In conjunction with the president’s declaration that a major disaster exists in the areas affected by Hurricane Florence beginning on September 7, 2018, HUD will extend the application deadline for a FY18 Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant for seven calendar days for applicants located in the following counties of North Carolina: Beaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, and Pender.

The Choice Neighborhoods program leverages significant public and private dollars to support locally driven strategies that address struggling neighborhoods with distressed public or HUD assisted housing through a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation. Local leaders, residents, and stakeholders, such as public housing authorities, cities, schools, police, business owners, nonprofits, and private developers, come together to create and implement a plan that revitalizes distressed HUD housing and addresses the challenges in the surrounding neighborhood. The program helps communities transform neighborhoods by revitalizing severely distressed public and/or assisted housing and catalyzing critical improvements in the neighborhood, including vacant property, housing, businesses, services and schools.

To this end, Choice Neighborhoods is focused on three core goals:

1. Housing: Replace distressed public and assisted housing with high-quality mixed income housing that is well-managed and responsive to the needs of the surrounding neighborhood;
2. People: Improve outcomes of households living in the target housing related to employment and income, health, and children’s education; and
3. Neighborhood: Create the conditions necessary for public and private reinvestment in distressed neighborhoods to offer the kinds of amenities and assets, including safety, good schools, and commercial activity, that are important to families’ choices about their community.

To achieve these core goals, successful applicants have in place a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy, or “Transformation Plan.” This Transformation Plan is the guiding document for the revitalization of the public and/or assisted housing units, while simultaneously directing the transformation of the surrounding neighborhood and creating positive outcomes for families. Experience shows that to successfully develop and implement the Transformation Plan, broad civic engagement is needed. Successful applicants need to work with public and private agencies, organizations (including philanthropic and civic organizations), and individuals - including local leaders, residents, and stakeholders, such as public housing authorities, cities, Tribes, schools, police, business owners, nonprofits, and private developers - to gather and leverage the financial and human capital resources needed to support the sustainability of the plan. These efforts should build community support for and involvement in the development and implementation of the plan.

Funding Opportunity Number:  FR-6200-N-34
Opportunity Title:  Public and Indian Housing Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants Program
Competition ID:  FR-6200-N-34
CFDA No.:  14.889
OMB Approval Numbers:  2577-0269
Opening Date:  May 18, 2018
Deadline Date:  September 17, 2018