50 Years of Idaho CDBG - CEDA's role

This month the Idaho Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program celebrates its 50th anniversary.   This federal program allocates funding to each state to support local projects to meet objectives to support qualified communities.  According to the Idaho Dept. of Commerce “throughout the program’s lifespan, it has awarded over $370,000,000 to Idaho communities, funding over 1,000 projects.”    Project categories include construction and improvements to critical public facilities and infrastructure, downtown revitalization, disaster recovery, rehabilitation of public parks and senior centers, acquisition of fire engines, and expansion of public infrastructure for job creation.

CEDA has been an instrumental partner with Commerce and local communities developing and administering CDBG-funded projects.  Since the mid-1990’s, CEDA has delivered over $23,000,000 in direct grant support for 74 projects in north central Idaho and a few projects outside of our region.

Commerce is sharing information on past projects on its web and social media sites. Their first feature is the Clearwater Valley Hospital ER expansion.  This was a project CEDA developed in 2001.  The CDBG was $360,000 and it was constructed for around $1 million, with matching support provided by the hospital foundation.

Planning and development of projects take some lead time.  If your community has needs, please reach out to CEDA Community Development Specialist Mariah Miller, [email protected]