Thriving Communities Videos

CED Social Enterprise: Helping Small Businesses in Milwaukee

Discover how the NorthWest Side Community Development Center is leveraging funding from the Office of Community Services (OCS) social enterprise fund from their Community Economic Development (CED) program to provide small businesses and entrepreneurs in Milwaukee with resources and training to achieve their dreams.

CSBG Bridging the Digital Divide: RurAL CAP’s Initiative for Equity in Alaska

Through the Digital Equity initiatives of the Rural Alaska Community Action Program (RurAL CAP), low-income families are empowered to break the cycle of poverty by gaining enhanced and equitable access to the internet in rural Alaska. This transformative initiative is made possible through funding from the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG).

Community Grocery Store Provides Quality Food and Jobs in Kansas City, Missouri

Grocery stores are job creators and healthy food providers; without them, community residents would not have access to fresh food that they can afford. Learn how Community Builders of Kansas City (CBKC) used Community Economic Development (CED) grant funds to prevent the Blue Parkway Sun Fresh grocery store from shutting its doors in Kansas City, Missouri. Now, the community has access to fresh, affordable, healthy food; and 32 community members have reliable employment with benefits.

OCS Spotlight: Missouri Affordable Housing and Employment

In this Office of Community Services (OCS) Spotlight we feature East Missouri Action Agency. Using Community Economic Development Funds, The East Missouri Action Agency developed their own construction company to provide affordable housing and high-quality employment opportunities in their community. This novel approach to creating jobs while addressing housing issues is creating a pathway to long term change through career training.

OCS Spotlight: Utah Housing Mediation

In this Office of Community Services (OCS) Spotlight we feature Utah Community Action. In 2021, they implemented a Housing Mediation program with Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) funds to help address the dramatic effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations in Utah. This program now reaches urban and rural beneficiaries statewide, working to keep children and families in their homes.

Using GIS Tech for Water and Wastewater Systems Improvements in Corsica, SD

The small town of Corsica, South Dakota needed to update its outdated water and wastewater systems — but was facing some tricky challenges. With the help of a Rural Community Development (RCD) grant, the Midwest Assistance Program (MAP) assisted this rural community in using technology like GIS (geographic information system) to manage their assets and make major system improvements that benefited the entire community.

Building Capacity for Clean Water Assurance in Mora County, NM

Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) used Rural Community Development (RCD) funds to train and build capacity of staff working in the Mora County Water Alliance in New Mexico. Using economies of scale to increase knowledge and streamline practices helped water system staff to meet compliance, receive funding, and ensure safe water for their communities.

Creating Meaningful Employment with Supportive Services in West Virginia

Learn how Coalfield Development Corporation helps boost the local economy in the coal communities of West Virginia. Through a Community Economic Development (CED) grant, Coalfield Development Corporation created Mountain Mindful apparel company to create job opportunities, growth opportunities, and support services for people who experience barriers to employment such as incarceration and substance use. The company provides employees with “power, purpose, and potential,” while creating sustainable apparel and promoting a diversified economic future in Appalachia.

Creating Quality, Career-Focused Jobs in Oklahoma

Learn how Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma, Inc. supports families and business growth in rural Oklahoma. Through a Community Economic Development (CED) grant, REI-Oklahoma supported OmniCare365, to expand and remodel its call center space to create 150 new job opportunities for individuals with low income who can grow their careers in a very rural community with a primarily manufacturing-based economy.

Supporting Economic Recovery and Community Health through a Historic Renovation in Louisiana

Learn how Gulf Coast Housing Partnership (GCHP) supports economic recovery and community health in New Orleans, LA. Through a Community Economic Development (CED) grant, GCHP supported the renovation of the historic Odyssey House Louisiana, the largest addiction treatment provider in the state. Odyssey House has helped the city move from a decades-long reliance on the oil and gas industry as a primary employer by creating jobs in healthcare and behavioral health that serve about 2,000 people per month with primary care, mental health, and substance abuse treatment, all under one roof.

Southeastern Kentucky Economic Development

Learn how Logan Corporation provides new business and high-quality jobs for individuals with low income who lost their jobs as mining closed in their community. The Logan Corporation is supported by Community Economic Development (CED) grantee, Southeastern Kentucky Economic Development Corporation, to pivot to meet the changing needs of this energy community.

Empowering Individuals by Addressing Barriers to Employment in Westmoreland County, PA

Learn how Community Economic Development (CED) grantee, Westmoreland Community Action (WCA), uses its grants to support American Architectural Salvage, a demolition and material re-sale business. American Architectural Salvage employs individuals who face barriers to employment such as substance abuse.

Gaining Independence through Employment in Arizona

Learn how The Hand of Grace helps individuals with intellectual delays gain their independence through employment opportunities. The Hand of Grace is supported by Community Economic Development (CED) grantee, Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), to expand its impact through CPLC’s social enterprise incubator.

Removing Graffiti and Creating Jobs in South Los Angeles

Learn how Community Economic Development (CED) grantee, Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD), used its grant to create jobs for individuals with low income who face barriers to employment while removing graffiti and beautifying their neighborhoods.

CED Program Highlight: Sherman Phoenix Project

The Community Economic Development Program (CED), administered by HHS/ACF/Office of Community Services (OCS), helps address the economic needs of low-income individuals and families by creating business development and employment opportunities. With CED funds, Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) supported the Sherman Phoenix Project, which created an entrepreneurial hub for small Black-owned businesses. Located in the Sherman Park neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Sherman Phoenix project has provided commercial space for small entrepreneurs, offering prepared foods, wellness services, and arts and cultural activities!

Extending Sewer Service to over 30 Households in Magnolia, Mississippi, Population 2,000

With an RCD grant, Communities Unlimited, Inc. supported the City of Magnolia, with leadership by the Mayor, to extend sewer service to the North Street area that the city annexed. About 34 households were connected to the sanitary sewer system with this extension project, which helped with not only environmental health and sanitation but residents’ overall quality of life and value of their properties. Communities Unlimited, Inc. provided technical assistance to low-income communities to achieve outcomes of improving public health, improving financial sustainability, improving environmental health, improving managerial capacity, and achieving compliance with environmental regulations.

Improving New Boston, Ohio’s Ancient Combined Sewer System

Small communities like the Village of New Boston, Ohio, strive to protect the health of the community, but due to circumstances such as small staff or missing expertise may find themselves facing deteriorated sewer systems. Great Lakes Community Action Partnership (GLCAP) assisted the Village with obtaining funding and developing the expertise needed to improve its sewer system. The Rural Community Development Program (RCD) helped the community decrease the inflow of excess water into the sewer system, remove combined sewer overflow violations and work toward EPA compliance, and engage in negotiations to obtain principal forgiveness and low interest loans to manage fines associated with non-compliance.

Technical Assistance Brings Reliable Public Drinking Water to Hobson Village, Virginia

Due to unsafe drinking water with extremely high levels of fluoride, residents of Hobson Village, Virginia, could not rely on their community’s water source. In 2017, with and RCD grant, the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project (SERCAP) provided the technical assistance needed to help the community understand the options available to them for connecting ot safe water, leverage funding for construction, and guide the community through a large project to finally connect safe water to the Village.

Training Certification for the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) to Ensure the Health of the River

For the Colorado River Indian Tribe (CRIT), located along the Colorado River on the Arizona-Colorado state border, “the health of the people depends on the health of the river.” With RCD funding, the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA) helped CRIT establish a water system on the reservation, supported a regional wastewater system—jointly operated by the CRIT nation and the town of Parker, Arizona—and implemented the tribal operator training and certification program, which uniquely meets the tribe’s need for sustained career development opportunities in the water and wastewater field.