated Opportunity Zones (OZs).  This webinar series will assist participants in developing their own action plan to support short- and long-term community objectives for potential investments in OZs. National and local experts will provide illustrative examples, tips, and resources.  The series includes:  Understand the Current Environment and Align Place-Based Assets, December 3, 2020, 1:00 - 3:00 PM ET; Establish Policy Tools and Incentives, Develop Partnerships and Measure Impacts, December 8, 2020, 1:00 - 3:00 PM ET; Develop Your OZ Action Plan to Build or Strengthen Your Local OZ Ecosystem, December 15, 2020, 1:00 - 3:00 PM ET.  Registration:  Follow these instructions for registering.

“County Eviction Series: The Eviction Crisis Today and Projections for the Future,” December 4, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET.  Register here.  

Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC) Virtual Conference will take place December 7–10, 2020.  The IAC hosts the largest gathering of American Indian agriculture producers, Tribal natural resource professionals and USDA service providers and features both learning and networking opportunities.  Click here for more information and to register.

Urban Institute and Enterprise Community Partners will host a virtual discussion exploring policies for a stronger, more equitable housing recovery from the pandemic, “Applying an Equitable Framework for Housing Policy Response During COVID-19 and Beyond,” Thursday, December 17, 2020, 12:30 to 1:45 PM.   Register here.

 Webinar and Conference Recordings

You can now watch a video and see materials from a recent webinar during which leading housing policy experts discussed how states and localities can support vulnerable renters and address the root causes of the looming eviction crisis. Cohosted by the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia and Cleveland, the event featured a federal housing policy update and research presentations measuring evictions and estimating the amount of arrears owed by renters during the COVID-19 crisis.  Click here to watch.

Save the Date...

Information and Other Resources

Articles, Reports, and Tools

This month, LISC rolled out an ambitious, decade-long strategy to address racial gaps in health, wealth and opportunity that affect millions of people throughout the country.  Called Project 10X, it is a $1 billion plan to raise and deploy capital that will help build a more broadly shared prosperity. Project 10X is both a moral imperative and economic common sense: it is a means to realizing America’s egalitarian and democratic ideals.  Learn more here.

NACo has developed a toolkit to provide counties with the resources needed to begin planning for an equitable distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. The toolkit contains key information on state plans, federal guidance and county examples in distribution planning.  Access the toolkit here. 

NACo and the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program have launched the County Economic Mobility Action Tracker.  The County Economic Mobility Action Tracker provides county leaders with resources for safeguarding residents’ financial security and economic mobility during COVID-19.  Access the tracker here.

“COVID-19’s Continued Impact on Low- to Moderate-Income Communities – Perspectives from Main Street: October 2020,” a new report from the Federal Reserve Banks and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  Get the report here.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University has released “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2020.”  This year’s report highlights the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a powerful movement for racial justice, and the devastating impacts of climate change have combined to bring the nation’s longstanding housing challenges to the fore. However, historically low interest rates, strength in the for-sale market and in homebuilding could lead a broader US economic recovery.  Get the report here.

“Stemming Evictions and Creating Future Housing Stability,” a report from Prosperity Now, shows that with the U.S. potentially on the verge of an immense eviction and homelessness crisis, it is imperative that policymakers act now. The brief provides a look at a series of policies that can support the economic well-being of vulnerable renters now and over the long-term.  Get the report here.

To access programs that can be used to provide immediate and long-term assistance to rural communities affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, download the COVID-19 Federal Rural Resource Guide here.

“Reimagining rural policy: organizing federal assistance to maximize rural prosperity,” is a new report from Brookings says that “A recovery from COVID-19 that strengthens America’s economic resilience and prosperity, reduces its social vulnerabilities, and addresses long-standing racial and social inequities will require policies that enable more diverse places—as well as people—to thrive.”  Get the report here.

USDA Rural Development publication, “Collaborating for Prosperity with American Indians and Alaska Natives: USDA Rural Development Programs for Tribes, Tribal Families, Children, and Communities,” showcases the ways tribes and tribal members can utilize USDA Rural Development’s programs to improve the quality of life in tribal communities.  Get the publication here.

A new report finds that, from 2012 to 2016, nonprofit hospitals in the U.S. spent an annual average of $474 million on community building activities. This funding was primarily allocated toward workforce development, community services, and community health improvement advocacy efforts. The report also includes a qualitative review of related activities undertaken by hospitals in Third District states, highlighting areas of potential alignment with the community development field.  Get the report here.

“Despite COVID-19 Disruptions, Randle Library Works to Help Isolated Veterans,“ is an article in The Daily Chronicle that highlights the Veteran Connection Café, opened by a library in rural Washington in 2019 to provide healthcare and benefit services to veterans. The café closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the library continued to offer services by providing veterans with a Chromebook and access to Wi-Fi.  Read the article here.

NLIHC and the Innovation for Justice (i4J) Program at the University of Arizona released a research note, “Costs of COVID-19 Evictions,” on the public costs of eviction-related homelessness that will incur in the United States if emergency rental assistance is not provided. The downstream costs of new emergency shelter needs, inpatient and emergency medical care, foster care, and juvenile delinquency could be as high as $129 billion, depending on how well renters are able to keep up with their rent in the coming months.  Click here to get the research note.

An article in Shelterforce, “Flooded: How Natural Disasters Lead to Predatory Lending,” says that the Rio Grande Valley faces twofold devastation when increasingly frequent floods hit: the initial destruction and a cycle of debt and poverty as a result of predatory loans.   Can we stop the cycle?  Read the full article here.

USDA Economic Research Service published “Household Food Security in the United States in 2019.”  The document reports on household food security, food expenditures, and use of federal food and nutrition assistance programs in 2019. Includes food insecurity statistics for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.  Click here to get the report.

‘Skills-Based Occupational Transitions for Covid-19 Displaced Workers in the Philadelphia Metro Area” describes new research identifies pathways for COVID-19 displaced workers employed in the hardest-hit occupations to translate their existing skills into higher-paying occupations, some of which were more resilient to the pandemic. The research finds that a transition to a better-paying occupation requiring similar skills is available to half (50 percent) of workers employed in severely declining occupations not requiring a bachelor’s degree. This brief provides concrete examples of these transitions and offers ideas for facilitating occupational mobility for displaced Philadelphians.  Get the report here.

The Opportunity Starts at Home multi-sector affordable homes campaign published a new fact sheet, “Racial Inequities in Housing,” on its website.  The downloadable fact sheet explains how racial disparities manifest in housing and which historical policies caused these disparities; how racial disparities in housing impact other sectors; how some modern-day policies and practices continue to exacerbate the problem; and how the campaign’s federal policy agenda could help advance racial equity and ensure that people most in need receive the most help.  Click here to get the fact sheet.

The AARP Public Policy Institute and the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University released “Which Older Adults Have Access to America’s Most Livable Neighborhoods? An Analysis of AARP’s Livability Index.” The AARP’s Livability Index measures neighborhoods in terms of an array of elements that contribute to community and economic well-being, including housing affordability, neighborhood safety, transit access, environmental quality, and economic opportunities.  Get the report by clicking here.

An article in Green Biz asks, “America is hungrier than ever for sustainable food systems. Can we build them?”  In the spring of 2020, many small farms across the U.S. found themselves in a bittersweet predicament. Restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus were forcing restaurants — major buyers for the local farms that serve urban areas — to shut down. The loss of these key customers might have wiped out many of these local growers, if not for another COVID-19-induced phenomenon: individual shoppers started calling — and calling — and calling.  Read more of the article here.

The Tax Credit Finance Reference Guide provides an exploratory overview of how communities can use tax credit finance programs to support economic growth. This guide examines how to effectively apply tax credits to development opportunities, and explains the basics of tax credits and the fundamentals of using these tools.  Get the guide from the CDFA Bookstore here.

COVID-19 Farmworker Study presents an ongoing study on the effect of COVID-19 on migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families in California, Oregon, and Washington. Works with community-based organizations to conduct a study via a phone-based survey and an in-depth interview detailing the farmworkers' experiences.  Click here to review the study.

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.