Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Department of Housing and Community Development is accepting applications for a round of Community Development Block Grants, with a deadline of March 3.
A public hearing must be held locally two weeks before an application is submitted — or by Feb. 17.
Municipalities with populations under 50,000 are eligible to apply for this funding, and may apply on behalf of a specific property owner or developer.
The federally funded CDBG program aims to help cities and towns meet a range of economic development needs. Eligible projects include housing rehabilitation and development, infrastructure projects, downtown and other area revitalization projects, and planning.
Every CDBG-funded activity must meet at least one of the three objectives of the program: benefiting low- and moderate-income persons; preventing or eliminating slums or blight; or meeting other community development needs having a particular urgency.
Entitlement communities, which receive CDBG funds directly from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, are not eligible to apply through the state DHCD.
Recent CDBG awards have gone to Amesbury for housing rehabilitation, ADA compliance and social services for the homeless; Palmer for housing rehabilitation, sidewalk improvements and domestic violence programming; and Warren for infrastructure projects.