HUD Makes More than $37M Available to Combat Housing Discrimination

HUD recently announced that it’s making $37.3 million available to fight housing discrimination under HUD's 2016 Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). This year's three funding notices support a variety of important fair housing activities, including fair housing testing in the rental and sales market, public education efforts, capacity building, and education and outreach activities.

Each year, HUD makes funding available to support organizations interested in the enforcement of fair housing laws and policies as well as educating the public, housing providers, and local governments about their rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act.

The categories of grants announced are:

• Education and Outreach Initiative grants (EOI) – $7,450,000 available. HUD awards these to groups that educate the public and housing providers about their rights and responsibilities under federal law or state and local fair housing laws that are equivalent to the Fair Housing Act. This year's funds include $1,250,000 toward a national media campaign; $250,000 toward tester coordinator training; and the rest for general regional, local and community-based programs.
• Fair Housing Organizations Initiative (FHOI) – $500,000 available. HUD awards these to help build the capacity and effectiveness of non-profit fair housing organizations, particularly organizations that focus on the rights and needs of underserved groups, such as rural and immigrant populations.
• Private Enforcement Initiative grants (PEI) – Total PEI multi-year funding is $29,375,000. However, $22,452,542 has already been reserved for FY 2014 and FY 2015 multi-year grantees, making $6,922,458 available for FY 2016 new awardees. This year's PEI funds also include $975,000 to address lending discrimination.

Applicants who are interested in applying for funding under the NOFAs should go to http://www.Grants.gov and search for the three “FHIP” NOFAs, forms, instructions, and other application material. Applications must be received by June 23, 2016.