Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that 20 local governments, nonprofits and other organizations have received grant awards totaling $48.85 million under the new federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program developed late last year by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The program’s purpose is to assist those areas hit hardest by the housing crisis.
“Foreclosures, subprime mortgages and mortgage defaults are hurting homeowners, families and our communities,” Perdue said. “These new federal funds will go to communities most severely affected by the housing crisis and will be used effectively. I’m encouraging all participating organizations to collaborate in order to leverage these grant funds and make them go even further.”
States were required to identify areas of greatest need based on the number of foreclosure starts and other housing-related statistics from state and national sources. In North Carolina, areas in 23 counties met the “greatest need” criteria: Alamance, Brunswick, Buncombe, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cumberland, Dare, Davidson, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Johnston, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Pitt, Randolph, Rowan, Union, Vance and Wake. Please click here to see the “Greatest Needs Analysis” map.
Forty-six NSP grant applications were submitted by Feb. 3. Of those, 11 local governments and six non-profits were funded for specific areas; the three statewide organizations selected will ensure the areas of greatest need in the 23 counties receive assistance. Brief program descriptions follow this release. Grant recipients:
Local Government Recipients: City of Raleigh, $2.5 million; Wake County, $2.5 million; City of Charlotte, $2.5 million; City of Greensboro, $2.5 million; City of Winston-Salem, $2.5 million; City of High Point, $2.5 million; City of Gastonia, $2 million; Henderson/Vance County, $2 million; City of Durham, $2 million; City of Rocky Mount, $2 million; City of Lexington, $2 million.
Non-profit Agency Recipients: St. Augustine, in Raleigh, $2 million; Charlotte Housing Authority, $2 million; Guilford Habitat for Humanity, $2 million; Forsyth Habitat for Humanity, $2 million; Passage Home (in Wake County), $2 million; Greensboro Housing Authority, $2 million.
Statewide Agency/intermediary Recipients: Self-Help Credit Union, $2.5 million; N.C. Community Development Initiative, $3.5 million; and N.C. Housing Finance Agency, $4 million.
NSP funding is provided through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. In North Carolina, the NSP grants are administered by the Commerce Department’s Division of Community Assistance. DCA staff developed North Carolina’s guidelines through a public process late last year. Total NSP grant funding to North Carolina is $52.1 million; 5 percent of that will be used by DCA to implement and monitor the program.
To ensure that funds are used most effectively, HUD recommended a minimum award of $2 million. DCA staff evaluated the 46 applications and more than 9,000 pages of documentation using a scoring system designed to be sure that the state complies with federal regulations and uses the funds most effectively. Selection criteria were based on severity of need (50 points); treatment of need, i.e., how the needs would be addressed (20 points); capacity of applicant and program administrators (20 points); mitigation of fraud, waste and abuse (5 points); socio-economic factors (4 points); and green building components and techniques (1 point).
For more information on the NSP program, please go to the NSP section on the Commerce Department’s Web site.