Local communities celebrate National Community Development Week

National Community Development Week (CD Week), held annually during Congress’ spring recess, recognizes the importance of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) programs. Local governments, businesses, non-profits and residents come together during CD Week, which takes place this year from April 5–9, to highlight these programs’ accomplishments and community benefits typically with local events and meetings with members of Congress. Many of these events will be held virtually this year due to the pandemic.

CDBG helps counties address housing, community and economic development, water, infrastructure and human service needs, and HOME assists counties in funding affordable housing for low-income families. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), every $1.00 of CDBG leverages another $4.09 in additional public or private sector funding. For every $1.00 of HOME funding another $4.44 is leveraged in other public or private sector funds.

NACo encourages county officials to help bring national attention to both the CDBG and HOME programs, and the need for increased program funding in particular. Members of Congress will be back home in their districts this week, so please consider the following:

• Schedule a conference call or Zoom meeting with your congressional representatives to discuss the ongoing need for CDBG and HOME program funding.
• Send the district office information about CDBG and HOME-funded projects and how funding cuts in recent years have impacted your county.
• Tweet daily about the importance of the CDBG and HOME programs. Please see suggested daily tweets here.

While CDBG received a slight increase in FY 2021, the HOME program received level funding. Both programs had been cut significantly since FY 2010. CDBG is currently funded at $3.45 billion, and HOME is funded at $1.35 billion for FY 2021. NACo supports $4.2 billion for CDBG and $1.7 billion for HOME in FY 2022. It is important to remind members of Congress how essential these grants are to local communities.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge recorded a video for National Community Development Week. You can view the video here on YouTube, and download the video here in Dropbox.

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin also recorded a short message on National Community Development Week. You can view the video here.

For more information/toolkit and suggested tweets for CD Week, please click here.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and tag @NACoTweets in any posts you share about CD week!