Applications are due November 19, 2024

The Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) provides funding to eligible non-profits and other fair housing 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 Organizations Initiative (FHOI), the Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI) and the Education and Outreach Initiative (EOI). In addition, consistent with HUD appropriations directives, FHIP is publishing a separate NOFO under the EOI for Test Coordinator Training. This EOI NOFO makes available approximately $8,350,000 to develop, implement, carry out, and coordinate education and outreach programs designed to inform members of the public concerning their rights and obligations under the provisions of the FHA. Under this EOI NOFO, activities are divided into five components: EOI National – National Media Campaign Component. The national fair housing media campaign will focus on advancing racial equity and access to housing opportunities, especially in underserved communities. The campaign will include addressing barriers that may arise when people exercise their fair housing rights to expand housing choice. The campaign will also focus on educating the public about the forms of inequities based on race and national origin that can occur in real estate related transactions, including in the residential lending and appraisal markets. The campaign must provide for meaningful language access for persons of Limited English Proficiency and alternative forms of communication for individuals with disabilities. The campaign will provide information on how to file a housing discrimination complaint through HUD.EOI – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Component. This NOFO includes funding for fair housing organizations to create and/or update and disseminate fair housing materials to reflect the clarification that after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bostock decision (Bostock v. Clayton County, 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020)), the FHA bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. EOI – Advancing Racial Equity Component. This component will fund local and community-based education and outreach projects to promote racial desegregation, equity and justice in housing, and to address barriers that may arise when people protected under the FHA exercise their fair housing rights to expand their housing choice, consistent with the purpose of the FHA. These barriers include but are not limited to opposition to the creation and/or location of affordable housing, neighbor harassment based on race, and obstruction of persons who are seeking to enforce their fair housing rights. EOI – Targeted Fair Housing Component. This component targets organizations that demonstrate a need in their geographic area to work directly with populations of persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) to ensure they are aware of and understand their rights under the FHA. Funding may also be used for targeted education and outreach activities including fair housing services to underserved communities and underserved populations. EOI – General Component. This component provides funding for general fair housing education and outreach activities to inform people of their rights and responsibilities under the FHA. The Department encourages proposals which target antisemitic and Islamophobic discrimination, among other forms of housing discrimination.

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 Education and Outreach Initiative

Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban Development

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

Funding Instrument Type: Grant

Express Language for Legal Aid: No

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No

Estimated Total Program Funding: $8,350,000

Award Ceiling: $1,300,000

Award Floor: $75,000

Number of Awards: 61

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 may be Qualified Fair Housing Enforcement Organizations (QFHOs) and Fair Housing Enforcement Organizations (FHOs), agencies that participate in the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP), other agencies of State or local governments, public or private not-for-profit organizations or institutions, or other public or private entities that are formulating or carrying out programs to prevent or eliminate discriminatory housing practices. All applicants are required to complete Appendix B, EOI Eligibility Certification and submit as a part of their application. HUD will not evaluate applications from ineligible applicants. 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