Business View Magazine - November 2016

Business View Magazine - November 2016 97 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.”