Grants Administration and Special Projects

The Grants Administration and Special Projects Section is responsible for administering the housing and community development related grants Montgomery County receives annually from the  U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grants include the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the HOME Program Grant, and the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG). We also handle special federal grants that may arise from time to time. A recent example is the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

The Section is also responsible for preparing Montgomery County's  Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development, which described the County's policies for how it will spend these federal funds to address such pressing issues as affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, and homelessness. To find out more about the works of the section, please click on one of the links below:

Other important information:

Montgomery County’s Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) will conduct a Public Hearing on COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT NEEDS to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The CDAC recommends how Montgomery County’s competitively awarded federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds will be used. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, Tuesday, October 4, 2022, at 7:00 P.M. via teleconference using Microsoft Teams software.

For more information or to sign up to testify, email the Grants and Asset Management Section of DHCA at [email protected] by 4:00 PM on October 3.

More information about the CDAC and CDBG Public Service Grant program can be found here: https://montgomerycountymd.gov/DHCA/community/grants/index.html

Funding Available for Nonprofits

Applications for the County fiscal year 2024 round of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Public Service Grant funding (July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024) will be due Friday, September 16, 2022 at 4:00 PM. Funding determinations will first be announced with the release of the Executive's proposed operating budget in mid-March 2023 and the final determinations will be reflected in the final operating budget, which should be adopted by the Council in late May, 2023.

Next year's application is expected to be substantially similar to the current application in form and content and is expected to be posted here around August 1, 2023. The FY24 form and instructions can be accessed here for reference: 

The application form and instructions can be accessed here: 

Instructions Application

See the section below for more information on CDBG Public Service Grants. If you have questions about the application process you may contact the Grants staff via email: Katherine Canales -  [email protected] or Trivens Kargbo -  [email protected].

The City of Takoma Park also has its own CDBG program which provides Public Service grants. If some or all of your intended beneficiaries are likely to be residents of Takoma Park you may consider applying for funds that program. It is permitted to fund grantee programs and activities from different sources, including CDBG funds from separate jurisdictions. You can find more information on the Takoma Park program online:  City of Takoma Park, MD

The Grants Administration and Special Projects Section is responsible for administering the housing and community development related grants Montgomery County receives annually from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  The grants include the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the HOME Program Grant, and the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG). We also handle special federal grants that may arise from time to time. A recent example is the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

The Section is also responsible for preparing Montgomery County's Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development, which described the County's policies for how it will spend these federal funds to address such pressing issues as affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, and homelessness. To find out more about the works of the section, please click on one of the links below:

Other important information:

Funding Sources

Community Development Block Grant

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program provides Montgomery County and other local governments with the opportunity to develop viable communities by funding activities that provide decent housing and a suitable living environment and by expanding economic opportunities, principally for low and moderate income persons. Funds are awarded to carry out a wide range of community development activities directed toward neighborhood revitalization, economic development, and the provision of improved community facilities and services.

The County received approximately five million dollars in CDBG funds in fiscal year 2021 (July 2020 - June 2021). These funds are available for activities such as Housing Rehabilitation and Public Service Grants.

The following jurisdictions do not participate with the County in the CDBG, ESG and HOME programs; therefore, no activities may be funded for these areas: Town of Barnesville, Chevy Chase View, Chevy Chase Village, Village of Chevy Chase (section 3), Town of Laytonsville, Village of Martin's Additions.

HOME Program

The HOME Investment Partnership's program is designed to increase affordable housing choices for low-income households through the development of rental housing. HOME funds are loaned to non-profit and for-profit developers for a variety of affordable housing activities including acquisition, rehabilitation, new construction, and tenant-based rental assistance. In fiscal year 2020 (July 2019 - June 2020), Montgomery County received approximately 1.8 million dollars in HOME funds.

Non-profit and for-profit developers of housing may contact DHCA to see if their project qualifies for HOME funds.

CDBG Public Service Grants

Each year, Montgomery County awards public service grants to groups to carry out programs that directly serve low-income people, often people with special needs. These "special needs" populations include some of our most vulnerable residents: the elderly, children and youth, recent immigrants, the homeless, people with mental and physical disabilities, people with chronic illnesses, people with addictions, and victims of violence.

Public service grants are funded with Montgomery County's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds - in County fiscal year 2021 (July 2020 - June 2021), the County awarded $591,067 to support 15 nonprofit groups throughout the county. You can see a list of all grantees for County fiscal years 2012-2021  here. (Please note that the City of Takoma Park has its own CDBG program which provides Public Service Grants. You can find a link to this program at the top of this page.)

Applications for public service grants are accepted once a year (usually around mid-September). They are reviewed by DHCA staff to determine eligibility and conformance with the County's CDBG funding policy. Applications are then reviewed by the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC), a diverse group of county residents appointed by the County Executive to make recommendations regarding CDBG funding requests. Both the Director of DHCA and the CDAC will recommend CDBG projects for funding to the County Executive, who will then make final recommendations to the County Council. The County Council, as part of the budget process, will then determine the final selection of activities to be funded with CDBG funds. 

Emergency Solutions Grant

Montgomery County is the prime recipient of federal Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds through the Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA). The County is also the Lead Agency for the Montgomery County Continuum of Care (CoC) through its Department of Health and Human Services (MCDHHS). As the Lead Agency, MCDHHS chairs the CoC Governing Board, supports CoC sub-committees, oversees the HMIS system, manages the annual Point-in-Time Count, develops system-wide policies and works with the CoC to identify service needs. MCDHHS also administered the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program. In order to assure collaboration with the CoC and integration of ESG funds into the Continuum’s activities, MCDHHS administers the Emergency Solutions Grant under a memorandum of understanding with DHCA.

The program contact for ESG is Ilana Branda, MCDHHS, (240) 777-4594, [email protected].

Neighborhood Stabilization Program

In 2009, the Federal Government awarded Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds nationally to states and local governments to address the national housing foreclosure problem.

Montgomery County received $2,073,965 of NSP funds as a direct allocation. The State of Maryland also received a direct allocation of NSP funds from the federal government and established the "Neighborhood Conservation Initiative Program (NCI) and made a portion of these monies available to participants through a competitive process. Montgomery County received $2,500,000 of these NSP funds through the state's NCI program.

Montgomery County used a total of approximately $4.5 million NSP monies to provide funding to the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC), one of our two public housing authorities, for the purchase and rehabilitation of 23 foreclosed houses for lease to low-income county residents. The majority of the people housed have household incomes at or below 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) with emphasis on homes that will accommodate larger families. HOC rehabilitated these homes to make them as low-maintenance and energy efficient as possible.

All NSP funds have been expended.

​ Electronic Benefit Data Reporting / CDBG Quarterly Reporting System

NOTE: CDBG Reporting submittal requirements have changed as of 4/15/18. Logon is no longer required. Please follow instructions below.

CDBG Grantees must submit Quarterly Benefit Data Reports no later than the 10 th of the month following each quarter. Please download the reporting form, open it using Acrobat Reader or any other compatible PDF reader, fill it out, and email it to [email protected]. If you have questions or are experiencing problems please contact Trivens Kargbo at (240) 777-3794.​