The City of Raleigh Community Enhancement Grant program is designed to fund public services that support neighborhood improvements or innovative services for low- and moderate-income persons and neighborhoods. The grant program is funded through the City’s federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

The primary objective of the CDBG program is to develop viable communities by providing decent housing, suitable living environments and economic development opportunities, principally to low- and moderate-income residents. Because federal funds are used to support the Community Enhancement Program, agencies must have the capacity to meet federal requirements if awarded a grant. No program will be awarded funds more than two years in a row.

Funding Information

• Total funding for the Community Enhancement Program will be approximately $200,000.
• To be eligible, applications must request at least $10,000 but no more than $60,000.
• Applications requesting less than $10,000 or more than $60,000 will be rejected by the Review Committee and will not be reviewed.
• In keeping with City of Raleigh policy, all applications requesting amounts exceeding $25,000 must include audited financial statements in the application packet to be considered by the Review Committee.

Scope of Services

• Eligible uses:
  • Examples of eligible activities include, but are not limited to:
    • Assisting households successfully exit homelessness
    • Assisting ex-offenders reintegrate into civil society
    • Job training
    • Youth tutoring/gang prevention
    • Substance abuse prevention/treatment
    • Counseling
    • Child care
    • Services for older adults
  • Please note that purchase of small electronics such as computers, pads/tablets, telephones, and accessories is not an eligible cost for the Community Enhancement Grant.
• Ineligible uses:
  • The following are not eligible to be funded through the Community Enhancement Grant:
    • General administrative support/general agency operations
    • Housing construction
    • Public services for persons with incomes greater than 80% of area median income (AMI)
• Funding priority populations:
  • Projects that serve:
    • Persons who are exiting homelessness
    • Extremely low-income persons (incomes at or below 30% AMI)
    • Low-income youth
    • Persons who are disabled
    • Victims of domestic violence
    • Persons living with HIV/AIDS
    • Seniors
  • New projects that address demonstrated gaps in services for low- and moderate-income persons

Eligibility Criteria

• The Community Enhancement Grant is given each year to nonprofit and faith-based organizations to build human capacity within blighted or low- and moderate-income areas.
• Funds for this program are given through the federal Community Development Block Grant program. Applicants are judged based on the soundness of the program proposal, fiscal responsibility of the organization, the mission and track record of the organization, and other program requirements.

For more information, visit The City of Raleigh.