The Carlsbad City Council awarded $565,819 in federal grants to help low-income residents at its meeting on May 14, focusing on services and other assistance for the city’s homeless residents.
The grants, called Community Development Block Grants, date to the Nixon Administration and are provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The program distributes money to eligible cities and counties so they can improve life for lower income families. HUD regulates how funds are awarded and grant amounts are determined by a formula.
The City of Carlsbad applies the grants to projects and services that directly benefit lower income residents. Social service organizations apply for the grants, and a seven-member citizens advisory committee recommends the preferred candidates. Staff then recommends a list of recipients to the City Council, which makes a final decision.
The City of Carlsbad Housing & Neighborhood Services Department received applications from 10 organizations for grants ranging from $10,000 to $95,000 for the upcoming year.
On Nov. 27, 2018, the Carlsbad City Council directed that funds be distributed among the service categories as follows:
Public Service (HUD limits this to no more than 15 percent of total): $84,872
Public facilities, improvements and affordable housing: $367,784
Program administration/fair housing (HUD limit of 20 percent): $113,163
The City Council awarded the following grants to six public service organizations:
Brother Benno’s Center: $16,872
Catholic Charities La Posada de Guadalupe: $19,000
Community Resource Center: $10,000
Interfaith Community Services: $19,000
Meals-on-Wheels: $10,000
Woman’s Resource Center: $10,000
The City Council also awarded $95,000 to the Casa De Amparo Teen Wellness Center as part of its public facilities award, and $22,000 to the Legal Aid Society for fair housing services as part of its administration award. It also awarded $90,413 to the City of Carlsbad Housing & Neighborhood Services Department for program administration.
The largest award, for $272,784, went to the City of Carlsbad to help purchase affordable housing units to help house low-income residents.
Every project proposed for the CDBG program must meet at least one of the program’s national objectives, which are:
Providing affordable housing to lower income persons
Assisting nonprofit public service providers that help meet basic needs of lower-income residents
Assisting organizations that administer programs that directly benefit lower-income children and adults living in Carlsbad
Assisting City of Carlsbad projects that benefit lower-income households.
