Make your voice heard on how Madison and Dane County should spend federal HUD funds

The City of Madison enjoys the benefits we receive from funding provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to HOME and Emergency Solutions (ESG) programs.

In 2023, the City used approximately $10 million in federal funding to support initiatives centered around affordable housing, neighborhood centers, support for new small businesses, job creation, and efforts undertaken by a local service network to reduce homelessness in our community. These federal funds are often paired with City and State funds to maximize their impact. Here’s a snapshot of what we accomplished with these funds in 2023:

• We used $366,000 of federal funds, along with nearly $1 million in City funds, to support a network of 15 neighborhood centers. These dollars went towards center operations which, together, supported nearly 32,000 unique residents last year.
• We invested more than $7.1 million in federal funds and $4.2 million in City funds to construct or rehabilitate more than 830 units of affordable housing.
• We invested $1.4 million in federal funds to help more than 150 homeowners make repairs needed to ensure their homes remain safe and healthy places to live.
• We combined $1.8 million of federal funds with $140,000 of State funds to provide financial assistance to 44 families that enabled them buy their first homes.
• We combined $238,000 of federal funds, $2.1 million of City funds and $740,000 of State funds to support a network of local service providers that helped more than 2,800 individuals who were experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
• We invested nearly $365,000 in federal funds to help create or grow more than 1,400 small businesses in Madison.

This gives a glimpse of how we have used these resources in recent years, but now it is time for us to look forward to the next 5 years. We must create a 5-year road map, what we call a Consolidated Plan, that describes how we will use these funds from 2025-29.

Do you think the uses described above should continue, or do you have different ideas? We want to know what you think.

There are a number of ways you can share your thoughts and priorities with us as well as keep up to date on the Consolidated Plan process:

• Take a 10 minute survey you can complete in English, Spanish, Hmong, or Chinese;
• Listen and call into the radio to hear from us in Spanish on La Movida (95.5 FM and 1480 AM) on May 7th at 9am, or listen to the recording at https://www.lamovidaradio.com/. 
• Email us directly at cdd@cityofmadison.com; and
• Visit our webpage to stay up-to-date on the process.

We want to hear from many voices in Madison, including families and community partners such as non-profit groups, housing developers, and business owners. Please take the survey and spread the word!