DCTA Program Resources

This set of 14 conference session recordings features thought-provoking content, valuable insights, and inspiring stories from top business leaders and resilience experts that presented at the conference.

Recordings are available for the first two sessions which provided an opportunity for participants from the 2021 Section 3 Final Rule Training Series to ask questions about the training content and receive assistance with implementing Section 3 into their policies and programs.

These recordings and materials from the 2022 and 2021 virtual training conferences include a combination of CDBG-CV, HOPWA-CV, and ESG-CV inspired topics related to the implementation of their respective CARES Act funding.

This seminar series offers a forum for exploring the intersection of research, policy, and practice in the community development field and informs stakeholders who are working to support low- and moderate-income communities and communities of color.

This conference will bring together the leaders and dealmakers in the development finance industry to discuss best practices, trends, and project financing solutions.

VAD Academy was created to help community leaders craft equitable, effective approaches to addressing vacant property challenges, from breaking down complex systems to sharing smart strategies for resident engagement and fostering compliance, in order to equip leaders and them return properties to purposeful use.

This conference offers opportunities to learn about innovative methods and practices for economic development, as well as solutions to common problems and new techniques to help communities thrive.

This webinar shared best practices for planning for middle mile infrastructure and lessons learned from different middle mile projects from around the United States.

This webinar featured a discussion on how economic development can play a key role in racial equity and promoting economic well-being for communities of color.

In this webinar Witt O’Brien’s experts outlined the immediate steps counties should take when evaluating whether to opt-in to receive the reserved allocation in the new $900 billion COVID-19 relief package, the strategies for immediate actions ahead of receiving funds, and a framework for a successful program.

In this series, experts looked at some of the major policy considerations in legalizing accessory dwelling units, how they get built and financed, and the role they can play in our affordable housing landscape.

This webinar features two Rubinger Fellows who spoke about how they have leveraged Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), which offer an alternative to customary housing units, taking the form of basement apartments, living units above the garage, new detached units, or 'tiny houses' built in the backyard of an existing home.

This webinar presents WE-Making, a ground-breaking framework for how arts and culture unite people to work toward community well-being.

In this webinar, two authors discussed their respective ideas about how delivering on the human right to housing and combatting the climate crisis go hand-in-hand. Each discussed the intersection between equity, housing, and sustainability.

This webinar featured expert guidance for cities and counties, innovative housing work by city and county leaders and a forthcoming tool from the National Association of Counties and the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program to support local policymaking.

This webinar presented results from a range of studies investigating challenges, opportunities, and policy implications for older adults aging in place and living in rural areas.

This conference provides insight on the latest strategies and tools to help make deals feasible to create and preserve much-needed affordable housing.

This webinar focused on expanding the use of GIS with federal funding to address health and human services needs.

This webinar focused on expanding the use of GIS with federal funding to address housing, economic development, and planning needs.

This webinar focused on expanding the use of GIS with federal funding to address transportation and transit needs.

This public briefing provided an overview of the new SSBCI Capital Program Policy Guidelines, including application timelines and requirements, key provisions in the updated guidance, and answers to audience questions.

This webinar about a partnership created to provide a comprehensive strategy to county Information Security Programs described how the partnership can maximizes the cost and operational efficiency of leading-edge software solutions, maximizes the efficiency of county resource utilization, and will uphold the highest cybersecurity standards.

This webinar provided information and best practices for creatively stacking capital and essential financing sources employed by rural communities to complete projects in today’s economy.

In this webinar experts shared best practices for development finance agencies to help identify the right partners for rural development projects.

This webinar provided an overview of the new Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) released by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to administer $48 billion in broadband infrastructure and digital equity funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

This webinar provided an overview of NACo's new interactive tool that aims to help counties assess potential funding streams established by ARPA so they can better utilize their direct allocation.

This five-part webinar series, recorded pre COVID-19, focused on broadband development finance with an emphasis on the legal, technical, and financial challenges facing communities working to develop broadband.

This podcast featured USDA Rural Development administrators discussing broadband grant and loan programs, particularly as they relate to Native American communities.

This virtual workshop build on the Equitable Small Business Ecosystems Practitioner's Guide, taking a deeper dive into how to apply learnings and tools from the Practitioner's Guide to smaller cities and exploring how small cities can increase their capacity and resources within traditionally smaller ecosystems.

This series of no-cost, virtual training sessions is designed to assist affordable housing developers and providers, policymakers, and advocates with guidance to acquire, rehabilitate and preserve the affordability of homes located in unsubsidized small- to medium-multifamily properties, prevent displacement of residents, and advocate for preservation minded policies, programs, and resources.

This video explains the timely expenditure and distribution requirements of the CDBG program, how the timeliness calculation works and how to apply it, the challenges faced adhering to the requirements, and best practices for proactively managing CDBG grant funds.

This free series of webinars will cover a wide range of development finance topics such as community engagement in TIF, financing clean energy, funding child care facilities, and more.

This learning series aims to help communities develop a comprehensive understanding of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), while providing guidance on preparing for, planning, and financing infrastructure projects.

This series of free webinars will highlight the various financing options for green and sustainable assets in both the private and public sectors, including an array of loans, debt mechanisms, and investments that are used to encourage the development of green projects or minimize the impact on the climate of more regular projects.

This webinar focused on the impacts of COVID-19 on access to safe and affordable childcare, and what counties have done to maintain the current supply of childcare and sustain childcare businesses upon reopening.

This webinar included a presentation and Q&A on methods of bringing clean energy to low-income communities through community-based financing and explained how this can help communities nationwide tap into renewable energy.

This virtual seminar is part of the 2022 Federal Reserve Community Development Research Seminar Series, Toward an Inclusive Recovery, a forum for exploring the intersection of research, policy, and practice in the community development field..

This webinar explained how county and local governments can successfully implement local broadband programs and effectively leverage public investment and funding programs to help public sector agencies and officials understand key challenges and considerations for establishing a comprehensive broadband program and effectively leveraging public-private partnerships to deliver affordable, reliable and sustainable broadband.

In this webinar county leaders discussed challenges and solutions to the eviction crisis, including county programming and support for children and families whose housing and financial stability are at heightened risk due to COVID-19.

In this episode of Tax Credit Tuesday podcast series, Michael Novogradac, CPA, and Novogradac partner Blair Kincer, MAI, CRE, discuss the various ways the pandemic and its economic repercussions affected LIHTC properties.

In this webinar Hagerty Consulting team discussed ongoing response and recovery challenges and offered potential solutions by outlining recent federal policy changes, current federal funding opportunities, and tangible ways to jumpstart your community’s financial recovery process.

This webinar featured experts from Witt O’Brien’s who outlined strategies for action and a framework for designing a successful rental assistance program.

This webinar featured a discussion about the social construct of trust, how cities can actually design systems for continuous community trust, and examples of best practices to build equitable outcomes for cities.

In this webinar Christian Michael, Program Manager for Grow with Google, discussed the work that Google is doing to create opportunities for nontraditional talent to kickstart their career in high demand fields, including IT.

In this webinar panelists discussed how state and local governments are considering Opportunity Zones (OZ) as part of broader strategies to deliver COVID-19 and economic relief funding, and how OZ equity is being integrated into the suite of economic development financing tools.

This webinar features the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and the Housing Initiative at Penn (HIP) covering tools, resources, and the types of emergency rental assistance available nationwide.

In this webinar KPMG and county officials discussed different approaches to enhance resilience in light of shifting public health, economic, budgetary and community dynamics – and how the difficult lessons of 2020 can help counties navigate a still uncertain 2021 outlook.

This webinar about county-based approaches for improving employment outcomes for local residents included tips and strategies that counties can pursue to expand career pathways and strengthen the local economy.

This conference is designed to dive deep into the critical issues facing affordable housing, with expert panels featuring a dynamic cross-section of thought leaders, real-world examples and actionable strategies.

In this webinar Barbara Geries from Champlain Housing Trust and Harold Nassau from The Consortium for Housing Asset Management (CHAM) discussed the value of operating an Eviction Prevention Program (EPP), provided basic information about program structuring, and gave examples of existing programs.

In this webinar participants received updates about developments on Capitol Hill, heard about new research on mayors’ perceptions of homelessness in their cities, learned about a database focused on housing covered by the CARES Act 30-day eviction notice requirement, received news from the field, and more.

This webinar, designed to help communities access federal funds and harness the power of arts and culture to achieve community development goals, introduces the Creative Placemaking Public Resources Guide which helps community development practitioners, artists, and arts and cultural organizations survey the landscape and decode the language of federal government funding opportunities that might support creative placemaking efforts.

This webinar was designed to help funders learn how the federal government and FEMA respond to disasters, including what FEMA does and does not do, how other government departments and agencies respond, and what grant-makers should support to expand their reach, fill resource gaps and avoid duplication?

This catalog from FEMA Region II provides links to more than 70 pre-recorded webinars held in 2020. Webinars are grouped by 14 topic areas offering guidance on a wide array of individual and community awareness, preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience concerns.

In this webinar county leaders, congressional staff, and national experts discussed how emergency COVID-19 legislation can help counties combat food insecurity and the implications it may have for national anti-hunger policy moving forward.

This virtual 11-week Strength Matters Boot Camp will provide an overview of the accounting and financial reporting issues faced by a nonprofit housing enterprise throughout the lifecycle of an affordable housing deal.

In this webinar nationally recognized Treasurer Scott German of Genesee County, NY discussed how he has maximized the value of Genesee County's cash through liquidity data and treasury service monitoring and explained how to leverage technology and follow data findings to ensure every tax dollar is being maximized and to optimize short- and long-term cash performance.

This webinar featured an expert overview of the state of food insecurity in the United States, and shared how cities and counties are working to improve the food security of residents by integrating local efforts across jurisdictions and working with key community partners to enhance food production, transportation, and distribution.

In this session of NACo's 2022 National Conference and Exhibition, county leaders discussed how counties of all sizes can advance equity as employers, policymakers, investors and partners.

This call unpacked the Treasury Department’s comprehensive guidance on the allowable uses of the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund in the American Rescue Plan Act, including downloadable resources and recommendations for municipal officials to ensure appropriate use of the funds.

In this episode of Green in Action, host Kimberly Vermeer speaks with five 'green' leaders about how they apply the integrated design process in their work.

This webinar discussed how improving and expanding early learning facilities can increase access to high quality child care and enable parents to participate in the labor force, as well as how counties can include early learning infrastructure investments in broader economic development efforts.

This webinar introduced Fitwel, a building certification system that sets standards for design features and operational strategies that support the health of people living in multifamily residential properties.

This webinar series engaged Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge winners to delve into the research, policies and practices that inform and drive innovations in their respective communities and nationwide.

This webinar included a panel discussion with city officials from Austin, Boston and New York City who discussed programs in those cities that highlight the Right to Return, net-zero emissions housing projects, and mandatory broadband access in all new affordable housing construction.

This webinar will feature leaders from City Thread in a discussion of why it takes so long to make changes to city streets and spaces and how the process can be improved.

This webinar featured community-based organizations and local artists sharing stories and lessons learned from local strategies to build stronger connections with residents, create and enhance neighborhood identity and solidarity, and achieve better outcomes in local planning and policy.

In this webinar experts talk about the successes, stumbles and opportunities for the financing of community land trusts and other forms of community-owned and controlled real estate.

This webinar featured local leaders and industry experts providing a broadband technology overview and exploring how cities across the United States are deciding what infrastructure investments are best for their communities.

In this webinar participants learned about property condition inventories and the types of data they can collect, multiple models for conducting parcel condition surveys, and ways to use survey data to inform vacant land strategies.

This event series includes four, pre-recorded sessions of discussions with public officials about the challenges and opportunities inherent in implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's new programs, distributing funding, and investing in transformational projects efficiently, equitably, and impactfully.

This webinar explained how counties can use Recovery Funds to combat the housing shortage, lower the number of Americans experiencing homelessness and ensure that every segment of the population has a safe, affordable and stable home.

The conference will convene experts and innovators to dive deep into all the complexities of closing the infrastructure gap.

This free in-depth video series focuses on the characteristics of infrastructure, the innovative tools for financing various infrastructure projects, and how the private sector impacts the landscape of infrastructure investment. Topics include unlocking capital, transportation finance strategies, water finance introduction, P3 for energy financing, and financing environmental Infrastructure.

In this webinar Kira Golden discussed the unique opportunities available to investors in Puerto Rico and highlights an industrial complex near one of the island’s busiest airports.

In this session of the 2021 Corporate Citizenship Conference: Business Solves speakers explored the evolving role of business in society and how the private sector continues to bring innovative solutions to the forefront.

This webinar series will help participants review federal lead regulations with a focus on the Lead Safe Housing Rule (LSHR) activities for project-based assistance (PBA) (Subpart H), public housing (Subpart L), and tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) (Subpart M).

This webinar features national experts and county leaders discussing how to set measurable, equitable outcomes that will drive the impact of local Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund planning and implementation efforts.

This webinar featured a panel discussion on how cities, intermediaries, community organizations, and philanthropy can support industrial district ecosystems in ways that advance equitable economic outcomes and a review of the findings form a recent white paper, Industrial District Revitalization in Three Cities, on how LISC helped revitalize industrial districts in Duluth, Jacksonville, and Indianapolis.

This webinar provided a high-level funding overview of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery allocations from 2020 and 2021, along with experts advice on usage and allocation of these funds.

This webinar focused on how counties can use liquidity analyses and data to maximize the value on current tax dollars and any CARES Act funding received and review ways to look under every stone for taxpayer benefit.

This virtual conference about a results-based framework for measurable equity, showed how leaders can collectively work together to target equity strategies, move beyond services to focus on policies, institutions, and structures, and align partners to take action and track progress.

In this episode of the Green in Action podcast, host Kimberly Vermeer spoke with Dana Bourland about their motivations to push for healthy and equitable housing and discussed what that looks like on a community scale.

This conference brings together the leaders and dealmakers in the development finance industry to discuss best practices, trends, and project financing solutions.

These prerecorded sessions from the Inaugural National Land Bank Network Summit explore the latest strategies for land banks to address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties.

This webinar covered both the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act and the Build Back Better plan, including key provisions of importance to counties.

This webinar provided a funding overview and discussed how to look at the various federal funding streams in order to develop a grant management strategy and plan to ensure that funding is maximized, duplication does not occur, and necessary first steps are taken to maximize federal investments.

This conference will highlight how cities are leading the future and how to best use impact, action and service as tools for a better tomorrow, including opportunities to share with peers, public and private sector stakeholders and subject matter experts.

In this webinar Andre Perry, senior fellow at Brookings Institution and author of “Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities”, discussed the challenges and shared data on the disparities in home values in majority-Black communities.

This webinar discuss Opportunity Zones (OZ) efforts—capacity building initiatives, investments strategies, and proposed policy changes—to support the growth of early-stage companies.

The webinar explored how community economic development organizations can partner with healthcare institutions to create career pathways in low-income and BIPOC communities and featured local leaders talking about cross-sector partnerships to create training opportunities, to form career pathways, and to leverage assets from health institutions.

This conference invites historic preservationists and preservation lovers to gather and explore three themes including historic preservation is climate action, encouraging inclusion and diversity through preservation, and understanding preservation’s role in real estate development.

This webinar introduced the Pathway to Recovery® and showed how liquidity management can position an entity for success in managing American Rescue Plan Funds in 2021 and beyond.

Register by September 29, 2022 for this two-hour per day training to learn definitions, concepts, methodologies, and implementations of placemaking and related projects. See footage from multiple sites in the US and abroad to analyze public spaces using a range of place analysis tools and techniques, and hear lessons learned from experienced professionals.

This webinar features a panel of experts explaining how and why companies, foundations, and philanthropists are turning to public space to achieve their social impact goals and gain insights from all sides of the partnership—funders, grantees, and technical experts.

This webinar discussed ways of detecting and preventing county financial fraud from both the treasurer and elected officials' perspectives, including how to spot warning signs, how to educate county employees on how to spot and prevent fraud, and how to exercise sound stewardship of county funds.

This webinar featured an engaging conversation with public space leaders and technologists to explore critical questions about the best ways to leverage technology to better serve communities.

This webinar included discussion of the recently announced partnership on forthcoming funding opportunities from the Departments of Labor and Transportation that include requirements and allowances for focuses on job quality and equitable workforce development, including guidance on tools and checklists to help with the application process.

This webinar shared learned experience, current approaches, and practical lessons from rural childcare providers and organizations that support and advance their work to create a stronger and more viable rural childcare system.

This webinar discussed ways to strengthen career pathways and achieve economic mobility for low-income residents, including creating cross-sector partnerships with higher education and coordinating services across multiple sectors to promote positive outcomes for adult students and job seekers who are disconnected from education and employment opportunities.

This series of 11 webinars examined local solutions to housing, jobs, and wealth through an equity lens, and provided community leaders with strategies to frame, contextualize, and organize around community challenges.

This page includes a series of webinars about how upgrading local building codes to reflect resilient construction strategies can position communities to better withstand the threats of natural hazards and severe weather events. Participants learn why resilient building codes matter, how to build the business case for upgrading building codes, and what strategies can be used for upgrading codes.

This webinar series consists of a total of six sessions spread across three topic areas. The topic areas are housing, health, and economic development. The following recordings are posted:

• Responding to the Housing Challenges Posed by the Pandemic: Session 1 | Session 2
• Addressing Challenges to Health and Childcare Systems: Session 1 | Session 2
• COVID-19 Recovery Strategies for Small Business Districts: Session 1 | Session 2

This webpage offers a variety of re-recorded webinars on retail, community, and real estate development topics.

This webinar provided an overview of the rural health focused efforts by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture HHS and USDA and highlighted specific tools and resources to help combat COVID-19.

This webinar shared how disaster preparedness and response continue in communities dealing with wildfires, hurricanes, and extreme weather, all while also feeling the impacts of a pandemic.

This virtual and limited in-person seminar includes three separate events offering an opportunity to discuss this unique moment in time when billions in public dollars are making important advances in Broadband and Infrastructure, Housing, and Workforce and Small Business possible through collaboration and public and private partnerships.

In this video presentation Deon Bonaparte talks about the fallacies of society's perceptions about black-owned businesses, overcoming the statistical odds of a large percentage of black-owned businesses closing down, and the story of uncovering the truth and history behind these inventive yet marginalized businesses.

This webinar presented tips and strategies for researchers and others interested in pursuing federal grants from the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities.

This webinar will explore how communities can achieve more effective, equitable code enforcement by building relationships with residents, neighborhood associations, and grassroots leaders.

This workshop explored how counties can partner with local post-secondary education systems and other sectors, such as workforce development, human services, and health, to maximize educational and employment opportunities for residents.

This webinar explored how communities, NGOs, and the private sector can work together to create a more sustainable economy that delivers environmental justice and creates opportunity for all.

This webinar featured four policy experts who discussed the latest legislation and current regulatory environment of affordable housing with a focus on the Biden Administration’s Housing Supply Action Plan, COVID-19 recovery funds, new directions at HUD, the LIFELINE Act, and the HOME program. The webinar handouts can be found by clicking the links below:

• Washington Report PPT Slides with links
• NCSHA Report about use of Recovery Funds for Houses
• Novogradac Policy Blog Links

In this webinar county leaders shared strategies to take advantage of ARPA funding to meet the specific needs of their communities and discussed how they have navigated performance management and compliance requirements.

This session of the Federal Financing Webinar Series will highlight the resources available at the U.S. Department of Treasury and Small Business Administration to finance economic growth in distressed communities.

This session of the CDFA Federal Financing Webinar Series will highlight the resources available at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for financing broadband, food systems, healthy food access, and small businesses – all with a focus on rural areas.

This webinar focused on how counties can use their ARP State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund allocations for the provision of “government services” to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to COVID-19.

This webinar focused on how counties can use their ARP State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund allocations to address the pandemic’s negative economic impact on children, families, and individuals in underserved communities.

This webinar focused on how counties can use their ARP State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund allocations to support the critical need for investments and improvements to existing water and sewer infrastructure.

This 8-part web-based training course provides basic information and resources to HUD grantees and funding recipients on URA requirements for HUD funded projects.

This short video introduces CDBG-DR grantees to the applicability of both Uniform Relocation Assistance (URA) and Section 104(d) when using HUD CDBG-DR funds.

In this webinar presenters provided an overview of how to use State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to promote economic development.

This live panel discussion brought municipalities and governmental agencies together to show how federal funding and collaboration can lead to innovative solutions for urban water challenges.

This webinar featured federal representatives and local experts discussing how the Affordable Connectivity Program works, barriers that are keeping families from accessing broadband, and the innovative steps local leaders are taking to help their residents benefit from the program.

This webinar discussed the new rule changes proposed for the Community Reinvestment Act, and what the changes mean for communities, community development and the banking industry.

This webinar featured representatives from the White House, including the Offices of Intergovernmental Affairs, the National Economic Council, and Legislative Affairs for a briefing and update on the Bipartisan Innovation Act (BIA) and the importance of Regional Technology Hubs.

This video series profiles women of color who are fighting today’s most pressing affordable housing issues in places like Detroit; Santa Ana, California; New Orleans; and Tacoma, Washington.

This playbook offers concrete steps and recommendations on how economic development can play a key role in racial equity and promoting economic well-being for communities of color.

This report investigates the state of work in America’s cities, towns and villages and offers key strategies that will shape workplace changes over the next 10 years. The strategies and case studies outlined in this report showcase mayors and city leaders who turned bold visions for their city into actionable plans.

This non-profit foundation educates, equips, and empowers communities and their leaders to reshape and reactivate built environments to promote the growth of healthy and vibrant neighborhoods.

This practitioners’ guide outlines how organizations serving small businesses can work together to identify ecosystem-level and organization-specific strategies based on local market needs and varying stakeholder assets.

This toolkit provides resources and information on how to conduct a local income survey that helps determine the percentage of low- and moderate-income (LMI) persons in the service area of a proposed CDBG activity.

Designed for recipients of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds, this guidebook provides information about the requirements in the CDBG-DR Consolidated Notice and how to meet the requirements throughout each phase of the grant process—pre-award grantee submissions; grantee steps and timelines; and action plan development, submittal, and implementation.

This website provides information about the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 which will provide $50 billion for a suite of programs to strengthen and revitalize the U.S. position in semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing—while also investing in American workers.

This article explains how and why a growing number of initiatives in Detroit are working to redefine outdoor activities as acts of liberation for black and brown people.

This resource provides access to HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents and Income Limits data available via an application programming interface (API). With this API, developers can easily access and customize Fair Market Rents and Income Limits data for use in existing applications or to create new applications.

This report discusses how building energy codes represent an opportunity to influence the energy use and resilience of new and renovated buildings within a community, how energy conservation codes can add up to big energy savings, and what federal funding is available to help.

This article explains how the Act addresses numerous areas of policy and law including health care, corporate taxation and energy.

As a tool in a larger place-based commercial revitalization strategy, this short guide can help community partners interested in storefront improvement get started, including best practices and considerations for setting the stage, designing, launching and keeping a program going.

This article highlights how vacant land was transformed into a community garden and how community-based groups and activists have used various strategies in their work toward the common goal of fortifying economic security and food sovereignty for Puerto Ricans.

This blog offers tips and resources for helping communities gauge risk and strengthen their ability to prepare for anticipated natural hazards, adapt to changing conditions, and withstand and recover rapidly from the effects of climate change.

This web page features stories of how communities have used the Main Street Approach to transform their economies, leverage local leadership, and improve overall quality of life.

This article considers the impact of community efforts that shy away from the fiscal power of main streets and downtowns by putting more effort into chain stores and restaurants in the name of faster economic growth

This article announces the Housing and Economic Analysis Toolkit and discusses how incremental development can benefit cities by gradually adding homes to existing neighborhoods, instead of relying only on large-scale redevelopment or brand new suburban expansion.

This report describes how neighborhoods with concentrated poverty have decreased poverty rates without displacing the existing community, presents a novel data science approach to identify factors that make these neighborhoods distinct, and offers actionable recommendations for communities across the U.S.

This free Housing and Economic Analysis Toolkit (HEAT) can help cities, counties, and metros visualize incremental design to help expand naturally affordable housing.

This article discusses a growing movement to increase the quality of public spaces with less expensive and less labor-intensive initiatives.

This article shares insights from participants of a collective commercial real estate model, created and led by Black businesses in Chicago, that is helping revitalize the South and West Side’s long-disinvested commercial corridors.

This article explains how federal funding has incentivized rural electric co-ops across the USA to work together to provide broadband services.

This web-based resource provides guidance for recipients of CDBG-DR grant funds on how to meet the CDBG-DR Consolidated Notice requirements, including the pre-award grantee submissions; grantee steps and timelines; and action plan development, submittal, and implementation.

This article shares how community partners came together to build The Dreamery, an around-the-clock child care center with programs serving second- and third-shift workers and 24-hour drop-in care.

This article reviews a case study that explores what equitable park access looks like and how local leaders can tailor their green spaces to better suit their residents, build belonging, and create equitable outcomes.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently proposed a new methodology for measuring multifamily government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) goals, changing from the number of units to using the percentage of affordable units in multifamily properties financed by mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each year. Comments accepted until 10/17/22.

This report provides insights, examples and key strategies for how counties can align housing goals with health goals to create healthy, affordable neighborhoods that improve outcomes and quality of life for all residents.

This resource on HUD Exchange provides a wealth of information about this voluntary leadership initiative that asks multifamily property owners and managers to make a commitment to improving the energy efficiency of their property portfolios.

This press release announced the Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative to be piloted in 11 communities across the country where residents lack basic wastewater management that is essential to protecting their health and the environment.

This press release announces the opening of the application cycle for funding to expand access to high-speed internet for millions of people in rural America, part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to investing in rural infrastructure and affordable high-speed internet for all.

This report outlines steps HUD will take to help low-income renters build assets through increased savings, banking and credit history improvement, and increased access to banking.

This report gives an overview of the CDFI industry, including target markets served, a cost analysis of serving these targeted markets, a summary of public and private funding sources, and recommendations to Congress.

This blog looks at how recent federal investments in broadband affordability will help connect more households and expand access to shared prosperity within historically underserved communities.

HUD offers two documents to facilitate agencies' and their contractor partners' understanding of Davis-Bacon and Labor Standards requirements across HUD programs.

This Playbook is designed to help public-sector leaders think through economic development issues and focus on resiliency and recovery in a proactive way, and provides tools, tactics, and resources for communities responding to or preparing for an economic disruption.

This press release announced a $4.6 million grant to Jobs for the Future (JFF) to coordinate and lead a national Community of Practice (CoP) dedicated to sharing best practices, providing technical assistance, and extending professional networks among the $500 million Good Jobs Challenge’s grantee organizations.

This article explains how the power of organized tenants' unions, or 'debtor's unions', can act as a counterpower to corporate landlords by collective rent refusal until housing terms are met.

This article explains how four companies are creating multifamily units through hotel conversions as the housing shortage grows.

This article explains how this town used data and the housing-first approach to reach what they call a "functional end" to chronic homelessness.

In this article industry experts share best practices for creating an environment where residents can feel safe and thrive.

This article explains why it's important to think strategically, creatively and holistically when working with American Rescue Plan and the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act funds.

This article provides an overview of the Inflation Reduction Act's most significant features and how the Act could dramatically affect a range of climate change, healthcare, and tax matters.

This paper uses original interviews, case studies, and a literature review to examine Medicaid-funded partnerships that address social determinants of health, and the potential role of community development intermediaries in advancing them.

This article provides a brief overview of how the Inflation Reduction Act affects the clean energy sector, but its brevity precludes a comprehensive summary of all of the energy tax provisions in the Act.

This article explains how a live-work developer aims to convert two Merrifield office buildings into live-work units and workforce housing.

This resource on HUD Exchange provides a wealth of information about how HUD programs and projects may be impacted by two federal laws: the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act (URA) and section 104(d) of the Housing and Community Development Act.

This resource provides information and links to regional university centers that serve as a source of economic and community development data, decision tools, education, and guidance for the nation's rural communities.

This article examines the location of rental deserts across the country and how zoning patterns have contributed to continued patterns of socioeconomic and racial segregation.

This resource on HUD Exchange provides a wealth of information on the Section 811 rental assistance program supporting successful and innovative state approaches to providing integrated supportive housing for people with disabilities.

This article shares insights about “Neighborhood Access and Equity Grants” included in the Inflation Reduction Act that would supplement earlier funding in the infrastructure law and could go towards a range of projects in lower-income areas.

This resource provides reports, tips and tools that communities dealing with vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties can use to address health and safety concerns of problem properties and stabilize neighborhoods experiencing decline.

This one-page summary provides the basics of the provisions within the Inflation Reduction Act recently signed into law by President Biden.

This article describes policy levers local governments can use to increase the supply of homes and improve housing affordability along with steps local leaders can take to help constituents who are contending with high housing costs.

The 2022 SYSTEM Series includes updates on emerging priorities that all effective homeless response systems must be prepared to address, as well as insights on issues and areas that HUD has prioritized in the FY 2022 Continuum of Care Program Competition NOFO.

This press release announced grant awards to 32 industry-led workforce training partnerships which will enable communities across the country to invest in innovative approaches to workforce development that will secure job opportunities for more than 50,000 Americans.

This press release announced an investment by USDA to combat climate change across rural America, including $111 million for 289 projects to help people living in socially vulnerable communities.

This report examines how COVID-19 relief resources were used to help people experiencing homelessness in eight different communities across the country.

This report discusses the Good Jobs Challenge grants made to colleges, employers, and state and regional agencies to work together to solve local challenges around job training. The 32 awardees from a cross-section of the U.S. all had a focus on reaching residents and geographic regions that have not traditionally been well-served by higher education.

This article tells how some cities and towns embrace car-free streets for festivals and gatherings to create economic growth and attract visitors to downtown areas.

This guide provides a summary of updated guidance related to Coronavirus State and Local Recovery Funds to improve recipients’ ability to use the funds to invest in affordable housing. It also clarifies and expands on the framework in the final rule, and provides examples of how recipients can combine and “layer” these funds with other sources of funding to maximize resources and meet housing needs.

This article talks about how communities often weaponize zoning to keep the poor out of neighborhoods and suburbs with the best access to jobs or highest quality schools.

This report explains how, with American Rescue Plan funds, counties are strengthening America’s workforce, addressing the nation’s behavioral health crisis, expanding broadband access, improving housing affordability and building prosperous communities for the next generation.

This report by Freddie Mac details findings from a review of Qualified Allocation Plans (QAPs) from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and outlines how each state housing finance agency awards its housing tax credits.

This article shares how a 106-year-old school building has been adapted into affordable housing for seniors in Southbridge, Massachusetts.

The Local Infrastructure Hub is a national program designed to connect cities and towns with the resources and expert advice they need to access federal infrastructure funding in order to drive local progress, improve communities, and deliver results for residents.

This resource provides information by date, region, and city size via reports, guides, case studies, videos and best practice challenges on a variety of topics relevant to municipal leaders.

This report compiles case studies to show how the Talent Pipeline Management (TPM®) framework can leverage valuable opportunity population (OP) talent and fill the gaps in the workforce.

The Inclusive Healthy Places (IHP) Framework was created to help planners, policymakers, and communities design, fund, and operate public spaces that fulfill individual and community well-being.

This article unpacks the history of systemic oppression around access to capital for Native communities — and what can be done about it.

This article provides examples of how communities are tapping into the New Markets Tax Credit incentive program as an economic development tool to improve areas such as employment, food accessibility and education, providing residents with greater access and equity.

This resource for CDFA members is the only online resource cataloging the development finance programs offered by state governments and includes overviews of over 350 state financing programs available to both public and private sector users.

This article discusses how Co-Ops can go beyond organizing neighbors to create a competitive process and how they can help address policy blockades to help households go solar.

This press release announced new guidance to increase the ability of state, local, and tribal governments to use American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to boost the supply of affordable housing in their communities.

This guide summarizes USDA grant opportunities and services, USDA agency roles and responsibilities, policies relevant to Indian Country, and success stories from people who have used USDA programs and services.

This article announces a commitment of $40 million in low-cost, long-term capital to finance the development and expansion of community health care centers and other primary care facilities across the United States.

This resource page is loaded with helpful information, tips, best practices and relevant reports on local government finance.

Through this Loan Program, USDA-approved lenders with experience in construction loans can help borrowers who want to build a home by streamlining the lending process to reduce closing costs for homebuyers because they pay closing costs on one loan instead of on a construction loan and a permanent loan.

This press release announced the distribution of $279 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to all 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia, to support locally led outdoor recreation and conservation projects to protect and enhance our nation’s public lands and waters.

This article discusses the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Equitable Housing Finance Plans for 2022-2024, which aim to address barriers experienced by renters, aspiring homeowners, and current homeowners—particularly in Black and Latino communities.

This article explains how four people made small changes to reduce gun violence in one Portland neighborhood by 60%.

The purpose of this resources page is to supply local officials and interested persons with information useful in budgeting, financing and evaluating the services their local governments provide.

This blog post explains the USDA Rural Development’s Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program options for lenders to help homebuyers finance 100% of a home's appraised value, including manufactured homes, which can help boost the housing supply in rural America and bring homeownership within reach for millions of people.

The purpose of the resource page is to provide a central resource for local government finance officers to help them deal with the many short-term and long-term financial challenges using a process of recognizing, arresting, and reversing a pattern of financial decline.

Cities can refer families to this web page for information about the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) which helps low-income households access affordable internet with $30 per month off on internet bills, high-speed internet plans for no more than $30 per month, and no cost internet for eligible families who pair their ACP benefit with one of the negotiated provider plans.

This article tells how a therapist collective is changing how mental health services are offered in Ridgewood, Queens.

This article shares how a new advisory group in Marion County is promoting inclusive emergency management by encouraging collaboration and partnership among members of the whole community, including disability agencies and organizations and emergency managers.

This report provides a rationale and framework for EDA reauthorization and shows why only the legislative process can better equip the EDA to improve America’s capacity to innovate, compete, and expand economic opportunity for more people in more places.

This article discusses what contributes to the ongoing repurposing and reinvention of a living city and what happens when communities don't change.

This article announced the launch of the National Zoning Atlas, which is designed to display zoning codes across the country on an online, user-friendly map, with the goal to strengthen national and local planning for housing production, transportation infrastructure and climate response.

This guide makes the case for a more nuanced, smarter fiscal analysis practice and provides information to show the kinds of fiscal impacts that may be associated with Smart Growth.

The main objective of this work is to create a platform that allows all relevant stakeholders to navigate an otherwise challenging building code environment and to offer resources for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and CDBG Mitigation (MIT) grantees to incorporate resilient building codes into their disaster recovery and mitigation efforts.

This guide explains the current state of the restaurant industry, highlights specific strategy examples through case studies, and provides links to additional resources for further exploration.

This article explains how the combination of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has delivered a potent one-two punch for the water and sewer sectors.

This article defines the difference between streets and roads, and suggests that a street is a platform for building community wealth.

This article discusses how community development tax credits are important tools in helping to overcome inequities in accessing financing for affordable housing and community development investments.

This article aims to demonstrate the importance of land use decisions for revenue, explain the relationship between revenue and land uses, and suggest actions that local governments can take to better manage their land uses for positive revenue impacts, including examples of local governments that have already taken some of these steps.

This article tells how Berwyn, Illinois, a suburban city outside of Chicago, took one small step forward at a time, making incremental changes and adjusting to the environment by paying attention to their community needs and discovering what they could do right now.

This press release announced details of a framework to transform the food system to benefit consumers, producers and rural communities by providing more options, increasing access, and creating new, more, and better markets for small and mid-size producers.

This press release announced the next steps in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) efforts to ensure that Federal investments benefit communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution and underinvestment.

This article shares how a Chicago CDFI is taking a multi-faceted approach, from political advocacy to landlord training, to keep the city’s dwindling affordable housing supply.

This article explains how OneApp Guarantee aims to take the risk out of renting to applicants who would otherwise be denied.

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, In The Know by Yahoo hosted four entrepreneurs to discuss what it was like starting their businesses and how they’ve been able to incorporate their culture and community into their work.

This article explains how taking vacant properties and adapting them for use as affordable housing can help developers save money while reducing their environmental footprint.

This resource offers three playbooks that provide practical advice on navigating partnerships between community development and healthcare to help community development and health sectors magnify their scale of prevention and advance good health, well-being, and opportunity for all.

This report examines the implications for rural development of defining distress in different ways and draws insights from the three multi-state federally chartered regional commissions to analyze the tradeoffs and impacts of different approaches and to offer insights into the ability of vulnerable communities to access critical federal funding.

This ebook identifies ways that underserved communities can access clean-energy capital and infrastructure, and explains how banks themselves can successfully finance projects that reimagine cities as places of environmental justice.

This resource offers free and easy-to-use analysis tools that help users better understand socioeconomic data and trends for their communities, counties, states, or regions, including mapping and risk profiles.

This article tells how the town of Auburn, MA transformed a historic community asset into high-quality housing for seniors, creating a community designed with local input to ensure the development meets the needs of future residents and neighbors alike.

In this article Lorain, Ohio Mayor Jack Bradley describes how he worked to keep momentum going during the past two years with a downtown “renaissance.”

The IDEAS Resource Library offers recommendations for books, articles, podcasts, and other material to help advocates in their racial justice and equity learning journey.

This article suggests ways to create stable and equitable tax and revenue strategies to meet Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act grant match requirements and support long-term infrastructure maintenance.

This resource explains the FCC's program and provides suggestions and best practices for how local governments can increase citizen access to high-speed internet.

This report explores the grantmaking activity of an extensive sample of community foundations and local United Way affiliates, with a particular focus on the support they provide to organizations involved in community and economic development.

This report explores how decision-makers did (or did not) account for existing inequities in their COVID emergency responses and identifies common barriers and lessons for the future.

The R4R program provides resources and incentives for small businesses to take the actions they need to become more resilient, including the distribution of grants following a disaster.

This article explains how both housing developers and underserved communities alike can benefit from increasing public funding opportunities for solar and how integrating renewable energy in affordable housing projects can provide significant sustainability benefits to developers, municipalities, and end users.

This ebook shares stories that detail how government procurement contracts unlock new opportunities for MWBE and LGBTQ businesses, how securing contracts with large anchor institutions can protect jobs and ensure success for small businesses, and how cities can influence what happens to their money before it’s spent.

This report shares results from a series of interviews with rural hospital leaders, health policy experts, national organizations, provider organizations, and academia to gain on-the-ground insights into today’s rural health care landscape, where the population is older, sicker, and less likely to be insured or seek preventive services than in urban areas.

This article discussed how bringing back neighborhood-based legacy businesses and mixed use buildings can enhance economic development, and explains how Buffalo, New York serves as a good example of this type of redevelopment.

This article explains the recently launched NMTC Program Native Initiative as an effort to bring greater investment to NMTC Native Areas and highlights several ways in which tribes and affiliated entities can take advantage of the program to bring funds to their communities.

This free guide provides an overview of some of the issues and opportunities surrounding technology & workforce development partnerships, particularly as they relate to data collection and evaluation.

This resource describes EDA's University Center program which is focused on leveraging university assets to build regional economic ecosystems that support innovation and high-growth entrepreneurship, resiliency, and inclusiveness.

This press release announced an investment by USDA to help create new and better market opportunities for rural businesses and people in 36 states and Puerto Rico, including priority investments in jobs, businesses, and entrepreneurial opportunities in rural America.

This news brief announced an initiative by Volunteers of America National Services to create accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for veterans and their families who have experienced homelessness.

This article discusses how White House and philanthropic agencies are working to make it easier for smaller cities and counties to apply for funding under a $1 trillion infrastructure law that aims to rebuild U.S. roads, bridges, airports and expand broadband access.

This article talks about how the Enterprise Center in Philadelphia pioneers a new idea to fill in the equity gap by getting private investment fund managers to invest in more women- and minority-led businesses.

This webpage provides information on the portfolio of Build to Scale national grant competitions that further increase the capacities of regions to plan and implement ecosystems that support innovators, entrepreneurs, and startups that are growing technology-driven businesses, creating high-skill, high-wage jobs, and building the industries of the future.

This report shares how researchers dug into Zillow’s assessor and real estate database to estimate the relationship between affordable housing developments and the sales prices of nearby single-family homes, duplexes, cooperatives, and residential condominiums, and what they found out.

This playbook is intended to help rural communities understand the available funding for infrastructure provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other sources – offering information on the “what, where, and how” to apply for federal infrastructure dollars.

This report serves to inform stakeholders on the importance of CDBG to community advancement and success.

This document contains answers to frequently asked questions regarding the Final Rule of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, which was made effective on April 1, 2022.

This article briefly explains Pittsburgh's Priority Lead Service Line Replacement Project and how in 2022 the project will focus on addressing no-cost lead line replacement for all daycare facilities in service area.

This article discusses how remote work could be a new opportunity for small towns even though some old-fashioned obstacles remain, and how in Missouri, creativity and collaboration are key for community leaders looking to overcome the obstacles.

This series of fact sheets explores and unpacks the issues, challenges, and opportunities of expanding Internet access and achieving equity for everyone in a community.

This article announces the expansion of the Small Business Loan Program and shares how nonprofit loan funds like Accompany Capital enable minority-owned businesses to thrive.

This article provides an overview of historic tax credit (HTC) direct and lease pass-through transaction structures and what to consider when determining a structure, choosing between investors, and taking steps to maximize benefits.

HUD released a policy brief on the relationship between HOME Investment Partnerships-American Rescue Plan Program (HOME-ARP) funding and the "Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970" (URA).

This resource contains the CDBG-DR Consolidated Notice, as well as related fact sheets, pre-recorded webinar training, grantee guidance, checklists, and materials for effectively reporting in DRGR.

This news brief explains how Volunteers of America aims to advance a solution to the national crises of housing and health injustices through the recently established Housing for Health & Justice Fund.

This article shares how years of public-private collaboration among city, county and business leaders in Milwaukee culminated in the lowest per-capita unsheltered homeless population in the country.

This website offers a wealth of information, resources, webinars and reports that focus on retail development and downtown revitalization.

This two-page summary of the Rural Partners Network describes the new model, lists federal agency partners and outlines the steps associated with first year implementation.

This publication reports the results of a study of economic development strategies that establish manufacturing entrepreneurial ecosystems.

This article describes some of the creative ways that abandoned malls are being redeveloped to serve the health care needs of communities.

This announcement provides an update on current and closed ARPA Programs, with a link to potential other EDA funding opportunities.

This planning resource guide, designed to help eliminate barriers and encourage collaboration among stakeholders, can help in identifying strategic economic development initiatives to revitalize communities.

This report highlights the systemic shortage of affordable rental homes for the lowest-income households and shares key findings from this year's analysis.

This article tells how a Hampton Roads, Virginia, startup is working with farmers to increase community access to local food.

This press release announced that the USDA will establish a Rural Community Economic Development (RCED) Subcommittee as part of the recently launched Equity Commission. Nominations and applications for membership to the RCED Subcommittee are due on May 6.

This article describes the new pilot project designed to help rural communities most in need of infrastructure funding access it, and outlines the anticipated process for the first phase of operation.

This report shares insights from a survey and series of focus groups with homeless services leaders and reports the strategies they employed to overcome problems.

In this op-ed for the New York Daily News, New York Attorney General Letitia James and LISC president Denise Scott describe how communities and local governments can turn the tide on vacant and so-called "zombie" homes that drive crime, sap the resources of municipalities and undermine the wellbeing of Black and brown people and their neighborhoods.

In this rich retrospective of the last two years, you’ll find stories of how the leaders, advocates, and experts at Community Progress continued to transform places into strong, vibrant communities.

This article describes the challenges that many rural communities face in building the capacity to apply for grant funding, noting that many of the communities with low grant-writing capacity are also the most vulnerable to wildfires, floods, and other climate hazards.

This guide offers a comprehensive resource for advocates and others involved in many aspects of affordable housing and community development.

This article explains how the CommonWealth Kitchen in Boston, MA has cooked up a successful model of community economic development by incubating businesses in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

This article reviews the factors that make the race to lend to affordable housing properties faster and more challenging, and includes a list of the top 25 Lenders of 2021.

This press release announced impactful reforms to the Small Business Administration's Community Advantage (CA) loan program that prioritizes equitable access to capital for low-income borrowers and those from underserved communities.

This article summarized the proposed Rural Prosperity Act, which aims to streamline federal services for rural America and eliminate bureaucratic obstacles by establishing the Office of Rural Prosperity as a permanent fixture in the White House tasked with coordinating federal efforts to support and connect America’s rural communities to federal programs and resources.

This report explores California’s Homekey initiative, which converted hotels and motels into housing developments for people experiencing homelessness.

This toolkit is a resource to aid CDBG-DR grantees in centering equity in disaster recovery programs throughout an enhanced citizen participation process to provide residents—especially low- and moderate-income (LMI) residents of the community where CDBG-funded activities will take place—the opportunity to actively participate in the planning, implementation, and assessment of the programs and projects.

This report has an interactive credit monitoring tool for states and counties nationwide, with state and county level data, information about credit health, and policy actions that governments can take to fill the gaps and protect consumers.

This report shares results of a national survey of Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program administrators at the end of 2021, asking them to reflect on the experience of creating and implementing programs meant to keep millions of vulnerable renters housed amidst a global pandemic.

The publication explores the use of community forums as a community engagement tool in Extension work.

This statement from the White House summarizes the various initiatives of the Biden Administration to build a stronger, more equitable economy that does not leave anyone behind, including rural communities that for too long have faced underinvestment and persistent poverty.

Through rigorous research, this report reinforces longstanding claims that tenants and their advocates have been making: speculation extracts wealth from BIPOC communities by demonstrably driving evictions and poor housing maintenance quality, while affordable housing investments result in better-maintained housing and removal buildings from the speculative market.

This article explains why a diverse group of 40 housing organizations is urging President Biden to establish a President’s Council on Housing Affordability.

HUD's Strategic Plan provides a framework for the delivery of HUD’s mission and vision and outlines a set of strategic goals, objectives, and performance measures to serve as a guide for what the Department will achieve, how HUD will achieve it, and how HUD will measure success.

In this article Mechele Dickerson, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, discusses why she thinks that, despite the hopes pinned on it, homeownership is currently too affected by racism at every turn to be an equalizer.

This article explores how expanding the inventory of affordable housing presents one of today’s biggest challenges for multifamily developers, public agencies and nonprofit organizations and how to address the complex process of assembling the capital necessary to expand the inventory as unconventional alternatives are emerging.

The Citizen Participation & Equitable Engagement (CPEE) Toolkit, a new resource to aid Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grantees in centering equity in disaster recovery programs, is now available in Spanish.

This article explores the challenges and advantages of preserving affordable housing, and how pursuing preservation properly is a mix of art, data, and due diligence.

This article shares information about how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides more than $7 billion of funding for electric vehicles, including the creation of a nationwide network of half a million electric vehicle chargers distributed along the country’s interstate highway system, along with insight into the business case for transitioning to electric-powered fleets.

The purpose of this Notice is to instruct all Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Housing Trust Fund (HTF), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) and Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) formula grantees on the timing of submission of FY 2022 Consolidated Plans and Action Plans.

This article examines the racial disparities among property tax relief programs. While they can be essential for helping older and lower-income homeowners keep their homes, access to them isn’t universal, or equitable.

This report describes in concrete detail how a New York State law, proceeds from an Attorney General settlement with banks responsible for the foreclosure crisis, and a groundbreaking initiative stewarded by LISC have helped municipalities in New York State reclaim vacant and abandoned properties.

This article looks at approaches to expanding broadband access to rural areas that lack sufficient service, including multi-town partnerships that offer a way to expand access to high-speed internet.

This guide covers options for grantees to report on their progress using both CDBG and CDBG-CV funds to respond to coronavirus within the CAPER while also reporting on other Annual Action Plan activities.

This article examines rural community types and suggests that attention to three foundational elements can promote economic success using a data-driven approach to economic development that can be tailored to meet the needs of different communities.

This article explains how Springfield, MA established a Housing Trust Fund to provide for creation, preservation, rehabilitation and adaptive rehabilitation of housing in the city using American Rescue Plan funding.

This article provides key takeaways from the "Equitable Pathways to Small Business Recovery: An All-Hands Approach" report related the impact of the pandemic on commercial space availability for small businesses.

This article explains how Partners for Rural Transformation joined forces with the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition to create a strategic solution for upending the boundaries that keep the country's most vulnerable populations unhoused and unsafe.

This report summarizes information about USDA's Rural Housing Services programs targeted specifically to residents of rural communities and defines 'rural' as it pertains to these programs.

This user-friendly guide helps grantees design and implement a comprehensive emergency rental assistance program that may include the use of CDBG emergency payment activities in assisting individuals and families at risk of homelessness as a result of the economic impacts of COVID-19.

This article explains how thirteen years after a pineapple plantation shutdown, leaving hundreds of workers at risk, the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center teamed up with Rural Community Assistance Corporation to develop a strategy to preserve the community. Now the 150-acre Kunia Village has become a multi-generational refuge.

This report offers a road map for strengthening the ecosystem for delivering solar energy and deep efficiency retrofits to underserved communities.

This report discusses how the impetus for working from home has shifted considerably since 2020, and what today's workers say about why they are doing this by choice rather than necessity.

This article explains how creating a Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit and expanding the low-income housing tax credit could increase the supply of affordable housing while also reducing the rate of inflation by providing this needed housing.

This article proposes using a 30-year-old solution, Employer Assisted Housing (EAP), to address the national housing crisis while also addressing the tight labor market and helping narrow the homeownership gap for people of color.

This playbook for equitable small business recovery is tailored to government audiences and describes actions that can be taken around three topics critical to small business success, including actions relevant to the federal government and innovative uses of federal resources to promote an equitable recovery.

This article challenges the conventional methods for public engagement and describes how the Dream Play Build approach has been applied in various places to engage a broader cross-section of community members, and in many cases to foreground and celebrate the resourceful and adaptive things residents were already doing to make public spaces serve their needs.

This article shares insights and key take-aways from a presentation Marcia Fudge, Secretary of HUD, delivered to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies' annual John T. Dunlop Lecture.

This article honors four enterprising farmers who applied technical advancements and conservation tools to transform their local communities and eliminate food deserts, change the way the world consumes food, fuel and fiber, and cultivate their legacy.

This article explains the issues caused by vacant buildings, including unpaid property taxes, fires and crime, and how localities are making some progress on reining them in.

This article introduces the Local Government ARPA Investment Tracker, and summarizes some of the recovery plan progress data collected from cities and counties so far.

This toolkit assists communities in enhancing their resilience to climate-related natural hazard risks. Local governments can use the toolkit to identify natural hazard risks and resilience actions that can be integrated into existing programs.

This guidebook is intended for CDBG grantees seeking guidance on managing sub-recipients.

This report discusses how mobile and manufactured homes are the most common unsubsidized, affordable housing in the United States and presents an analysis that shows why these structures face a disproportionately higher risk of flooding.

This toolkit helps local affordable housing advocates and planners understand their affordable housing stock, shows how to assess preservation risks in their communities, and equips them with ideas to enhance their local housing preservation efforts.

The handbook is designed to help CDBG subrecipients understand the administrative requirements that apply to the use of federal funds for the delivery of CDBG programs and activities.

This library of resources was developed for governments, community partners, and individuals as a tool to help users find and research federal disaster recovery resources that would be beneficial in pre-disaster recovery planning or in the wake of a disaster.

This multimedia guide was developed to help rural entrepreneurs and to provide resources for both start-ups and already established rural businesses.

This report discusses the decline in the rural American population based on recent data from the 2020 Census.

This special report looks at the latest trends and developments for state and local budgeting in light of the past two rollercoaster years of pandemic impact and the influx of federal funding.

This resource is designed to help identify communities where investments in staffing and expertise are needed to support infrastructure and climate resilience projects.

This article shares how six regional Community Development Financial Institutions came together to form Partners for Rural Transformation to address persistent poverty in rural communities.

This report examines the urgent need for a permanent, fully funded housing safety net and explains why a key element of that support must be to protect existing rental housing from the threat of climate change.

This article is part of a series of articles reviewing the lesser publicized aspects of the new American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) guidance, including using federal stimulus funding to seed local governments’ revolving loan funds (RLFs).

This guidebook is a roadmap to the funding available under the law. It explains how much funding is available at the program level to help partners across the country know what to apply for, who to contact for help, and how to get ready to rebuild.

This resource offers teams of foresters, land use planners, economists, and wildfire risk modelers who collaborate closely with community leaders to reduce wildfire risks through improved land use planning.

This website offers more than 3000 resources from every facet of the housing industry for renters, homeowners, property managers, non-profits and homeless service providers, including best practices, frequently asked questions, and much more.

This blog explains the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and provides outreach materials and resources for stakeholders interested in spreading awareness of the program.

This blog discusses four of the most common pitfalls that lead to financial loss through reductions of current and future credits, as well as recapture of previously claimed credits.

This resource catalogue offers tips, tools and best practice recommendations related to nine categories of local public finance management.

This article explains how Harris County Resources for Children and Adults combined forces with Texas Workforce Commission and local housing authorities to provide transitional housing and supportive services for youth aging out of the foster care system.

This ebook provides an overview of current challenges in the U.S. housing market and discusses how light tough density construction can help where constrained supply and high prices are burdening household budgets and preventing people from living where their best job opportunities are located.

This article shares how introducing a pandemic operations team gave New Hanover County’s Health and Human Services Consolidated Agency the flexibility to respond to residents’ needs without taking staff away from their responsibilities. It’s one part of the county’s robust and multi-faceted response to the pandemic using funding from the American Rescue Plan.

This report provides funders, disaster funders and other organizations working with Native communities a review of the first two years of the Native American and Tribal Communities Recovery Program, including a snapshot of accomplishments, learnings and areas that need more work.

This report documents the significant gap between renters’ wages and the cost of rental housing across the United States.

This resource provides key highlights of the final rule guidance, links to key sections of the rule, a webinar of the overview, and summaries of key features of the rule.

This report discusses how rental housing demand has surged since the Spring of 2020 with the nation seeing rising rents, reduced vacancy rates, and the disparities between renter incomes became more evident.

This resource provides easy and timely access to research and findings of the FORHP-funded Rural Health Research Centers which are dedicated entirely to producing policy-relevant research on healthcare in rural areas.

This Guidebook curates the latest guidance, tools, and resources for implementing and applying Section 3 to HUD funded projects and activities.

This policy brief examines the perspectives of rural and urban residents 65 years or older living in their current home for an average of more than 25 years.

This article shares the story of how a $23 million development was partially funded by a voter-approved measure to subsidize supportive housing.

This report provides a descriptive analysis of new tenant protections and emergency rental assistance (ERA)-related policies enacted or implemented by states and local governments in 2021.

This report showcases why workers have the best chance to thrive in an economy that is quickly adapting and advancing to new frontiers and suggests a low-cost, pro-worker formula for restoring economic dynamism.

This report provides city leaders with information to better understand the complexities of climate migration and proactively prepare for the future, including recommendations on how to incorporate climate change impacts and resulting population shifts into municipal budgets, programs and long-term plans.

This article summarizes the results of a research study pointing to postcards as perhaps the most effective way to engage with people who need help the most.

This website provides information on a variety of urban and rural grant opportunities and programs supported by the Department of Transportation.

This report analyzes the past ten years of housing policy through the perspective of over 100 housing stakeholders.

This report introduces innovations that capital providers and policymakers can and should implement within the manufacturing industry in order to spark wealth-building among entrepreneurs and communities of color. It highlights the inventive Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) manufacturers whose work showcases the challenges they face and the unique possibilities if they are given adequate support.

The Digital Equity Playbook helps city leaders determine causes of the digital divide in their communities, provides recommendations to address it, shares stories from local governments and suggests additional resources.

This paper illustrates entrepreneurial thinking using the City of Lancaster, California, to show how local governments have opportunities to pursue entrepreneurial activities that take advantage of the assets they have to create more value for the community and financially strengthen the local government.

This publication is intended to assist state, local, tribal and territorial partners in navigating their resources regarding climate change. The guide provides a brief description of each program, service, or grant, an overview of who can apply, examples of the FEMA programs in action, and helpful tools and resources for learning more about the program, service, or grant.

In this webinar, attendees heard about findings from NLC’s new Digital Equity Playbook, which helps city leaders determine the causes of the digital divide in their communities, shares recommendations to address it, highlights stories from other local government leaders, and provides additional resources to consider in this work.

This publication seeks to help rural individuals and communities achieve shared economic prosperity through a framework for approaching rural development successfully and showcasing stories of progress in different communities—as well as highlighting recommendations for action by policymakers, practitioners, funders and researchers.

This article describes how one developer is redeveloping office buildings into multifamily housing in the Cincinnati suburb of Springdale.

This article explains how the Pascua Yaqui Tribe has moved a step closer to developing 27 affordable homes on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation in Tucson, Arizona.

This article summarizes research that points to newcomers as a valuable source of entrepreneurship, which helps rural communities create new businesses and the economic growth and wealth that comes with it.

This paper provides an introduction to the current state and root causes of the challenges facing rural communities, including the missed opportunities for impact, some implications for philanthropy, and highlights from organizations working on rural issues and opportunities in which funders can get involved.

This report examines broadband adoption by age, race, educational attainment, and household income, and discusses strategies for rural providers to expand outreach and adoption efforts toward digital inclusion.

This website offers information about the SSBCI Program, including answers to frequently asked questions and key dates.

This story describes how non-profits like Higher Purpose Co. are mentoring Black business owners, assisting with everything from securing grants and loans to navigating everyday operating issues.

This e-book explores what it would take to revive small-scale development as a force significant enough to shape and grow U.S. cities.

This article summarizes why some advocates are encouraging less new infrastructure, and emphasizing the need to fix deteriorated roads and bridges.

This article offers key strategies for housing finance, including emphasizing financing during site selection.

This blog post discusses how Land banks and community land trusts are two entities that, in concert, can help reverse the trajectory of disinvestment and unlock a pipeline of vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties to provide quality, affordable housing for future generations that prioritizes community ownership and control.

This four-part series looks at the changes this infrastructure moment could bring to landscapes and markets across the nation. It includes four longform feature stories and a four-episode companion podcast series, including a live 'Leaders' video.

This report is a comprehensive Analysis of 2019-2020 Volume Cap Trends and how Private Activity Bonds (PABs) are used from state to state.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund released a notice of allocation availability (NOAA) for the $5 billion calendar year 2021 allocation round of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program, along with application materials and an updated application FAQ document.

This blog post discusses and provides examples of communities across the US are using ARPA funds to improve critical systems that address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties.

This resource helps entities know the federal procurement rules when purchasing goods and services under a FEMA grant program, including Public Assistance, which can help increase the chance of securing and keeping the funding needed.

This resource contains analyses and trends of county investment priorities, stories about how counties are supporting residents, resources to guide planning and utilization, and a database of county ARPA Recovery Fund investment plans.

This report shares reflections from rural and urban counties across the country on lessons learned from the pandemic and how they will be better prepared for a future public health crisis.

This article discusses how developers are tackling a need for affordable housing for the homeless, families, and farmworkers in rural communities.

This database showcases how grassroots leaders from across the country are using arts, culture, and creative placemaking to reactivate vacant spaces, engage residents, set revitalization goals, and create a vision for their neighborhoods.

This article explores the complex nature of innovation and its impact on affordable housing and the associated labor market.

This publication reports on the progress of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA1) program in their distribution of funds appropriated under the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act and describes the Treasury’s reallocation process for ERA1 grantees, along with recommendations to ERA administrators and the Treasury to best serve low-income renters.

This article explains how the City of Fairway, KS is using a tax increment financing district for a proposed $65 million apartment complex for “active adults” at a vacant office park on Shawnee Mission Parkway.

These stories explore the power of partnership to improve economic outcomes in low- and moderate-income communities across the US.

This blog summarizes key takeaways from the Presidential Health Equity Task Force’s final report and the allocation of new funding based on the Task Force's recommendations.

This article tells how the City of Rochester is striving to progress past historic pain by advocating for and uplifting minority voices while endorsing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

This announcement outlines the $36 million in "capacity-building" grants awarded by HUD to support three national organizations in producing approximately 8,000 units of affordable housing nationwide and stimulating nearly $150 million in total investment in order to distribute funds to local initiatives that support affordable housing and community development.

This resource on HUD Exchange is designed to provide resources for grantees on how to use HUD funding to tackle climate change and build more resilient futures for communities.

This report presents new models and Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) alternatives and shows that it is possible to quantify the benefits of reducing climate risks in order to improve competitiveness for federal funding.

This article explains the gap in affordable housing for households in the 80% to 120% AMI bracket and how single-family build-to-rent has emerged as an asset class that delivers precisely what this group wants.

This article explains how the Central Illinois Land Bank is pursuing county ARPA funds to support their Homeowner Rehab Program and provide funds to income-eligible owner-occupants to assist with repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of their homes.

This report is designed to educate policymakers and the public on the broad economic and human impact that nonprofit organizations and the programs they work with have on rural communities, including participation in key federal programs.

This report explores the harassment, threats and violence local leaders across the country are facing, along with recommendations for forming a pathway to a more civil discourse.

In this article the director of Rural LISC discusses the complexities of developing in rural communities.

This resource provides answers to questions on a variety of topics related to Section 3 planning, implementation, and reporting.

This resource offers a wealth of information and guidance related to the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).

This podcast explores Homewise’s organizational transformation from focusing on mortgage financing and education to building community wealth through developing housing and commercial space – and all of it informed by Homewise’s commitment to sustainability and climate resilience.

This brief overview explains how Tax Increment Financing allows local governments to invest in public infrastructure and other improvements up-front.

This article discusses best practices for cities to strategize their response to ransomware threats and explores how the proposed federal infrastructure bill includes $1 billion in grant funding for state and local governments in support of their initiatives to improve cybersecurity.

This press release announced the permanent status of the Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) as a result of the Build Back Better infrastructure legislation, which will expand and elevate the Agency enabling it to increase its programs and outreach to the Nation's more than 9 million minority-owned businesses.

This press release announced the investment of $86 million to improve equitable access to jobs, business opportunities, education, housing and health care for people who live and work in rural areas.

This data resource provides state and county level interactive maps of the 2022 Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs) and Difficult Development Areas (DDAs) that will be effective January 1, 2022.

This report characterizes the nearly five million homes that constitute the federally assisted housing stock, analyzes preservation risks these homes face, and identifies policy priorities to support their preservation.

This blog post focuses on strategies for Emergency Rental Assistance money to reach the 7.1 million households that do not have bank accounts.

In this report author Gabriel Thompson, who has written extensively on farmworkers in California, profiles a range of people from the agricultural Coachella Valley whose lives were transformed through their participation in self-help housing.

This article, part three in a five-part series on small-scale, incremental development, shares the story of what can happen when incremental development is an organic response from within the community to a particular need, offering great potential to accelerate.

This article describes the strategies being pursued to launch a city-provided high-speed broadband service that the city hopes will benefit Allentown’s poorest communities and attract investment to the city.

This article weighs in on whether 3D printing, repurposed shipping containers, and offsite manufacturing can stand up as potential solutions to the country’s affordable-housing crisis.

This annual report provides insight into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and proactive federal policy on city finances.

This resource provides an avenue for sharing programs and resources that support comprehensive, logical and theoretically sound community development processes and a searchable library that Extension professionals can use in their work.

This article discusses how Federal provider relief funds have allowed rural hospitals to spend money that otherwise would have gone to personal protective equipment and other COVID-19 needs, to something they've long needed: upgraded technology.

This article examines the rationale for rural remote work, looking at rural remote work from an economic developer’s perspective, and sharing potential factors of analysis when considering whether to pursue a rural remote work strategy.

This toolkit is designed to help communities conduct their own assessments that examine the policies, practices, and programs that can move their communities toward an equitable COVID-19 recovery.

This press release announced two measures to sustainably advance the affordability of homeownership for mortgage borrowers across the nation, especially those in underserved communities, by expanding eligibility for low-and moderate-income families and leveraging desktop appraisals to reduce inefficiencies in the mortgage process.

This article, part four in a five-part series on small-scale, incremental development, discusses how building a conscious community centered around incremental development can be transformative.

This article tells about the reuse of an old orphanage site to provide affordable and supportive housing to seniors in Rockland County, New York.

This press release announced that Freddie Mac plans to offer at least $3 billion in Single-Family affordable housing bonds to support affordable homeownership and serve historically underserved markets.

This website provides information and resources to learn about the bipartisan INVEST in America Act aimed at modernizing US roads, bridges, transit, rail, drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, broadband services, and so much more.

This press release announced the release of HUD's climate adaptation and resilience plan to ensure its facilities and operations adapt and are increasingly resilient to climate change impacts.

This press release announced that HUD will publish a rule that prohibits the eviction of tenants facing eviction for nonpayment of rent from HUD-subsidized public housing and certain properties with project-based rental assistance without providing a 30-day notice period that includes information about available federal emergency rental assistance.

In this LISC story Caitlin Cain, vice president and director of Rural LISC, explains how, as CDFIs, funders and community developers, we must radically shift our approach to investing for preparation and resiliency.

This article, the final in a five-part series on small-scale, incremental development, wraps up the series by trying to answer the question of who will do the work and for what reasons.

This article tells how the Housing Trust Group recently opened a new 76-unit development to provide needed affordable housing options in the West Kendall area of Miami.

This resource includes the National Housing Preservation Database, along with reports, resources, tool kits and more to help organizations understand the stock of publicly supported housing in their community, and to preserve affordable housing options for low-income households.

This brief discusses population growth and its variation in the rate and direction of population change among the numerous racial and Hispanic origin groups that together represent the U.S. population.

This article, part two in a five-part series on small-scale, incremental development, discusses the challenges small developers face in navigating regulatory barriers.

This brief summarizes key points of an article originally published by Impact Alpha to examine why growth in the pre-pandemic number of minority-owned businesses has failed to narrow the racial wealth gap.

This report shares findings of a survey administered in August 2021 that collected information on the effects of COVID-19 on low- to moderate-income people and communities and the entities serving them.

This announcement summarizes President Biden's Build Back Better framework to guide legislative language and set the U.S. on a course to meet the administration's climate, labor force, and economic goals.

In this article National Multifamily Housing Council president talks about how the pandemic revealed the critical shortage of affordable housing and how “quick” and “free” solutions, like rent control and eviction moratoriums, are serious mistakes to avoid.

This report argues that rethinking revenue systems is necessary because local government revenues have not remained aligned with modern economic realities, and that this contributes to distortions in the economy and unfairness in how taxpayers are treated.

This article shares insights from a survey of affordable housing service coordinators on the impact of COVID-19 and how lack of internet reliability impacted vulnerable populations and their access to resources.

This article discusses how multifamily developers and operators continue to adapt to the challenges spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as look for opportunities based on renters’ shifting needs and wants.

This article reviews the current reconciliation bill under consideration and a number of priorities that local governments have been calling on Congress to address for years, such as workforce development and affordable housing.

In this article NACo Transportation Steering Committee Chair Liz Hausmann looks at the national infrastructure outlook for counties and what she sees at home in Fulton County, Ga.

This news brief explains the impact being achieved by a pair of economic development specialists from the Utah Association of Counties as they help take counties beyond the finish line of securing new economic development projects.

This press release announced a significant expansion of access to high-speed internet, health care and educational services for millions of rural Americans.

This article is part one in a five-part series on small-scale, incremental development.

This article discusses how the pandemic has taught a growing number of renters and apartment developers the value of healthy features.

This article announces the opening of the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, a collaboration of 39 tribal nations designed to share their stories and cultures with other Americans.

This article explains how a nonprofit development organization renovated an old YMCA building, turning it into a 37 unit apartment complex for artists, veterans and others with incomes at or below 60 percent of the region’s median.

This invitation is a call for mayors, city and county leaders, tribal nation leaders, and governors to join the national All-Hands-on-Deck Effort to Address the Nation’s Homelessness Crisis partnership to address homelessness through a Housing First approach.

This article discusses HUD's new initiative to rehouse at least 100,000 households experiencing homelessness through a Housing First approach, and to add at least 20,000 new units of affordable housing into the development pipeline by Sept. 30, 2022.

This article provides insights into mission-driven practices at the intersection of policy and implementation to help elevate municipal asset management practice.

This post offers three policy guidance recommendations for designing, implementing, and evaluating incentives to help state and local policymakers achieve their economic and entrepreneurship development objectives.

This article announces the recipients of the annual Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards, which recognizes outstanding affordable housing properties that have demonstrated impactful use of the low-income housing tax credit.

This report summarizes the results of a study which found that almost half of adults who say their student loan debt prevents them from buying a home also say that they cannot save for a down payment due to student debt.

This report summarizes research designed to help build a better foundation for leveraging rural assets and to better understand these strengths so policymakers from the local to the federal level, practitioners, and investors can build on communities’ potential to better target investment and support.

This article shares insights from mayors and city officials of several Utah towns involved in the Utah Main Street Program, part of a larger, national initiative.

This report shares findings from a six-year research project exploring greening as a method to reduce youth violence and injury, including ways to help greening organizations (i.e. community organizations, nonprofits, land banks) meet the rising demand for vacant lot care across the country.

The article announces a series of moves by the Biden administration aimed at creating, preserving, or selling 100,000 affordable homes for homeowners and renters in the next three years.

This resource provides guidance for navigating the funding options under the American Rescue Plan for state and local governments, schools and Tribes to help public sector officials know where, when and how to start.

The CDC publishes a wealth of information for individuals, schools, communities and local government about the Coronavirus pandemic.

• Communication Resources
• COVID-19 Vaccine-Specific Information
• COVID-19 Testing Overview
• COVID Data Tracker
• Guidance on Wildfire Smoke and COVID-19
• Key Resources for Health Departments
• Searchable Guidance for COVID-19

This resource provides regular updates on the pandemic, along with resources and materials that can be used to prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

This resource on the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund provides up-to-date resources, guidance, certification guidelines, and a direct link to apply for fiscal recovery funds.

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Compliance and Reporting Guidance
• Interim Final Rule
• Federal Register Announcement

This resource is designed to provide county leaders with options for safeguarding residents’ financial security and economic mobility during COVID-19.

This resource shines the light on the pandemic’s disproportionate toll on Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people and on bold solutions for equitable recovery and renewal.

This resource considers links in the farm-to-consumer supply chain that may be affected by the pandemic, including farms, processors, handlers, retail outlets, and trade.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has updated information about the CARES Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021. Specific resource links include:

• Assistance for American Workers and Families
• Assistance for Small Businesses
• Assistance for State, Local, and Tribal Governments
• Preserving Jobs for American Industry
• Emergency Rental Assistance Program
• Emergency Capital Investment Program

This website provides information, action learning guides, data, strategies and a host of resources to support COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.

This article explains the challenges that developers of color face when seeking capital funds for community development projects.

This resource guide provides an overview of programs and servicing options that can help rural residents, businesses, and communities impacted by disaster, and support long-term planning and recovery efforts that build for the future.

This resource provides an overview of the $1.5 billion allocated to EDA under the CARES Act for economic development assistance programs.

This white paper from LISC's Research and Evaluation team offers quantitative and qualitative evidence of how intensive and collaborative community development in rural America raises standards of living and civic engagement in concrete and enduring ways.

This news feed provides national and local housing-related resources and information from a rural lens, including national program and policy updates, summaries of Federal Register filings, findings from recent research reports, and much more.

This article explores how the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board partnered with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy to build capacity of Native individuals and organizations to meet COVID-19 response and recovery needs of Natives living in urban Western South Dakota.

This resource guide can help partners and stakeholders meet the growing need for quality, affordable child care infrastructure in rural communities, promoting strong rural economic recovery and development, and championing the success of working families. View the Spanish version.

NACo News explores many facets of county governments' response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including topics like health program development, emergency shelter provision, COVID-19 budget impacts, county election challenges, and more.

This toolkit tracks the steps the federal government has taken to implement new resources and administrative changes within human services and education programs.

This bank of resources houses critical resources and information about funding available to counties as a result of the State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Funds legislation within the American Rescue Plan Act.

• Effective COVID-19 Communications for Your County
• Key Considerations for Counties in COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plans
• State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Funds
• American Rescue Plan Act Funding Breakdown
• County Finances and Administration
• Measuring Economic Recovery
• Status of Human Services and Education Funding under Supplemental COVID-19 Packages
• COVID-19 Pandemic Webinars and Events

This website offers access weekly national calls on Coronavirus, housing, and homelessness and past recordings that featured updates from national, state, and local advocates and service providers working to assist people experiencing homelessness, low-income households, and members of marginalized communities.

This publication shares reflections from ten county teams on the two-year, $2 million Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge initiative.

This website offers resources for revitalizing downtowns and commercial corridors as well as a forum for exchanging news, information, and ideas about how to rebuild the hearts of cities and towns.

This resource provides a collection of real-time charts and reports documenting the impact of COVID-19 on rural areas, including tracking hot spots across the country, COVID-19 growth in rural counties, state rural hospital and community vulnerabilities, and more.

This website provides critical resources for rural healthcare facilities to prepare for and respond to a COVID-19 surge.

The SBA and Department of Treasury offer several avenues for grants and loans designed specifically to help American small businesses stay open and recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19.

• The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan Forgiveness
• COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program
• Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program
• SBA and Treasury Announce Simpler PPP Forgiveness for Loans of $50,000 or Less

This report explores solar energy's role in transitioning to carbon-free electric grid and suggests that with aggressive cost reductions, supportive policies, and large-scale electrification, solar could account for as much as 40% of the nation’s electricity supply by 2035 and 45% by 2050.

This resource provides county-level data, with comparisons to peer counties, to create comprehensive reports with detailed maps and charts on key metrics such as employment in digital jobs, CS graduation rates, and broadband connectivity to help rural leaders understand their tech ecosystems.

This free toolkit provides suggestions about specific actions local leaders can take to stabilize their community, guidance on major decisions local leaders should anticipate, and resources for laying the groundwork for the strongest possible recovery.

This resource provides a summary of the efforts and a list of alternative care sites across the country, which are facilities temporarily converted for healthcare use during a public health emergency to reduce the burden on hospitals and established medical facilities.

This resource provides information on a wide range of grant and loan programs that support rural communities’ economic development efforts, help rural and disadvantaged communities recover economically from the impacts of COVID-19, and maintain and improve health, wealth and economic stability of rural populations.

This article discusses the impact of Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) and looks back at several cities where CBAs were won to find out where those agreements stand now.

This report explores the various ways that that the coronavirus pandemic has revealed the face of racism in America – particularly within our economy, our health care institutions, and our justice systems.

This resource provides analyses, maps, and data related to jobs, payroll, and the impact of COVID-19 on employment trends and economic changes across the United States.

This resource page offers guidance, data, and reports to provide support for vaccine efforts, rumor control, best practices, and a number of other recovery and economic assistance efforts.

• FEMA Resource Roadmaps
• COVID-19 Supplemental Resources
• Bringing Resources to State, Local, Tribal & Territorial Governments
• COVID-19 Healthcare Resource Roadmap (Version 2.0)

This page highlights resources identified or developed to address current response and recovery operations to COVID-19. Several topic collections include:

• HHS COVID-19 Federal Regulatory and Funding Flexibilities
• HHS COVID-19 State, Territorial, and Local Resources
• HHS COVID-19 Workforce Virtual Toolkit
• HHS Protect Public Data Hub
• COVID-19 Public Education Campaign: A Campaign to Increase Vaccine Confidence

This HUD resource is focused on homeless and housing programs, property owners, grantees, lenders, and individuals. View the following pages to explore some of these resources.

• COVID-19 Guidance and FAQs for Grantees
• COVID-19 Toolkits, Policy Notices, and FAQs for Public Housing Agencies
• Coronavirus Resources from HUD Program Offices
• Quick Guide to CDBG Eligible Activities to Support Coronavirus and Other Infectious Disease Response
• Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Programs COVID-19 Grantee Guidance
• CDBG-CV Economic Development Quick Guide
• CDBG-CV Financial Management Quick Guide
• CDBG-CV Public Facilities Quick Guide
• CDBG-CV PPR Tieback Flexibilities Quick Guide
• CDBG-CV Rural Coronavirus Response Quick Guide

This resource offers interactive tools to help communities understand and manage their climate-related risks and opportunities.

This E-book explores how communities can build the kind of place where generations can stay and thrive and suggests strategies intended to help communities take control of their own economic destiny by building wealth from within that can be sustained across generations.

This toolkit can assist grantees’ ongoing identification and implementation of CDBG-CV program activities that best serve their communities.

This fact sheet summarizes how states and non-entitlement units of local government are to distribute, receive, and report the funds from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.

This page provides the latest data on socio-economic indicators and provides maps, data displays, and data downloads in Excel format for states and counties.

This interactive data hub includes COVID-19 resources that provide users with demographic risk factor variables along with economic data on 20 key industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This report identifies factors that support local engagement in regional economies, how these factors vary for urban and rural places, and whether the benefits of economic connectivity are equitably distributed among places and people in regions.

This article discusses the impact of COVID-19 on families with young children, and how American Recovery Act funds can be used to advance existing early childhood programs.

This article explores a three-pronged approach for using American Rescue Plan funding.

This resource provides information, resources, webinars, and more, including grant opportunities, to help states and local governments develop cost-effective ways to reduce lead-based paint hazards.

This resource provides maps and other data depicting broadband availability and several indicators of need, including broadband speeds and access to connected technology at the census block level across the country.

This report explains how land banks and community land trusts (CLT) are two entities that, in concert, can help reverse the trajectory of disinvestment and unlock a pipeline of VAD properties to provide much needed quality affordable housing for current and future generations.

This website provides guidance for using data to support recovery and to engage community residents and youth in strategies for community-centered pandemic relief and response, along with timely articles on a variety of related topics

This report analyzes how the COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced uncertainty around the ‘Future of Work’ which is impacted by automation, shifting demographics, and other factors.

This fact sheet provides an overview of seven community capitals and suggests that the lifeblood of any community can be linked to the presence, strength and balance of these capitals, resources that can be invested or tapped for the purpose of promoting the long-term well-being of communities.

This resource guide was developed for rural communities to identify resources that can help develop the recreation economy.

This resource provides information and guidance about immediate and long-term assistance for rural communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including:

• COVID-19 Federal Rural Resource Guide
• Immediate Actions Factsheet

This resource provides guidance to entities that receive funding from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Programs on how to meet compliance and reporting responsibilities.

This report examines the locations of project-based federally assisted properties in relation to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (NRI). The report finds natural hazards pose a significant threat, while its residents are especially vulnerable to adverse impacts.

This report provides an overview on how the pandemic is affecting rural America, including the spread of cases and unemployment among the U.S. metro and non-metro populations and by county economic types.

This report reviews the status of the national housing market and the inequalities amplified by the pandemic, including the exclusion of less affluent buyers from homeownership.

This guide was created for community leaders and other local entities to help them access resources to create jobs, train talent, expand educational opportunities and provide technical assistance.

This press release announced an investment of up to $1 billion, including $500 million in American Rescue Plan funding, in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to support and expand the emergency food network so states, food banks, and local organizations can reliably serve their communities.

This press release announced plans to invest more than $4 billion (in addition to the $1 billion to purchase healthy food and build food bank capacity) to strengthen critical supply chains through the Build Back Better initiative.

This blog shares insights gained over the 10 years of Enterprise’s Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute, including three mindsets have risen to the top as game-changing for the pursuit of break though, people-oriented affordable housing.

This story describes how Montgomery County, Maryland customer service representatives maintained an 84 percent customer satisfaction level throughout the pandemic with callers unaware they were fielding calls from their homes.

This paper offers the latest thoughts for communities to undertake capacity building efforts that lead to successful economic development game plans. The paper provides a capacity building framework and answers important questions to help communities lead successful economic development.

This report calls for a decade-long effort to support locally led and voluntary conservation and restoration efforts across public, private, and Tribal lands and waters in order to create jobs and strengthen the economy’s foundation; tackle the climate and nature crises; and address inequitable access to the outdoors.

This article shares thoughts and considerations from county leaders on deciding which work practices and job functions, both internal and public facing, stay remote when the pandemic is over.

This resource provides information, tools, and guidance about grant funds for pre and post emergency or disaster related projects, including hazard mitigation, preparedness, resilience, and emergency food and shelter.

This article explores how the deep racial inequalities in both rental housing and homeownership in the United States and housing’s link to the country’s racial wealth gap, have prompted substantial investment and philanthropy from big companies looking to support racial justice.

This article shares insights about how energy efficient building lowers operating costs that increases the bottom line, particularly when it comes to affordable housing.

This blog reports on the SolSmart Program milestone of over 400 counties, municipalities, and regional organizations receiving SolSmart designation. These SolSmart-designated local governments have expanded local solar knowledge, increased solar technology use, and reduced ‘soft costs’ and other obstacles to solar energy.

This resource brief for rural counties highlights strategies, key considerations, and best practices for increasing vaccination coverage.

This report features national, state, and county-level information on rural transit in the United States and includes rural and urban comparisons on demographics and transportation.

This guide summarizes key components of the CARES Act (CDBG-CV) as they relate to State CDBG-CV program implementation.

This article announced the receipt of $9.4 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support Land-grant Universities and the Cooperative Extension System in delivering immunization education.

This article takes a closer look at the recent housing market trends, the outlook, and how it will likely impact both local and state governments.

This article summarizes the declaration by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and outlines the CDC’s stated role in addressing the impact of racism on public health.

Additional Resources:

• NACo County Resources on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• CDC, HHS Announce Multiple Grant Programs to Improve Vaccine and Health Equity
• Health Legislation to Focus on Equity, Social Determinants of Health
• Ways and Means Democrats Release Legislative Framework Addressing County Priorities for Health and Economic Equity

This relaunched website includes news briefs, videos, and resources that examine the intersection of arts, culture, and equitable development, and also shares how community development goals can be reached through the integration of arts and culture in partnership with non-arts organizations

This report explores county partnerships with post-secondary education systems and shares key findings from its national landscape analysis on counties’ role and decision-making authority in post-secondary education. The analysis includes key consideration for county leaders to partner with post-secondary education institutions.

This report summarizes a conversation between Oji Alexander, Executive Director, and the National Housing Conference about how Home by Hand and the people it serves have been affected by COVID-19, and why their affordable homeownership mission is as important as ever.

This policy brief provides a blueprint for using the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) to meet the Fair Housing Act’s goal of affirmatively furthering fair housing.

This resource provides guidance for transportation planners, public works agencies, and local elected officials who want to collaborate with artists, highlighting eight common ways artists contribute to transportation and infrastructure projects with an equity lens to allow for more genuine public engagement.

This report on the COVID-19 pandemic explains how American views have changed and how opinions have shifted on key issues over the past 12 months.

This web page provides the history and text of the American Rescue Plan made into law on March 11, 2021.

This resource provides an extensive searchable summary of provisions relevant to the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, including agency, program, summary, amount, eligible city sizes, and links to the relevant federal program.

This playbook provides guidance for practitioners, residents, and city and regional leaders to carry out community-rooted economic inclusion work designed to help build wealth and opportunity, while driving city and regional economic growth that centers equity at its core.

This series of resources, explores how governments can achieve an equitable recovery by ensuring that public investment, loans, and spending gets to woman- and minority-owned businesses to help them survive and thrive. Read the latest stories:

• How to Bring Manufacturing Back to Cities – and Bring People of Color Along Too
• Some Cities are Cutting Red Tape to Try to Save their Small Businesses
• How Cities Can Help Small Businesses Hire and Train Locally
• The Pandemic is Pushing Cities to Rethink How to Drive Capital to Small Business

This study, commissioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), highlights successful strategies small cities and towns use to promote economic development. The study focuses on how these places emphasize existing assets and distinctive resources to complement a broad economic strategy.

This report presents findings from fifteen in-depth case studies of emergency rental assistance programs across the country and draws out key instances of program learning that can inform the newest round of rental assistance programs.

This research brief provides new evidence of how the pandemic has increased housing insecurity among renters and how households have navigated this ongoing hardship.

This report provides guidance that draws on lessons learned from past recessions, research on incentive best practices, and responses to economic priorities, along with a framework for considering the critical issues and trade-offs that will help state leaders assess their incentive options in 2021.

This report describes the availability of broadband by state and across urban, rural, and tribal areas. The report includes a summary of federal broadband programs, along with broadband status of access and data mapping.

This report provides a summary of each title of the American Rescue Plan Act.

This commentary examines research on the COVID-19 risk in rural communities by race and ethnicity and highlights the different issues that influence the health outcomes of people of color and Indigenous people living in rural areas during COVID-19.

This playbook provides local leaders and stakeholders with recommendations for and examples of successful workforce development programs from across the country.

This report examines the role of counties in the recovery process as local leaders support America’s 10 million unemployed workers amidst the challenges of delivering essential services during a global pandemic.

This manual was developed to guide FEMA grant program applicants and recipients on how to manage their grants and other resources, including guidance on policies, procedures, rules and regulations that guide the proper management of FEMA grants.

This research report explores the outcomes of place-based programs and presents strategies for strengthening place-based programs to better support distressed area. The report includes a literature review of more than 100 studies and more than 30 interviews with national experts, governmental officials and researchers. The results indicate a number of actions state and local governments should take to begin solving the problems associated with current models.

This article explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on county transit systems. Several county transit administrators share their experience and perspectives about the future.

This press release announced an investment of approximately $50 million in grants to support seafood processors, processing facilities and processing vessels through the Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant Program (SPRS).

This article discusses the pitfalls of typical approaches to closing the racial wealth gap, and how America must also stop siphoning their wealth away in order for these approaches to work.

This article reviews the results of a Pew Research Center survey about housing affordability conducted in October 2021.

This document answers frequently asked questions about the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund grants to help cities prepare for local allocations.

This training curriculum provides a suite of information and tools to help CDBG grantees understand basic CDBG requirements and drill down into more nuanced issues related to the administration and implementation of the program, including manuals, tool kits, recorded sessions, quizzes, and project profiles.

This article examines lessons learned from the $180 million Health Futures Fund, which combined the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and New Markets Tax Credit to provide loans to community developers and award grants supporting project development. Thoughtful site selection, effective coordination among partners, and provision of trustworthy community services led to the most successful outcomes.

This resource brings together CDFA’s knowledge of development finance programs, along with the strategic support from private sector partners, to create a transferrable toolkit of finance programs and other resources capable of leveraging community facilities infrastructure in rural communities throughout the nation.

This report presents a vision for achieving equitable economic growth by prioritizing asset-based, cross-sector approaches to build community resilience.

This article summarizes the comments made by state government experts about how the Coronavirus will continue to drive the work of state governments in the coming year.

This article provides an overview of the vulnerability of firms owned by minorities prior to the crisis and shares insights from organizations that work with minority firms on how these firms are being affected during the crisis.

This report on broadband deployment in the U.S. provides information specific to broadband access in rural and tribal communities and the U.S. territories. The report also includes rural broadband deployment data by state and county.

This interactive resource provides discussions, links, and interactive data graphics to help city leaders navigate the dramatically accelerated disruptions and innovations of the pandemic on local economies and community main streets across America. View the full report The Future of Cities: Reenvisioning Retail.

This action brief explains the difference between small- and large-scale developers and the important role small developers and incremental projects can play in city growth.

This overview provides resources related to the Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) program, which provides eligible grantees with direct grants for use in developing viable Indian and Alaska Native Communities, including decent housing, a suitable living environment, and economic opportunities, primarily for low- and moderate-income persons.

This report provides suggestions for how the new Presidential administration can reform U.S. disaster policy and outlines four key reforms that could get bipartisan support, reduce federal spending, and protect American lives. The report provides data that demonstrates how disasters affect millions of Americans and are particularly devastating for low-income communities and communities of color.

This article offers summary information on broadband and telehealth programs and funding opportunities from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act which establishes or re-appropriates a number of significant broadband-related support programs.

This report provides a set of robust solutions that housing stakeholders can pursue for effective, equitable, and sustainable housing. You can read or download the Executive Summary for an overview of solutions and principles, as well as a process to guide leaders through tailoring the most appropriate solutions to best meet the needs of their communities.

This website provides connections to resources, information, tools, how-to guides, and community examples, along with connections to people in nearby communities, discussion forums, and local meeting resources aimed at helping local communities become strong towns.

This resource incorporates the latest data and evidence on COVID-19 risk factors and aggregates dozens of tailored indicators into a simple composite score for each census tract, county, and state in the country to inform COVID-19 planning and mitigation at a granular level.

This toolkit aims to help communities build and capitalize on outdoor recreation spaces. Through interviews with over 60 practitioners, a collection of principles and best practices are provided for building outdoor recreation economies.

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the data compiled in the U.S. COVID Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI) and makes policy recommendations for mitigating the impact of COVID in the most vulnerable communities across the country.

This article examines how transformative placemaking investments can be essential to fostering a more equitable recovery and creating a more just and sustainable nation.

This study documents the critical role community banks play in providing access to credit in several key areas of the U.S. economy, particularly through lending to support commercial real estate, small businesses, and agriculture.

This resource provides data on how U.S. businesses changed their operations and employment since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic through September 2020 and shows changes in employment, wages, job openings and terminations, employer-provided benefits, and safety and health.

This article summarizes results of a survey of service coordinators working with older adults in publicly funded housing, which identified unique challenges faced in adapting to COVID-19.

This resource provides guidance, best practices, trainings, videos, tools, and templates for people interested in municipal finance and financial management, as well as a downloadable municipal finance glossary with terms and definitions for the language of municipal finance.

This guide was developed for community engagement regarding the COVID-19 vaccine and provides messaging strategies, data, and tips for understanding the media and resident landscape.

This toolkit provides best practice recommendations and tips for working on unsubsidized, affordable, small to medium-scale preservation projects, including tips for building relationships, identifying properties, securing financing, negotiating and deal closing, and effectively rehabilitating and managing property.

This report examines the way the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a dramatic short-term economic and revenue growth shock for many U.S. states.

This article explains HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program, which promotes increased earnings and savings among families receiving HUD-funded rental assistance. In addition to the explanation, the footnotes provide a wealth of links and resources related to rental assistance programs and benefits.

This publication highlights and reveals the high value of adopting and enforcing International Codes for hazard mitigation as a return on investment.

This guide provides a useful first step in making federal funding more accessible to creative placemaking practitioners, including a wide array of federal funding resources that go beyond typical arts grants to encompass various aspects of creative placemaking.

This overview provides resources related to the State CDBG program, which offers grants to non-entitlement areas (cities with a population less than 50,000 and counties with a population less than 200,000) for housing, community services, and job retention.

This 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.

This article uses a community profit and loss map to illustrate how not only are small investments in poor neighborhoods the lowest risk, highest returning way for a community to build wealth, they are also the best way to lift people out of poverty without displacing them from their neighborhood.

This report outlines the results of a county leader survey, four focus groups, and 15 interviews with county leaders on their experiences and needs to manage economic recovery related to the community impacts of COVID-19.

This playbook includes practical, action-oriented aid to help communities identify the most effective resilience-improvement projects through a structured yet flexible method to set community-scale goals, align priorities and resources, identify key stakeholders, and develop plans for recovery of community functions.

This research project maps community well-being across the country down to the zip code scale. The report is accompanied by a digital mapping interactive that allows users to explore all of the data included in the DCI across zip codes, counties, and congressional districts.

This article describes the launch of the Digital Navigator program and a Financial Opportunity Center (FOC) to serve the residents of Randolph, Barbour, Tucker, Upshur, and Lewis counties in West Virginia.

This report provides guidance on some key considerations when integrating equity into service delivery and design and includes references to existing resources and helpful information.

This fact sheet explains racial disparities in housing and the policies and practices behind them.

This article discusses how the pandemic is putting rural downtowns in an increasingly precarious economic position due to their heavy reliance on retail and restaurants, as well as their limited access to the capital and broadband infrastructure small businesses now need to survive.

This report discusses the Indian Health Service response to the pandemic and gaps in pandemic-related services, including telehealth access, underfunded and understaffed healthcare facilities, data quality and information access, cultural literacy, and behavioral health needs.

This booklet highlights the range and diversity of economic development and housing development projects that have been implemented by Community Action Agencies across the country.

This article summarizes an open discussion that Zencity had with county administrators from McHenry County, IL, Nevada County, CA, and Ottawa County, MI about their personal experiences managing the pandemic.

This report discusses a study that provides the first empirical analysis of the impact of COVID-19-induced automation on job losses and whether the potential threat of future pandemics has expedited the process of automation in the U.S.

This issue brief summarizes new research on how state and county leaders can use evidence to make strategic budget cuts in the face of economic downturn. The research outlines four strategies, updating budget guidelines, assessing needs and analyzing program performance, using national clearinghouses, and adapting program delivery that can help government officials reduce spending while addressing increasing community needs.

This study links historically redlined neighborhoods and the systemic effects of limited access to investment and other financial resources to poverty, reduced life expectancy, and chronic diseases, all of which are risk factors for poor outcomes from COVID-19.

This article discusses how inclusion and equity in more American metropolitan areas is possible through innovations in local, regional, and state policies related to mixed-income communities.

This paper argues that to mitigate COVID-19’s economic harms and begin to eradicate persistent inequities, relief efforts must account for harms created by discriminatory policies that have segregated communities and systematically denied them the public and private investment needed to thrive.

This report draws out valuable lessons learned from Reimagining the Civic Commons, a philanthropy-funded national initiative focused on reviving shared civic assets—parks, libraries, plazas, recreational centers, and more—into places that have the power to foster engagement, equity, environmental sustainability, and economic development.

• Learn about the Reimagining the Civic Commons initiative.

This report discusses the impact of the Coronavirus on American cities and how the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic raise questions about the future attractiveness of large cities as places to live and do business.

This blog shares examples of two counties, Cook County, IL and Essex County, NJ, that are collaborating with Lyft to expand transportation access to their residents.

This article highlights a useful virtual tool that allows government officials to virtually reach thousands of people at once and the importance of local governments maintaining open communication with residents in their community.

This report describes how economic development organizations can modify their incentive programs to help struggling small businesses. The guide helps state economic development organizations identify things to consider as they determine whether or how to extend their incentive programs to small, locally serving businesses.

This article reports that while it may still be months until the community impacts of COVID-19 come into focus, there are ways to act now to minimize commercial and residential property deterioration and subsequent vacancy.

This brief provides an overview of the structural barriers that have made low- to moderate-income immigrant households particularly vulnerable to the public health and economic crises precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This index reveals significant racial inequities even in the most prosperous cities and metros and provides data to help leaders develop targeted strategies for inclusive prosperity.

This analysis of the CDFI industry’s initial forays into the capital markets 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.

This collection of COVID related tools and resources provides links to and information about housing, finance, small business, workforce development, funding, and household financial stability.

This report explores how the demand for labor is expected to shift in the post-pandemic economy, and 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.

This e-book can help community leaders find ways that creative placemaking can expand opportunities for low-income people living in disinvested communities.

This video presentation is one of seven in a series called the Poverty Narrative that is dedicated to a deeper understanding of poverty in the U.S. and Midwest. This video focuses on examining poverty as well as practices and factors that influence poverty in rural, urban, and suburban settings.

This report examines strategies to save costs on three affordable housing building components: the exterior shell, interiors, and services. The analysis focuses on how innovation in design and construction can reduce the costs of multifamily housing without sacrifice.

This report looks at why businesses owned by people of color, women, and immigrants were highly susceptible to an economic downturn prior to the pandemic, and how microbusinesses have been severely impacted by the virtual stoppage of economic activity in the sectors of the economy where they are most represented.

This article reports on the challenges of natural disaster planning and response, and how it takes on urgency during the pandemic.

This report provides a summary of the major individual and business tax provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank has released a series of briefs to identify those most at economic risk from COVID-19 and set a policy framework for a more equitable recovery.

• Which Neighborhoods and Households Will Be Most Impacted by COVID-19?
• Which Workers Will Be Most Impacted by COVID-19?
• What Small Businesses Will Be Impacted by COVID-19?

This brief focuses on how local experiences with arts and culture have changed the internal values, structures, and operations of community development organizations, and the concrete methods by which the organizations implemented those changes.

This report of site-based work to dramatically reduce youth incarceration, especially for youth of color, spans 12 demonstration sites across the United States and employs intentional and data-driven strategies that move systems toward equity and specifically focus on youth of color.

This publication briefly describes each major program in a table format along with links for more detailed information, as well as a matrix of rural area eligibility criteria and program purposes.

This resource compiles evidence-based and promising models and resources to support organizations implementing programs to address social determinants of health in rural communities across the United States.

This toolkit, with new sections released on a rolling basis, presents a roadmap to help local governments and community stakeholders encourage the use of solar energy and related technologies, helping cities, counties, and small towns become “open for solar business.”

This resource provides information about the TestIt mobile app that gathers data from across the country to identify areas with low or no connectivity to help inform policy and funding decisions around broadband infrastructure, including maps and a full report of the app's results.

This toolkit is designed to help small- to medium-size communities jump-start their natural disaster planning process by providing information about tools and resources available through federal and state agencies, disaster relief organizations, and At-a-Glance Preparedness Checklists.

This toolkit helps small businesses take important steps they need to keep functioning in the event of a major disaster or even a small disruption.

This report evaluates the role recreation can play in attracting new residents and income to communities, and the effect this in-migration has on earnings per job and growth in earnings per job.

With a focus on large-scale job creation, this toolkit poses a series of discussion questions that will can help communities think deeply about the elements required to design an economic development project that can successfully secure funding to create full-time, permanent jobs in low-income communities.

This report published by the Democracy Collaborative provides an overview of strategies and tools that, as a group, represent an innovative and potentially powerful new approach that establishes, in various ways, community control of land and housing.

This report lays the groundwork for exploring the issue of vacancy by defining what is meant by a “vacant” property, what constitutes a “healthy” vacancy rate, how vacant properties are measured, and why properties become vacant and abandoned, as well as the impact of vacant properties on the communities in which they are situated.

This tip sheet provides a brief overview of strategies for engaging historically underrepresented populations in community visioning and planning.

This paper draws on six case studies about how arts and culture helped spur economic revitalization of low-income areas. It examines what it takes to connect arts and culture as an economic strategy with simultaneous efforts to strengthen the community's social fabric and advance class, racial, or cultural equity.

This resource includes the EPA's Air, Land, and Water Finance Clearinghouses which are web‐based portals that provide resources to bolster community services and improvements related to land management, air quality, and water infrastructure.

This resource provides a glossary of terms related to structural racism and terms used to promote racial equity analysis identified by a group of leading innovators to produce strong and reliable frameworks for successful and sustainable community change and development.

This tool guides users through a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis to collect and organize information to explore new opportunities, make decisions about new strategies, identify areas for change, and refine and redirect current efforts with new solutions.

This toolkit provides expert advice and field-proven tools for assessing broadband adoption, planning new infrastructure, and engaging a wide range of partners in broadband projects.

This training manual for states was developed to guide and assist State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) grantees in the implementation of their programs.

This page includes a brief synopsis of the history, objectives, rules and requirements of the program, and a summary of the process for implementing disaster recovery activities. View the CDBG-DR page on the HUD Exchange for more information.

This list of disaster resources provides partners with federal and state agencies to help implement disaster recovery assistance.