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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recognizes
National Homeownership Month!

USDA Rural Development offers many programs
for people living in rural and Tribal areas
to buy, build, and repair affordable homes!
Stakeholder Announcement

(Above Photo)
USDA Rural Housing Service Administrator Meets Proud
Homeowner in Guam...[Read More]

Funding

USDA Rural Development Funding Opportunities Supporting Housing: Single Family Housing Programs (SFH)-Want to buy a home, repair a home, or develop homes? Contact us!   SFH Programs for Individuals and Lenders: Single Family Housing Direct Home Loan Program provides loans directly to families and individuals so they can buy or build homes in rural America. Application Deadline: Open Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program enables USDA to partner with private lending institutions, backing their loans to help families and individuals buy homes in rural areas. Lender Webpage. Training & Resource Library. Application Deadline: Open Single Family Housing Repair Loans and Grants Program provides loans and grants to help families and individuals repair their homes to make them safer, healthier places to live. Application Deadline: Open SFH Programs For Non-Profits, Municipalities, and Federally Recognized Tribes: Housing Preservation Grant for organizations administering the repair and rehabilitation of eligible housing. Application Deadline: 7/29/2024 Mutual Self Help Housing Technical Assistance Grants for qualified organizations to help them carry out local self-help housing construction project. Application Deadline: Open Rural Housing Site Loans to acquire and develop sites for housing to be constructed by the Self-Help method. Refer to RD Instruction 1944-I for more information about the Self-Help program. Application Deadline: Open To learn more about homeownership programs, please reach out to your Rural Development State Office.  In addition to programs that boost individual homeownership, USDA Rural Development also offers Multifamily Housing Programs to increase access to affordable multifamily rental opportunities.

Funding Opportunities Supporting
Community and Economic Development

Rural Decentralized Water Systems Grant Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
USDA Rural Development offers grants to establish and maintain a revolving fund to provide loans and sub-grants to eligible individuals for individually owned water well systems and/or individually owned wastewater system. Application Deadline: 6/28/2024

Regional Conservation Partnership Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service offers this program to help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners adopt and expand conservation strategies to enhance natural resources while tackling the climate crisis. Application Deadline: 7/2/2024

Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers (2501 Program)
U. S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagements provides grants to community-based and non-profit organizations, higher education institutions, and eligible tribal entities with at least 3 years of experience in working with socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers or veteran farmers and ranchers. Application Deadline: 7/5/2024

Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training Grant Program 
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development offer grants to public bodies and private nonprofit corporations to provide associations Technical Assistance and/or training to assist to identify and plan for community facility needs. Once those needs have been identified, the Grantee may assist in identifying public and private resources to finance those needs. Application Deadline: 7/3/2024 via grants.gov or 7/8/2024 paper copy (see guidelines)

WaterSMART Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects
Department of the Interior (DOI)
DOI’s Bureau of Reclamation funding for small-scale water efficiency projects. Application Deadline: 7/9/2024

Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) Grants
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development provides support to nonprofit housing and community development intermediary organizations support housing, community facilities, and community and economic development projects in rural areas. Application Deadline: 7/10/2024

Walmart Foundation Spark Good Local Grant Program
Walmart Foundation
These grants are designed to support the unique needs of local communities in the service areas of Walmart and Sam's Club stores. Application Deadline: 7/15/2024

Delta Health Care Services Grant
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development provides financial assistance to address the continued unmet health needs in the Delta Region. Application Deadline: 8/12/2024

Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
HUD loan program that provides Community Development Block Grant recipients with the ability to leverage their annual grant allocation to access low-cost, flexible financing for economic development, housing, and infrastructure projects. Application Deadline: Open

Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program Community Selection U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD will select up to 25 communities to develop and execute a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness. At least 8 of the selected communities will be rural. Applicants must be a collaborative registered through the most recent Continuum of Care Program. Application Deadline: 8/29/2024

National Association of Realtors Rural Outreach Grant
National Association of Realtors
Grants for state and local realtor association initiatives on a wide range of rural issues such broadband, well and septic, open space preservation, environmental standards, disaster prevention and recovery, and planning and zoning issues. Rural providers, facilities, and programs could approach local realtor associations with potential projects.  Geographic coverage: Nationwide Application Deadline: 10/15/2024

HAC Affordable Housing Loans for Low-Income Rural Communities
Housing Assistance Council (HAC)
HAC offers 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. Application Deadline: Open

PRIDE: A Proclamation on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex | Pride Month, 2024.

Funding and Opportunities for

Tribal Communities

USDA Rural Development: A Partnership Made To Make Homeownership Possible for Native Communities USDA in Partnership with the Akwesasne Housing Authority Helps Family Achieve Dream of Homeownership on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation

USDA Announces Actions to Strengthen Tribal Food Sovereignty, Co-Stewardship, and Knowledge of Tribal Agriculture Policy

Native Voices Rising Grants
The Common Counsel Foundation and Native Americans in Philanthropy collaborate to provide general operating support to strengthen native-led organizations that are improving the lives of their community members. Focus areas include but are not limited to: environmental and climate justice, health and healing, voter and civic engagement, and youth and intergenerational engagement. Application Deadline: 6/28/2024

Native Agriculture and Food Systems College Scholarship Program
First Nations Development Institute
This program offers scholarships to encourage Native American college students to enter careers in agriculture and agriculture-related fields with the ultimate goal of increasing food production, improving health and nutrition, and eliminating food insecurity in rural and reservation-based communities. Application Deadline: 7/11/2024

National Tribal Child Welfare Center for Innovation and Advancement
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families offers cooperative agreements and funding to establish a National Tribal Child Welfare Center for Innovation and Advancement that will serve as the technical assistance (TA) focal point for coordinated and culturally competent capacity building technical assistance American Indian and Alaska Native Nations. Application Deadline: 7/11/2024

Indian Housing Block Grant Program
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
HUD offers these grants to develop, maintain, and operate affordable housing in safe and healthy environments on American Indian reservations and in other American Indian areas, and to carry out other affordable housing activities that benefit low-income families. Application Deadline: 8/29/2024

Local and Tribal Road Safety Mentoring, Assistance, Training, and Communication Help (MATCH) Technical Assistance Program
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
DOT Federal Highway Administration offers assistance for rural and tribal agencies facing roadway safety challenges. Application Deadline: Open

Water and Waste Facility Loans and Grants to Alleviate Health Risks on Tribal Lands
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development helps get safe, reliable drinking water and waste disposal services to low-income communities that face significant health risks. Application Deadline: Ongoing

Grants for Rural and Native Alaskan Villages
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA Rural Development offers this program to help remote Alaskan villages provide safe, reliable drinking water and waste disposal systems for households and businesses. Application Deadline: Ongoing

Drive Electric Vehicles (EVs): Technical Assistance and Resources for Tribal Nations
The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation has updated its Resources and Technical Assistance for Tribal Nations page to streamline EV resources for Tribes. They offer an efficient means to identifying the most relevant EV funding opportunities and specific resources or project examples for tribal communities. Tribes may contact the Joint Office to request technical assistance with EV infrastructure, planning, and much more. Visit their site to peruse their featured resources and funding opportunities. 

Guides: USDA Tribal Producers | USDA Tribal Buffalo Partnership | USDA Tribal Colleges, Students, and Youth | DOE Tribal Nations and Native Communities Resource Guide

Resources

*NEW* USDA Rural Development opens funding for technical assistance through local organizations, cooperatives and tribes through the Broadband Technical Assistance Program to help affordable, high-speed internet projects in rural communities.
To learn more, read full News Release. Applications are due by August 20, 2024.

USDA Recognizes Top National Lending Partners for their Support of Homeowners in Rural America.

U.S. Department of Labor offers National Farmworker Jobs Program Grants for Housing Services.

Advancing Local Housing Affordability: Best Practice and Policy Recommendations for County Leaders, National Association of Counties.

Department of Health and Human Services offers Community Economic Development Project Resources: CED Program and CED Planning.

The SYSTEM Series Toolkits and Training Materials, National Alliance to End Homelessness.

USDA Rural Housing Success Stories:

It Takes a Village: Building Hope in Southern Oregon  A strong community must have affordable housing. The lack of affordable or available housing in Cave Junction, Oregon, has led to a housing crisis that has affected the people of this small, rural community within the Illinois Valley…

Welcome to Tennessee!! Nothing says welcome to Tennessee better than owning a new home. When Brian Ranger decided it was time to leave California and move to Tennessee, he hoped that this would be his opportunity at homeownership… 

Home Repair Leads to Forgotten Memories As the days get longer and warmer, the sound of hammers against rooftops are a common sound echoing across neighborhoods as homeowners replace old shingles weathered by time, harsh South Dakota winters, and the strong spring winds that blow across the prairie. 

6/25 | Webinar (Register Here):
USDA RD offers a webinar to learn more about their Rural Community Development Initiative Grants (RCDI) and Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training Grants (CF TAT).

6/26 | Virtual: R2E2 Playbook Event - A Comprehensive Guide for Equitable Energy Retrofits in Affordable Housing. The Residential Retrofits for Energy Equity Playbook is a tool for community-based organizations, state and local governments, and others seeking to establish, improve, or expand energy upgrade programs for low- and moderate-income housing in their communities.  Register to learn more. 

Recorded: Understanding Housing as a Social Driver of Health for Rural Residents hosted by the Rural Health Research Center at the University of Minnesota

Recorded: USDA RD Single Family Housing Self Help Program & the Helena Area Habitat for Humanity helped a single mom’s dream came true!

Recorded: Housing Solutions in Recreation Communities Webinar. EPA, USDA, and HUD discuss housing in gateway communities. Gateway communities lie just outside or adjacent to major tourist attractions such as national parks, wilderness areas, or nature resorts.

​Contacts/Subscription

USDA Rural Development Quick Links:

• USDA Rural Development’s full Catalog of Programs
• USDA Rural Development's NOSA/NOFAs
• USDA Rural Development’s Search All Programs
• USDA Rural Development Resource Guides
• USDA Rural Development’s Rural Data Gateway
• USDA Rural Development Blogs
• View the Prior Edition of Innovation Matters

Websites and hyperlinks provided are for reference only. USDA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, or applications.

USDA Rural Development Innovation Center

Email: rd.innovation@usda.gov | Webpage: usda.gov/rdinnovation

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