USDA COMMUNITY FACILITIES DIRECT LOANS AND GRANTS

Community Facilities Direct Loans and Grants provide affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas (“Essential Community Facilities”), which are facilities that (a) provide an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and (b) do not include private, commercial or business undertakings.

An applicant must be a public body, community-based nonprofit corporation, or a federally-recognized Tribe (the “Loan/Grant Applicant”).

A successful Loan/Grant Applicant may use its Community Facilities Direct Loan or Grant to (a) purchase, construct, and/or improve essential community facilities; (b) purchase equipment; and (c) pay related project expenses.

Examples of Essential Community Facilities include: (a) health care facilities (such as hospitals, medical clinics, dental clinics, nursing homes or assisted living facilities); (b) public facilities (such as town halls, courthouses, airport hangars or street improvements); (c) community support services (such as child care centers, community centers, fairgrounds or transitional housing); (d) public safety services (such as fire departments, police stations, prisons, police vehicles, fire trucks, public works vehicles or equipment); (e) educational services (such as museums, libraries or private schools); (f) utility services (such as telemedicine or distance learning equipment); and (g) local food systems (such as community gardens, food pantries, community kitchens, food banks, food hubs or greenhouses).