The Department of Commerce's Division of Community Assistance (DCA) and Commerce Finance Center (CFC) administer the State of North Carolina's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to local governments in non-entitlement areas.
Non-entitlement areas are cities with populations of less than 50,000 (except cities that are designated principal cities of Metropolitan Statistical Areas), and counties with populations of less than 200,000.
The primary statutory objective of the CDBG program is to develop viable communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and by expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low- and moderate-income. The State must ensure that at least 70 percent of its CDBG grant funds are used for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons.
In 2007, the state received over $45 million in federal CDBG funds to go towards eight CDBG program categories that have been designed to meet the needs of North Carolina's communities. Local governments may apply for these funds.
All North Carolina small cities are eligible to apply for funds except for 23 entitlement cities that receive funds directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
These directly-funded cities include: Asheville, Burlington, Cary, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Concord, Durham, Fayetteville, Gastonia, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Greenville, Hickory, High Point, Jacksonville, Kannapolis, Lenoir, Morganton, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Salisbury, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem.
All counties, except for the two HUD-designated urban counties of Wake and Cumberland, are eligible to apply for Small Cities CDBG funds. All municipalities in the two counties are ineligible except for the Town of Holly Springs in Wake County and the Town of Linden in Cumberland County.
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