Rural Capacity Building
The Rural Capacity Building Program (RCB) enhances the capacity and ability of local governments, Indian tribes, housing development organizations, rural Community Development Corporations (CDCs), and rural Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs), to carry out community development and affordable housing activities that benefit low- and moderate-income families and persons in rural areas.
Featured
Rural Voices
The Housing Assistance Council’s Fall edition of Rural Voices looks at some of the pandemic’s impacts on affordable rural housing efforts in the U.S.
View the Article
NOFAs
Program Guidance
Rural Gateway
The Rural Gateway is an information clearinghouse providing technical assistance, training workshops, and peer learning and resource sharing to support rural housing and economic development.
Learn MoreRural Beneficiary Mapping Tool
In the FY 2018 NOFA, the definition of rural area was updated. For the grant program, a rural area is a statistical geographic entity delineated by the Census Bureau that does not meet the definition of an urbanized area. An urbanized area is a statistical geographic entity delineated by the Census Bureau, consisting of densely settled census tracts and blocks and adjacent densely settled territory that together contain at least 50,000 people. As of the 2010 decennial census, the United States contained 486 urbanized areas with an additional 11 in Puerto Rico.
For more information about urbanized areas, including maps, FAQs, and reference manuals, please refer to the Census Bureau website. To demonstrate that a beneficiary complies with the rural area requirement, grantees will be expected to implement a review process to confirm that the proposed rural beneficiary is physically located within an eligible rural area or, as a result of capacity building grant assistance, will be commencing or expanding service in an eligible rural area. HUD has created the embedded mapping tool for capacity building grantees to utilize in assessing a beneficiary’s compliance with the rural area definition.
Disclaimer: The Rural Beneficiary Mapping Tool is simply a tool to assist grantees and applicants in determining if an area is rural according to the definition. The applicant and/or grantee is responsible for making sure that any entity they serve qualifies as a rural area according to the definition of rural area in the NOFO.
Featured Stories
Santo Domingo Housing Authority Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) ran a tribal housing academy using RCB grant funds to support tribal development organizations through early stage development projects. Assistance and education provided to the Santo Domingo Housing Authority (SDHA) helped the organization to better scope their project, work through development obstacles, and understand how to access necessary resources and funding in Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM.
Colorado Rural Housing Development Corporation National Association For Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) issued their first loan under the HUD Rural Capacity Building FY 2013 TA Award to the Colorado Rural Housing Development Corporation (CRHDC) in Alamosa, CO. NALCAB carved out $400k from the $1M FY 13 budget, to serve as seed money to establish our Rural Revolving Loan Fund. The loan is for a 10 acre tract of land that will produce 28 new units of Self Help single family Housing for LMI families.
Edenmoor Apartments With financial assistance from the Housing Assistance Council’s RCB grant supported loan fund, the Western Region Nonprofit Housing Corporation renovated a 62-unit apartment complex to provide much needed housing for low income families in Moscow, ID.
News and Announcements
Deadline Extended for $10 Million Funding Opportunity for Capacity Building in Rural America
Date Posted: September 26, 2022Rural Capacity Building NOFO Pre-Application Webinar - September 19, 2022 - 11:00 AM EDT
Date Posted: September 14, 2022Materials Posted: Opportunity Zone Roundtables - June 2021
Date Posted: June 01, 2021