Business View Magazine - August 2016 77
and Urban Development. The annual fees they pay are
based on their population size. So-called Non-Entitle-
ment communities – those cities and towns that don’t
receive a direct allocation from HUD, but rather from
their states – may also join for a reduced fee. So may
Alumni Members - individuals previously employed in
the community development and/or housing adminis-
trator capacity of an active NCDA member community
– and any college or post- graduate students in the
community development field. The NCDA is solely sup-
ported through its membership dues, and conference
and training fees.
Still going strong after 40 years, the CDBG program
has benefited countless American individuals, fami-
lies, neighborhoods, and communities. It has fund-
ed food banks, family counseling centers, homeless
shelters, parks, playgrounds, recreation centers, and
accessible and affordable housing; it has helped revi-
talize inner-city business districts with small business
loans, and improved store facades and streetscapes;
it has helped seniors and low-income homeowners
make necessary safety repairs to their abodes; it has
helped stabilize neighborhoods hardest hit by foreclo-
sures and delinquencies to help individuals purchase,
rehabilitate, or redevelop their homes. In short, the
program has made a difference in the lives of millions
of people across the nation.
According to Look, the NCDA serves those municipali-
ties and the professionals they employ to implement
these important CDGB programs, by providing “a
unified voice to HUD and to the federal government
to bring about concerns we have as program imple-
menters.” Watson sums it up this way: “We are lead-
ers in terms of Community Development Block Grant
protection.” And then she adds: “And that’s why it’s
important for those communities that aren’t members
to join the Association – so that they can be part of
that bigger voice.”
