The Nebraska of Department of Economic Development (DED) will begin accepting applications for its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Affordable Housing Construction Program (AHCP) – Small Rental Program on Friday, March 22, 2024. The Small Rental Program facilitates the construction of affordable housing, targeting areas federally designated as most impacted and distressed (MID) as a result of the 2019 flood disaster (DR-4420).
In support of this notice of funding opportunity, DED has published the Small Rental Application Guidelines. The Department is also hosting a virtual information session for the CDBG-DR AHCP Small Rental Program on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 9:00 AM CT/8:00AM MT. This information session is designed to provide an overview of the Small Rental Program application and timeline.
All Small Rental Program applicants are required to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) to allow DED to verify eligibility, provide technical assistance, and allot sufficient time to review and score applications. The LOI is a threshold requirement. Adhering to the deadlines listed in the table below, Applicants must submit the following to be considered for an award:
- Letter of Intent. Applicant must use the LOI template and follow submission instructions therein. The template is included in the Small Rental Program Application Guidelines.
- Full Application. Applicant must complete and submit via AmpliFund, DED’s grant management system. Additional instructions and resources are included in the Small Rental Program Application Guidelines.
| AHCP – Small Rental Program, Anticipated Timeline | |||
| Date | Event/Action | Location/Details | Responsible Party(ies) |
| Thur., March 21 | Application Information Session at 9:00 a.m. CT/8:00 a.m. MT | Register here: CDBG-DR Small Rental Application Overview registration – Webex | DED |
| Fri., March 22 | Application Portal opens at 9:00 a.m. CT/8:00 a.m. MT | Application can be found at: https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/cdbg-dr | DED |
| Fri., April 5 | Required Letter of Intent must be received by 5:00 p.m. CT/4:00 p.m. MT | Email completed LOI to christina.zink@nebraska.gov | Applicant |
| Thur., May 2 | Office Hour at 9:00 a.m. CT/8:00 a.m. MT | Available via email notification | DED |
| Fri., May 24 | Application Closes at 5:00 p.m. CT/4:00 p.m. MT | Submit via AmpliFund – https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/cdbg-dr | Applicant |
| Fri., July 26 | Notification of Intent to Award | DED to issue via email | DED |
HELPFUL RESOURCES & OFFICE HOURS: Prior to initiating and submitting their application, prospective applicants should review the Small Rental Program Guide, Small Rental FAQ Sheet, and Application Guidelines in the housing toolkit. Once the application is published, the Application Portal will be navigable from the Housing Programs Quick Link located on the CDBG-DR webpage.
In support of the Small Rental Program application cycle, DED staff will operate an open office hour on Thursday, May 2 at 9:00 a.m. CT/8:00 a.m. MT for technical assistance. Registration for the open office hours will be made available via email notification.
APPLICANT SELECTION OVERVIEW: DED has established tiering criteria to facilitate selection of projects meeting overall CDBG-DR objectives and program priorities as outlined in Figure 5-3 of the CDBG-DR Action Plan, as amended. As defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the MID area includes the counties of Dodge, Douglas, and Sarpy.
- Tier 1: Project will be implemented in a HUD-defined MID area AND meets the low- and moderate-income (LMI) National Objective
- Tier 2: Project will be implemented in a HUD-defined MID area OR meets the LMI National Objective
- Tier 3: Project will NOT be implemented in a HUD-defined MID area and does NOT meet the LMI National Objective
In addition to the tiering criteria, applications must satisfactorily address the initial threshold and competitive scoring criteria. Tier 1 applications will be recommended for an award before Tier 2 applications are considered. Tier 3 applications will not be considered until the program has reviewed all Tier 1 and Tier 2 projects. Additional information on the scoring matrix DED will use to evaluate applications is available on the CDBG-DR webpage.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION AND QUESTIONS: Register here for the upcoming information session.For more information, contact Christina Zink, Housing Program Manager for Disaster Recovery, at christina.zink@nebraska.gov or 402-326-4091.
ACCOMMODATIONS: Closed captions are available. Spanish interpretation can be provided. Individuals requiring sensory accommodations—including interpreter services, Braille, large print or recorded materials—should contact Lori Cole at 402-471-3746 or lori.cole@nebraska.gov.
Los individuos no hablan Inglés y los individuos con discapacidad podrán solicitar las ayudas y servicios auxiliares necesarios para la participación de contacto con el Departamento de Desarrollo Económico PO Box 94666, Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-4666, lori.cole@nebraska.gov.
MORE INFORMATION. Nebraska’s CDBG-DR programs are administered by the DED Disaster Recovery Division. For more information about CDBG-DR programs, including details about the MID area and program priorities, visit the DED’s CDBG-DR website. If you have general questions about the CDBG-DR program, please direct them to ded.cdbgdr@nebraska.gov.
If this email was forwarded to you, please be sure to sign up for the CDBG-DR mailing list by completing the contact form.
Individuals who are hearing and/or speech impaired and have a TTY may contact the Department through the Statewide Relay System by calling (711) INSTATE, (800) 833-7352 (TTY), or (800) 833-0920 (voice). The relay operator should be asked to call DED at (800) 426-6505 or (402) 471-3111. Additional information is available on the Nebraska Relay website at http://www.nebraskarelay.com/. Nebraska Relay offers Spanish relay service for our Spanish-speaking customers. Spanish-to-Spanish (711) or 1-888-272-5528; Spanish-to-English (711) or 1-877-564-3503. Nebraska le ofrece el servicio de relevo a nuestros clientes en español. Los consumidores de TTY pueden escribir por máquina en español y las conversaciones serán retransmitidas en español y inglés.