Applications are due November 19, 2024

The Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) funds non-profits and other fair housing organizations and currently provides funds to eligible organizations through competitive grants under several initiatives to carry out education and outreach and enforcement activities to prevent or eliminate discriminatory housing practices and to inform individuals of their rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The Initiatives are: the Fair Housing Organization Initiative (FHOI), the Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI), and the Education and Outreach Initiative (EOI). In addition, consistent with HUD appropriations directives, FHEO is publishing a separate NOFO for Test Coordinator Training under the Education and Outreach Initiative. This FHOI NOFO makes available $1,820,000 under the Continued Development Component (CDC) and $1,880,000 under the Establishing New Organizations Component (ENOC). The CDC provides funds to eligible non-profit fair housing organizations to build their capacity and effectiveness to conduct enforcement related activities such as but not limited to: investigating housing discrimination allegations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, source of income or religious bias, or expanding testing experience in mortgage lending discrimination or appraisal bias. The ENOC provides funds to Qualified Fair Housing Enforcement Organizations (QFHOs) (“sponsoring organizations”) to establish new, separate organizations (“sponsored organizations”) to engage in fair housing work, particularly in areas of the country which are currently unserved or underserved by fair housing enforcement organizations. Eligible activities under the ENOC are those that establish a single organization to become a viable regional/local fair housing enforcement organization that will conduct testing and other fair housing enforcement-related activities.

Helpful resources and research

• The Justice in Government Project at American University has curated research briefs on how civil legal aid helps survivors of domestic violence and vulnerable populations. You can access the briefs here.
• Want help making your case? The Justice Index scores and ranks states on their adoption of best practices for ensuring access to justice. Find how well your state is doing here.
• View the National Legal Aid Resource Development Technical Assistance Project, which is co-sponsored by the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense (SCLAID) and its Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives, the Management Information Exchange (MIE), the National Association of IOLTA Programs (NAIP), and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) http://ambar.org/abarray

Grant information

Funding Title: Fair Housing Initiatives Program – Fair Housing Organizations Initiative

Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban Development

Funding Opportunity Number: FR-6800-N-21-B

Funding Instrument Type: Grant

Express Language for Legal Aid: No

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No

Estimated Total Program Funding: $ 3,700,000

Award Ceiling: $1,880,000

Award Floor: $100,000

Number of Awards: 8

Current Closing Date for Applications: Applications are due 11:59 PM EST on November 19, 2024

How to apply: All application materials, including the Application Instructions and Application Package, are available through Grants.gov. You must access and review all available application materials. You must submit your application electronically via Grants.gov under the Funding Opportunity Number cited within this NOFO. Your application must list the applicable Funding Opportunity Number.
You can request a waiver from the requirement for electronic submission, if you demonstrate good cause. An example of good cause may include: a lack of available Internet access in the geographic area in which your business offices are located. However, lack of SAM registration or valid UEI is not good cause. If you cannot submit your application electronically, you must ask in writing for a waiver of the electronic application submission requirements. HUD will not grant a waiver if you fail to submit to HUD by email or postmark by mail a request for a waiver at least 15 calendar days before the application deadline. If HUD grants a waiver, a paper application must be received before the deadline for this NOFO. To request a waiver, you must contact:
Name: Stephanie Thomas
Email: Stephanie.W.Thomas@hud.gov

Eligible Applicants:

Eligible applicants under the Continued Development Component (CDC) are Qualified Fair Housing Enforcement Organizations (QFHOs), Fair Housing Enforcement Organizations (FHOs), and other private nonprofit organizations seeking to build their capacity to conduct fair housing enforcement activities. All applicants are required to complete Appendix B, FHOI Eligibility Certification, and submit it as a part of their application. Eligible applicants for the Establishing New Organizations Component (ENOC) are QFHOs that are sponsoring the creation of a new organization to conduct fair housing enforcement activities in areas of the country which are currently unserved or underserved. As a threshold requirement for FHOI-ENOC, the ENOC-sponsored organization is not eligible for additional funding under PEI until it becomes a QFHO or FHO. However, the ENOC sponsored organization is eligible to apply for additional EOI funding. FHOI-ENOC Sponsoring Organization Certification. Under the FHOI-ENOC competition, the sponsoring QFHO must submit the application and certify (Appendix B, Sections 1 and 2) that the proposed new organization has the ability to become a FHO by the end of the grant period of performance. The Sponsoring Organization’s Statement of Work (SOW) should reflect enforcement related activities for the sponsored organization by year two of the grant. Total funding is awarded to the sponsoring organization, which is responsible for distributing funding to the sponsored organization. The HUD GTR will conduct a monitoring review of the sponsored and sponsoring organizations to ensure all financial and management systems are adequate. If HUD makes the determination that financial and management systems of one or both of the organizations are inadequate, HUD may provide technical assistance or terminate the grant. The sponsoring organization will receive administrative funds not to exceed 25% of the grant funding per year to sponsor the new organization. The sponsoring organization may only expend up to that amount for its administrative purposes outlined in the Statement of Work. All other funds must be used for the purpose of establishing the new organization. Individuals, foreign entities, and sole proprietorship organizations are not eligible to compete for, or receive, awards made under this announcement.

For more information

Link to Full Announcement: Link to HUD.gov

Contact Information:

If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact:

Stephanie.W.Thomas@hud.gov

Categories: Homeless, Housing, Housing and Urban Development, Limited English Proficiency (LEP), Non-profit Organizations, Public Housing Organizations, Rural