County hears dozens of non-profit requests in annual HUD CDBG/ESG/HOME public hearing

Riverside County staff opened a required public hearing on April 2 to gather input on community-development needs and proposed activities for the next HUD program year, a step required before submitting final proposals to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Juan Garcia, deputy director for Housing and Workforce Solutions, said the county expects an allocation similar to the prior year: roughly $7.8 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, a little over $600,000 in Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funding and about $2.3 million in HOME funds. He noted the county received 80 CDBG applications totaling more than $9.8 million and five ESG applications totaling roughly $1.7 million and that staff will return with final recommendations in July for the August HUD submission deadline.

Representatives from a wide range of local nonprofit organizations used the hearing to outline funding requests and describe community needs. Those requests included air-conditioning replacement for a Palm Desert facility serving people with disabilities; senior nutrition program support; fair-housing services; school-clothing and diaper-distribution programs; homeless services and shelter safety upgrades; youth leadership and scholarship programs; and other neighborhood-support projects. Speakers included Desert Ark, Family Service Association, Fair Housing Council of Riverside County, Assistance League of Temecula Valley, Voices for Children (CASA), the Junior League of Riverside and others.

The Board closed the hearing and voted unanimously to accept the hearing record and advance the process; staff will work with district offices to finalize recommendations and return to the Board in July for approval of proposed projects to forward to HUD.

What happens next: staff will review the project applications with district staff, prepare funding recommendations and present a proposed list of projects to the Board in July ahead of HUD’s August submission date.