Washington, DC --The Congress of National
Black Churches (CNBC) is the recent recipient of a $494,000 technical assistance
grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
The grant was awarded under HUD's Community
Development Technical Assistance Program's Super Notice of Fund Availability
(SuperNOFA). SuperNOFA is part of the HUD Management Reform Plan to empower
people to take the initiative in improving their communities. The competition
for funding was very intense. HUD awarded $21.6 million in funding to CNBC
and 70 other non-profit organizations.
"CNBC was selected based on what they could
bring to the table and the programs they have coordinated in the past."
said HUD Assistant Secretary Cardell Cooper. "The organization provided
an excellent test case and has also been very successful in coordinating
programs for people of low to moderate income.' CNBC's on-going partnership
with Bank of America was one of the major factors that helped the organization
receive the grant.
The funds will be used as part or CNBC's
Community Development program. This program was developed out of CNBC's
Church Rebuilding and Arson Initiative effort which restored burned churches
in the south and promoted ecumenical and multi-racial inclusiveness. The
grant will enable CNBC to provide technical assistance to member church
affiliates in South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri and Indiana. CNBC
member affiliates in these areas are focusing on community and economic
development as well as affordable housing in neighborhoods surrounding
their churches. This grant complements CNBC's current role as a national
intermediary organization for housing counseling, and expands its outreach
to churches and communities.
"CNBC is excited about the opportunity
to expand our technical assistance capabilities and provide services to
neighborhoods That desperately need the support," said Executive Director
Sullivan Robinson. "We will focus on under-served communities that have
been traditionally overlooked by development initiatives.
Founded in 1978 and based in Washington,
DC, CNBC is an ecumenical coalition of eight major historically African-American
denominations: African Methodist Episcopal; African Methodist Episcopal
Zion; Christian Methodist Episcopal; Church of God in Christ; National
Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.; National Baptist Convention of America;
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America and the Progressive National
Baptist Convention, Inc. Together, these denominations represent 65,000
member churches and a congregation membership of more than 20 million people.
CNBC' s mission is to foster Christian unity, charity and fellowship and
to collaborate in ministries which promote justice, wholeness, fulfillment
and affirm the moral and spiritual values of faith.