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CDAP GRANTS HELP SMALL
COMMUNITIES MEET PUBLIC
FACILITIES, HOUSING NEEDS
By JAN M. GRAYSON, Director
Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs
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Providing safe, decent housing and promoting public health and safety are among the most important
duties of any city, town or village. Unfortunately, many
small communities face difficulty meeting this charge
— both aging infrastructure and rapid growth can lead
to problems.
In Illinois, small communities can get help through
the Community Development Assistance Program
(COAP). Funded through the federal government's
Community Development Block Grant for small cities,
CDAP grants are administered by the Department of
Commerce and Community Affairs. The grants are
awarded on a statewide, competitive basis to local governments in communities with populations of 50,000 or
less that are not located within one of the six large urban
counties that receive funds directly from the federal
government.
Illinois' CDAP has four components: economic development grants, typically awarded to assist a community in retaining or attracting a business opportunity;
public facilities grants, often used to help communities
construct or update water and sewer systems to alleviate a threat to public health or safety; housing grants,
which help ensure that safe, decent housing is available
to low- and moderate-income families; and emergency
public facilities grants, which can be essential to communities that have experienced needs due to a flood,
tornado or other emergency.
Over the past decade, DCCA has awarded millions
of dollars in CDAP grants to assist small Illinois communities in improving the lives of their citizens; in fact,
since 1984, DCCA has awarded more than $97 million
in CDAP grants under the public facilities and housing
components alone. Earlier this year, the Department
awarded $7 million in public facilities grants to 31
communities, and awarded $4 million to 26 communities to assist in housing rehabilitation efforts.
Communities receiving public facilities grants this
year include: Athens, Bement, Breese, Brown County,
Bushnell, Carbondale Township, Diamond, Donovan,
Exeter, Fairbury, Grafton, Hamilton County, Hebron,
luka, Kingston Mines, McLeansboro, Macoupin
County, Mound City, Mt. Vernon, Ottawa, Ridgway,
St. David, Schuyler County, Seneca, Sparta, Stanford,
Toluca, Trenton, Vermilion, Villa Grove and West
Frankfort.
Housing rehabilitation grants this year have been
awarded to: Barry, Benton, Browning, Cambria, Centreville, Edwards County, Freeport, Fulton County,
Harrisburg, Herrin, Macomb, McLeansboro, Orient,
Pulaski County, Rankin, Ripley, Shawneetown, Sun
River Terrace, Tazewell County, Ullin, Union County,
Villa Grove, Wabash County, Wayne County, West
Frankfort and White County.
DCCA is now reviewing the latest round of applications under the public facilities component, with
awards expected near the end of September. Applications for CDAP housing rehabilitation grants are due to
the Department by October 1, 1991.
DCCA staff are available to answer any questions
you may have regarding the Community Development
Assistance Program. Contact Mark Gauss at 217-785-6156. •
August 1991 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 19