Section 4 Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing | FR 6500 N 07

Opportunity Information: Apply for FR 6500 N 07

The Section 4 Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing opportunity is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under CFDA 14.252. Its central goal is to strengthen the day-to-day and long-term capacity of local community-based housing and development organizations, specifically community development corporations (CDCs) and community housing development organizations (CHDOs), so they can more effectively carry out affordable housing and broader community development work that benefits low- and moderate-income people. Rather than funding individual local projects directly, HUD routes funds through national intermediaries, meaning the primary grantees are organizations positioned to provide support, resources, and funding to CDCs and CHDOs in many places.

Eligible applicants are generally nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education), along with other eligible entities as described in HUDs additional eligibility guidance. The program is structured around building organizational strength and readiness, not just delivering a single development. In practice, that means helping CDCs and CHDOs improve the technical skills, administrative systems, planning participation, and financing capabilities they need to take on housing production, preservation, and related community development activities in a sustainable way.

HUD limits how Section 4 funds can be used, focusing on three main categories. First, intermediaries can provide training, education, support, and advisory services that improve the technical and administrative capabilities of CDCs and CHDOs. This includes helping these organizations participate effectively in local and regional planning and coordination processes that shape housing and community development decisions. Examples highlighted in the notice include engagement in consolidated planning, fair housing planning, and Continuum of Care homeless assistance efforts. The intent is to ensure community-wide participation in assessing needs and setting priorities, and to help organizations contribute meaningfully to those processes rather than being sidelined by limited staff capacity or expertise.

This capacity-building support also explicitly includes helping CDCs and CHDOs navigate increased federal housing and community development resources and direct investments toward underserved communities. In other words, the program recognizes that federal funding streams can be complex and competitive, and it funds intermediaries to coach, train, and advise local organizations so they can access and deploy those resources more effectively. The eligible support activities also emphasize authentic community engagement (consulting broadly within the community), cooperative and holistic planning for use of resources, and performance evaluation. Another important element is encouraging links across jurisdictions by connecting plans with neighboring communities to foster regional planning, reflecting HUDs interest in coordination beyond a single city or neighborhood when housing markets and needs are regional.

Second, Section 4 funds can be used for pass-through financial assistance to CDCs and CHDOs to expand their capacity. This can take the form of subgrants, loans, predevelopment assistance, or similar financial tools. The key requirement is that this assistance must increase the recipients capacity to carry out community development and affordable housing activities benefiting low-income or low- to moderate-income families and persons. Predevelopment assistance is especially important in affordable housing, since early-stage work (feasibility studies, site control, early design, environmental reviews, community engagement, and financing applications) often requires up-front dollars that smaller organizations may not have.

Third, the notice allows for other activities as determined by the grantees in consultation with the HUD Secretary or the Secretarys designee. This provides some flexibility for intermediaries to tailor capacity-building approaches to emerging needs, as long as they align with the programs purpose and are cleared through the required consultation.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is identified as Funding Opportunity Number FR 6500 N 07. The posting lists an award ceiling of $41,000,000 and an expectation of three total awards, indicating HUD anticipated making a small number of large intermediary grants rather than many smaller awards. The opportunity was created on April 5, 2022, and the original closing date was June 6, 2022, with the application deadline set at 11:59:59 PM Eastern time. Overall, the program is best understood as an upstream investment: HUD funds national organizations to strengthen the infrastructure, skills, systems, and early-stage financing capacity of CDCs and CHDOs so those local groups can more successfully plan, compete for resources, and deliver affordable housing and community development outcomes for low- and moderate-income communities.

• The US Department of Housing and Urban Development in the community development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Section 4 Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 14.252.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 05, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 06, 2022 The application deadline is 115959 PM Eastern Standard time on. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $41,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for FR 6500 N 07

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