Old homes like this one may be eligible for grants to preserve Floridian heritage.
Grants provide funds for needed projects in a community. Housing grants are particularly powerful ways to support a community's growth. The federal government and state government of Florida offer myriad grant programs for home building, preservation and rehabilitation.
Florida's Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program
Florida's Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program is administered by the federal Department of Community Affairs. Since 1983, Florida has received between $18 million and $35 million a year from the federal government's grant. The money goes to numerous--and otherwise unaffordable--projects, particularly the rehabilitation and preservation of housing. The grant is competitive and applicants are judged in part on a three-factored system: low- and moderate-income population, the number of persons below the poverty level, and the number of housing units with more than one person a room.
Jackie Dupree
850-487-3644
jackie.dupree@dca.state.fl.us.
Front Porch Florida Initiative
Founded in 1999, the Front Porch Florida Initiative is a grant to under-served and at-risk communities. It is intended to knit a community together through projects including preserving heritage housing and building new housing. The stated mission is "to encourage, assist and support Florida's urban residents in their effort to preserve core neighborhood values and to help them identify and strengthen their existing community assets." A community applies to be designated a Front Porch community, after which it can apply for private funds and receive matching grants from the Initiative.
Adriene Burgess
850-487-9556
frontporch@dca.state.fl.us
Neighborhood Stabilization Program
The Neighborhood Stabilization Program was created as part of the federal Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The act appropriated $3.92 billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program in response to the high number of foreclosures affecting the country. Florida was allocated $541 million as part of the act. The grants are distributed on a formula to communities with the greatest percentage of home foreclosures; the highest percentage of homes financed by subprime mortgage-related loans; and that have been identified as likely to face a significant rise in home foreclosures. This money helps keep homeowners in their homes by staving off the likelihood of foreclosure.
Tags: Front Porch, Neighborhood Stabilization, Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Stabilization Program, Block Grant