Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

​Public services

• Childcare services.
• Employment and skills training.
• Food resources and services.  
• Legal services. 
• Mental health Services.  
• Senior services. 
• Services for persons with disabilities.  
• Services for victims of domestic violence.  
• Substance abuse services.  
• Transportation services.  
• Tenant/Landlord counseling.
• Youth Services.

Owner-occupied housing rehabilitation programs

• Critical repair of owner-occupied homes.
• Loan programs for the rehabilitation of owner-occupied homes.  
• Loan/grant programs for the weatherization and energy efficiency of owner-occupied homes.  

The proposed service or housing program must serve low-to-moderate-income residents in suburban Ramsey County. The applicant must also be a nonprofit or government agency.

See the 2024 CDBG Public Services and Programs Solicitation Notice (PDF) for an understanding of requirements. 

• ATTACHMENT B Acknowledgment (PDF)

Interested organizations can gain access to the online funding application (ZoomGrants) when the funding solicitation is published Feb.15, 2024. An official solicitation notice will be posted and will contain information regarding the project selection process and scoring criteria.

Applications are accepted once per year to align with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding calendar.

• February – Funding solicitation published.
• March – Responses are due. 
• April – Project proposal evaluation.
• May – Project award announcement.  

• 2024
• 2023

What about funding overnight shelters?

Homeless services and shelter operations are an eligible use of CDBG public service dollars. The CDBG subrecipient will need to verify the income of the residents they serve.

Last year, there was a community improvement category, but not this year?

This year the two eligible categories are public services and housing rehab programs. Community Improvements/Facilities/Infrastructure is not an eligible category this year due to limited staff capacity.

Public service category is more direct service to low-income people?

Yes, the public services category are for direct resident services to low-to-moderate-income residents in suburban Ramsey County.

Are you saying if there is lead in any project, that has to be addressed first? If so, is that included in the grant?

All subrecipients will need to comply with CDBG lead-based paint requirements. View more information about those requirements.

Responders may include the cost of any required lead-based paint assessments and the potential cost of abatement in their application.

Is this a complete reimbursement grant? Can the work be done before the grant is due?

All applicable federal requirements, which may include lead-based paint and the environmental review, must be complete and approved by county staff prior to the start of any work. The cost of the approved work will be reimbursed.

Would group homes for adults with disabilities fall under the owner-occupied category?

Yes, we have amended the solicitation notice to clarify that the rehabilitation of single-family homes including group homes, as determined by local zoning, are eligible under the housing rehabilitation programs category.

I have a question about project eligibility. I understand that community improvement is not a category this year. In that case, could the expansion of a playground in a manufactured home community or the expansion of a sidewalk in a low-income neighborhood be eligible under the housing rehabilitation category?

No. This would not be an eligible application for this solicitation.

For bidding purposes we have to have more than one contractor?

Please review the CDBG bidding requirements. Bidding does not need to occur before you submit your application.

What is Section 3?

More information on Section 3, a federal requirement regarding subcontractors and construction workers, can be found on the HUD website. You can also learn more about how Section 3 is triggered.

It is unlikely that Section 3 will be triggered in a single-family rehabilitation program and this regulation is not applicable to eligible public service activities.

What is Section 504?

Section 504, the requirement to include handicap accessible units in the new construction of affordable housing, does not apply to the eligible activities of this solicitation It will be removed from the acknowledgment form.

Is there a link to the Ramsey County Architectural Guidelines that you could share?

This has been removed from the Acknowledgment Form as the guidelines only apply to multifamily development.

For a new public service program of training frontline workers and teams, can the CDBG monies pay for professional workshop participation fees? Could the money be used for internal training between house managers and internal cross-training with direct support professionals between group homes and individuals to improve service and work flexibility?

The proposed public service activity must serve low-to-moderate-income residents of suburban Ramsey County. Trainings that serve employees rather than residents would be ineligible as a public service activity. However, training may be considered an indirect cost of a program that directly serves low-to-moderate income residents of suburban Ramsey County.

For a public service grant, would a new project at a group home house for adults with disabilities that needs two bathrooms brought to accessible standards be an eligible project?

This may be eligible under the single-family housing rehabilitation programs category as it is a construction project in an eligible single-family home.

For a public service grant, could a new day program for adults with disabilities be eligible if some of the programming begins a few months before the grant start date? The applicant would not ask for pre-grant monies, but ask the grant to support and build this new program.

If the proposed program serves low-to-moderate income residents in suburban Ramsey County it may be eligible under the public services category.

Last year board resolution was required, this year it is listed, but as not required. If we do not submit this, will this impact our application/score?

A board resolution is not required for submission at this time. It may be requested at a later date, but does not impact scoring.

Is the project narrative a separate document we have to write? 

Please fill out the attachment labeled 2024 CDBG Project Narrative and Budget on ZoomGrants. There are also questions on ZoomGrants regarding project narrative.

Project schedule and project narrative – is there a character count? Are there any talking points you’d like for us to discuss in this section? 

There is no character/word limit. Please do your best to respond to the points discussed in the evaluation section of the solicitation notice.

For the budget information attachment – should this be submitted on a spreadsheet? Or in the PDF?

In the ZoomGrants attachment labeled 2024 CDBG Project Narrative and Budget there is a budget table that should be filled out. If easier, an Excel can be saved as a PDF and attached to this document.