Vermont Community Development Program

The Vermont Community Development Program (VCDP) assists communities on a competitive basis by providing financial and technical assistance to identify and address local needs in the areas of:

• housing
• economic development
• public facilities
• public services
• handicapped accessibility modifications

Eligibility

Any Vermont town, city (except Burlington), incorporated village chartered to function as a general purpose unit of local government, or a consortium of such entities, is eligible for funding. However, the majority of projects are a coordinated effort between the municipalities, community groups and local or state non-profit organizations or small businesses.

Grant Types

VCDP provides federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for eligible activities through the following application types:

• Accessibility Modification Grants (AM) (Grant Range: $5,000-$100,000) - Example: Bring municipally-owned buildings and libraries into compliance with state and federal accessibility requirements.
   
• Implementation Grants (IG) (Grant Range: $50,000-$1,000,000)  -  Examples: Assist businesses to create or retain jobs, create or rehabilitate housing  units, build infrastructure, create or assist childcare and senior centers etc.
   
• Planning Grants (PG) (Grant Range: $3,000-$60,000)  - Examples: Conduct feasibility studies and marketing plans, produce architectural and engineering plans, etc.
   
• Scattered Site Grants (SS) (Grant Range: $50,000-$1,000,000) - Example: Rehabilitate scattered site housing projects.

VCDP funds must primarily benefit persons of low and moderate income. In addition, assistance is provided to communities for threats of health and safety issues as urgent needs and slums and blight projects.