Community Facilities Program (CF)

Federal Agency

Sub-Department

Rural Development

Purpose

To develop community facilities that provide essential services to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area. Funds can be used to purchase, construct, and/or improve essential community facilities, buy equipment, or pay necessary project costs.

Applicant and/or Project Eligibility Requirements

Eligible entities limited to rural areas including cities, villages, townships, and towns including Federally Recognized Tribal Lands with no more than 20,000 residents according to the latest U.S. Census Data are eligible for this program.

Decarbonization Considerations

Funding is intended to construct or renovate existing community facilities. Consider focusing on fundamental improvements to the energy efficiency and electrification of existing buildings, including weatherization of support facilities like community centers, schools, libraries, prisons, or transitional housing. Upgrading community facilities with solar plus battery storage can convert such facilities into community resiliency hubs that serve as emergency power centers and cooling centers. Community centers, libraries, schools, town halls, courthouses, and small airports could all serve in this capacity for emergencies. Similarly, consider using this funding to support resiliency through battery storage (as opposed to generators) for public safety operations and other critical facilities.

Equity Considerations

This funding directly helps rural communities that are removed from broader infrastructure systems. Enhancing community facilities to serve multiple purposes, including resiliency, is key as rural communities have less direct access to broader community health and safety services when disasters occur.

Helpful Tips

N/A

Other Notes

A list of prior grantees can be found here for 2020 and 2021: https://www.communitydevelopmentgrants.info/GrantDetails.aspx?gid=14925.