Federal funds are allocated annually to entitlement communities through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to carry out a wide range of community development activities that benefit lower income persons and households. In Contra Costa County, all HUD-funded activities are coordinated through the Contra Costa County CDBG/HOME Consortium (Consortium), which includes the cities of Antioch, Concord, Pittsburg, Walnut Creek, and the Urban County. Consortium members jointly prepare the five year Consolidated Plan, Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, and also coordinate and collaborate in the CDBG application process and monitoring practices.
Within each five year Consolidated Plan period, the Consortium conducts a two-year, then a three-year funding process. During this time, the Consortium members invite all federally recognized (501 (c) 3 nonprofit status mandatory) nonprofits to submit an applications for funding the HIGH priority needs established in the Consolidated Plan. A call for applications is advertised in the paper and sent widely to nonprofit agencies throughout the county and to persons on the Interested Parties List. All applications are submitted through an online application system.
Applications are evaluated for eligibility by staff. A CDBG Committee, consisting of two Antioch City Councilmembers, reviews all of the eligible applications, interviews the applicants, rates and ranks the applications and recommends funding levels. The entire City Council votes on the funding recommendations.