This morning, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors proclaimed the week of April 11 – 15 as “Community Development Week” as a means of highlighting the impact that federal housing funds have in Fairfax County – from acquiring, developing, rehabilitating, and preserving affordable housing opportunities to providing supportive services to our areas most vulnerable neighbors.

“The commemoration of National Community Development Week is, indeed, a celebration of what we have accomplished through the use of these federal housing dollars,” said Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority Vice Chairman Lenore Stanton. “But it is also an awakening to what yet remains and the role that these federal entitlements can and will have as we continue our work of building equitable communities throughout Fairfax County.”

Each year, Fairfax County receives between $7 and $9 million in combined Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program funding to support a variety of community initiatives. These funds help to:

• Address the challenge of homelessness
• Provide affordable housing options to special needs populations
• Meet the affordable housing needs of working families with low-income
• Increased workforce housing through creative partnerships and public policy

Nationally, every $1 of these federal entitlement funds leverages approximately $5 of additional private and public funding. Together, the collective efforts of Fairfax County and its committed network of partners are promoting housing stability, independence, and economic growth for thousands of Fairfax County residents each day.

“It may be tempting to look at the financials and say, ‘well these funds don’t make that much difference in the grand scheme of things’ but to do so would be a significant error,” said the Board of Supervisors Housing Committee Chairman John Foust. “These funds often represent the critical contributors in leveraging the additional public and private funding needed to bring these projects from concept to reality.”

Within the last 5 years alone, these funds have been used to create or preserve more than 1,000 units of affordable housing through acquisition or rehabilitation projects; enable over 130 low-income households to purchase homes with down payment assistance; provide targeted public services for nearly 6,000 low-income residents; and provide tenant-based rental assistance to approximately 45 low-income families each year.

To learn more about Community Development Week and for additional examples of how federal housing funds contribute to thousands of our neighbors, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/housing/news/2022/community-development-week-2022.