STAKEHOLDER ANNOUNCEMENT

May 30, 2019

To see full announcement click here...

USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Help Repair Housing in Rural Communities

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 – Acting Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Joel Baxley today
announced that USDA is seeking applications for grants to make housing repairs for low- and very-low-income
rural residents. The grants are being provided through USDA’s Housing Preservation Grant program.

Eligible applicants include town or county governments, public agencies, federally recognized Indian tribes,
and nonprofit and faith-based organizations. USDA does not provide funding directly to homeowners under this
program. For additional eligibility information, see page 24076 of the May 24, 2019, Federal Register.
Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. local time on July 8, 2019, at the Rural Development state office where the
project will be located. For a list of offices, visit the state office website.

USDA encourages applications that will support recommendations made in the Report to the President of the
United States from the Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity (PDF, 5.4 MB) to help improve life in
rural America.

Applicants are encouraged to consider projects that provide measurable results in helping rural communities
build robust and sustainable economies through strategic investments in infrastructure, partnerships and
innovation. Key strategies include:

• Achieving e-Connectivity for Rural America
• Developing the Rural Economy
• Harnessing Technological Innovation
• Supporting a Rural Workforce
• Improving Quality of Life

To leverage investments in rural property, USDA Rural Development also encourages projects located in rural
Opportunity Zones where projects should provide measurable results in helping communities build robust and
sustainable economies. An Opportunity Zone is an economically-distressed community where new investments,
under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. Localities qualify as Opportunity Zones
if they have been nominated for that designation by the state and that nomination has been certified by the
Secretary of the U.S. Treasury