DHCR Simplifies Funding Application for Community-Based Organizations

ALBANY, NY (06/27/2008)(readMedia)-- The state Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) has announced significant changes to two of its programs that will decrease red tape, paperwork and costs for not-for-profit and charitable organizations that are working to improve the quality of life in their communities.

DHCR Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen said a new, streamlined application process for the Urban Initiatives (UI) and Rural Area Revitalization Projects (RARP) programs "represents the common-sense approach we are taking at DHCR to help our clients and partners as they work to build and preserve affordable homes and revitalize our communities."

The UI and RARP programs provide relatively small grants (up to $100,000 for UI and $200,000 for RARP) to not-for-profit housing agencies serving areas with very low-income populations.

However, in the past, the small, community-based, charitable and not-for-profit agencies applying for these funds had to go through the same application process as major developers seeking tens of millions of dollars. For many of the small, usually understaffed organizations, the applications were far too costly and time consuming.

Now these agencies, and the communities they serve, will benefit from an updated and simplified application that will save time, effort and desperately needed funds. The new applications will reduce required supporting documentation by more than 30 percent, and, more importantly, eliminate a requirement to provide a formal market analysis, which could add $4,000 to $5,000 to the applying agencies up-front costs.

VanAmerongen said the groups applying for UI and RARP funds "are small organizations that are doing extremely important work in their communities. We should be striving to make it easier for them to fulfill their mission, rather than throwing roadblocks in their way."

Joseph A. Agostine Jr., executive director of the Neighborhood Preservation Coalition of NYS, Inc, said "We are especially pleased with the ‘new and improved' applications for the UI and RARP programs and we are confident that our membership will take advantage of programs in their continuing efforts to fight the affordable housing crisis facing all New Yorkers. Having an application process that promotes user-friendly access to these vital state dollars once again shows the administration's commitment to the production and preservation of affordable housing in our state and we are delighted to be a partner in those efforts."

Blair Sebastian, executive director of the New York State Rural Housing Coalition, Inc., said, "Rural community development organizations will be very pleased to have access to this streamlined version of the Rural Area Revitalization Program application. RARP is an extremely important resource for the development of appropriate scale projects in small towns and rural communities and we are delighted that Commissioner VanAmerongen and her staff have take the initiative to 'right size' the application.

Both the UI and RARP programs are relatively flexible and provide funding for a large number of projects to preserve or maintain housing accommodations; commercial facilities or community, cultural or civic establishments.

The new state budget contains additional resources for both programs, a total of $6 million for the UI program and $3.5 million for the RARP program.

By early next week, applicants will be able to download UI and RARP applications from the DHCR website; and before the end of summer, DHCR will make the two programs even more user-friendly by developing an application that can be filed electronically, like most other DHCR funding program applications.

For more information about the UI program, go to: http://www.nysdhcr.gov/ocd/progs/ui/ocdui0.htm. More details about the RARP program can be found at: http://www.nysdhcr.gov/ocd/progs/rarp/ocdrarp0.htm

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