A. Purpose
Each year the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) releases a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Grants Competition. The City of Durham's Department of Community Development (the Department), as the Durham CoC's Lead Agency, is soliciting pre-applications from organizations that are interested in applying for funding in the 2022 HUD CoC Homeless Grants Competition later this summer. The Department anticipates that the Durham Coe may be allowed to apply for between $1.75 and $2 million in the 2022 HUD Coe Homeless Grants Competition.
This section provides instructions for submitting pre-applications. Organizations wishing to be considered for funding through the HUD CoC Homeless Grants Competition MUST submit one pre-application for the organization and include information in the pre-application about all projects for which it intends to seek CoC funding. Projects and organizations MUST meet all Project and Organization Minimum Requirements included in this pre-application phase to be approved to apply for HUD CoC funding. Pre-applications that are incomplete or include inaccurate responses will be considered unacceptable and may result in an organization and its projects being found ineligible for being recommended for CoC grant funding by the Durham Continuum of Care.
This is a competitive grants process. Organizations that submit a pre-application and are approved to submit a full project application after HUD releases the 2022 NOFO may not be recommended by the Durham CoC to HUD for funding. Projects recommended to HUD for funding may not be awarded HUD funding. An organization that does not believe it was afforded an equitable opportunity to participate in the Durham CoC's grants competition may submit a "Solo Application" to HUD following the instructions HUD will provide in the NOFO.
B. Pre-Application Schedule
1. Pre-application Issued: April 11. 2022
2. Pre-Application Workshop (virtual only): 10 AM, April 22, 2022
3. Written Question and Response Period: April 23-May 6, 2022
4. Written Questions and Responses Posted: May 13, 2022
5. Pre-applications Due (in this ZoomGrants website): May 24, 2022 by 3:00 PM Late pre-applications will not be accepted.
6. Notification of Acceptance/Rejection of Pre-application: May 28, 2022
7. Appeals Period: May 29-June 4, 2022
8. Notification of Appeals Results: June 10, 2022
9. Final Appeals to HSAC Executive Committee: June 16, 2022
10. Final Pre-application Decisions by HSAC Executive Committee: June 27, 2022
C. Requests for Clarification/Questions
Questions regarding this pre-application shall be submitted via e-mail within this ZoomGrants website via the "Ask A PreApplication Question" link. The deadline for the submission of written questions is May 6, 2022 at 4:30 PM. Answers to submitted questions will be posted at the Durham CoC website (www.durhamcoc.org) by 4:30 PM on May 13, 2022. Questions concerning using ZoomGrants.com or of a technical nature should be addressed to ZoomGrants.com support staff via the "Help" icon on the website.
D. Pre-Application Workshop
The Department will conduct an optional virtual Pre-Application Workshop on Friday, April 22, 2022 at 10 AM. A registration link for this workshop will be distributed to the Durham CoC membership. During the workshop, CoC Lead Agency staff will provide an overview of the HUD CoC program, eligible uses of CoC funds, the Durham CoC competition and schedule. The staff will attempt to answer any questions raised during the workshop. Oral answers to oral questions will NOT be posted to the CoC website. The Pre-Application Workshop will be held virtually only. A recording of the workshop will be posted to the Durham CoC website within three business days of the workshop.
E. Review of Pre-Applications
The Department reserves the right to reject any and all pre-applications received in response to this solicitation. The Department will notify organizations in writing via email by 4:30 PM on May 27, 2022 whether they have qualified for submitting full CoC grant application(s) after HUD releases the 2022 NOFO. Projects that have not qualified initially will have until 4:30 PM on June 3 2022 to provide a written appeal via email and additional documentation to establish that the organization is qualified to submit a full project application(s). Should the Department determine that the organization still has not satisfied the requirements to submit a full CoC application, the organization shall have until June 16, 2022 to submit a second and final appeal in writing to the Executive Committee of the Homeless Services Advisory Committee (HSAC). The Executive Committee will make a final determination whether an organization is qualified to submit a project grant application no later than June 30, 2022.
F. Supplemental Pre-Application Phase
The Department reserves the right to re-open the pre-application phase of this grants competition after HUD releases the NOFO should the Department determine that qualified organizations have not expressed interest, cumulatively, in applying for all of the funds that the Durham Continuum of Care is eligible to apply for in this 2022 grants competition. Any additional pre-applications must meet the same minimum requirements established in this solicitation.
New organizations may submit a pre-application in any supplemental pre-application process the Department may initiate. Organizations that were determined to not qualify for submission of a full CoC project application during the initial preapplication process may not resubmit a pre-application during any supplemental solicitation phase. The schedule of any supplemental pre-application period will be determined by the Department after the NOFO is released. Any appeals of a decision that an organization does not meet the qualifications to submit a full CoC project application will be considered by the HSAC's Executive Committee.