The homeless shelter, Haven House on Whitehills Drive, was the recipient of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds in FY2024. (Julie Seraphinoff for ELi)
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CDBG Applications Due Dec. 15

By Mya Gregory

The City of East Lansing is currently accepting applications for its Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program funding for the fiscal year (FY) 2025. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. Dec. 15. 

The city has participated in the grants program since its inception. The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has provided East Lansing with these funds since the 1970s. The program is authorized under Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, Public Law 93 – 383, and was designed to reinforce the important values and principles of community development.

CDBG program is designed to address the needs of low-to-moderate-income people and neighborhoods.

According to the HUD website, CDBG emphasizes “flexibility [which] empowers people and communities to design and implement strategies tailored to their own needs and priorities,” has an “emphasis on consolidated planning [which] expands and strengthens partnerships among all levels of government and the private sector in enhancing community development,” and has “technical assistance activities and [CDBGs] set-aside for grantees [which] builds the capacity of these partners.”

“[CDBGs] are intended to address the needs of low-to-moderate-income individuals and neighborhoods,” Matt Apostle, City of East Lansing community and economic development specialist, told ELi. 

“East Lansing is what you might call an ‘entitlement community’ to HUD, which means that, every year, HUD gives them an allocation of CDBG dollars that vary from year to year,” Apostle said.

Eligibility for participation as an entitlement community is based on the population data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. HUD utilizes a statutory dual formula to determine each grantee’s annual funding. According to the website, HUD uses “objective measures of community needs, including the extent of poverty, population, housing overcrowding, age of housing and population growth lag in relationship to other metropolitan areas.” Congress is in the process of deciding how much money, nationwide, the CDBG program will be funded. Once that decision has been made, HUD will determine how much to give to each community.

According to Apostle, East Lansing typically receives between $400,000 and $500,000.

CDBG funding from FY 2024 approved nearly $500,000 and funded 10 programs that are available to income-eligible members of the public. These programs include the Down Payment Assistance Program, the Home Rehabilitation Program, the Youth Scholarship Program and public services administered by nonprofit organizations, among others.

The city will approach grant funding much like past years.

For FY2025, the city is looking to approach CDBG funding in a similar way to previous years. 

“A subsection of the fund goes towards what we call ‘public services,’ which is like direct services to low-to-moderate-income individuals,” Apostle said. “Whether that be homeless shelter services, domestic violence shelters, Meals on Wheels, other programs like that that directly impact a limited clientele.” 

Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) funds were approved for FY2024 for improvements to Emerson Park in the Red Cedar/Ivanhoe Neighborhood. (ELi file photo)

Of the total grant, 15% is normally applied to public services. Another 20% of the funds go toward the cost of administering the program, including staff salaries, consultations for environment reviews, audit fees, etc. The remaining bulk of the funds typically goes toward applications for public improvement projects.

“Things like sidewalk improvements in low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods or park improvements in low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods,” Apostle said.

“And then Capital Area Housing Partnership usually also applies for funding for their down payment assistance program for prospective East Lansing homeowners,” he said. ”As well as the homeowner rehabilitation program for low-to-moderate-income East Lansing current homeowners to do co-compliance improvements, weatherization, discussion of maintenance, things like that to increase the health of their homes.”

East Lansing, in compliance with HUD guidelines, creates a five-year plan of what projects the city will use the grant money for. 

“From there, each year, we [the Community Development Advisory Committee] kinda track what we have been doing in line with that and base applications on that,” Apostle said. “We cast a wide net for encouraging people to apply. But after we get those applications in, it’s fully in the public process and debating and working to decide who should receive what levels of funding.”

The CDBG application guide and other resources can be found on the city’s website. 

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