For over 30 years, CCRH has provided training and technical assistance to local governments, Native American tribes, and community-based organizations on use of federal, state, and local housing programs and strategies.  
 
Since 2000, we have administered a dozen capacity-building grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  These grants have been used to build tenants’ organizations, create new housing and community development leaders, grow the assets of low-income savers, promote fair housing goals, and strengthen the ability of over 40 local and tribal governments and grassroots groups to access and implement government-funded housing and community development programs. 
 
Capacity-building assistance has included on-site technical assistance and group trainings, as well as webinars and online tutorials, targeted specifically to local government, tribal, and organizational housing staff, elected officials, boards of directors, and local community and tenant activists.    
 
Most recently, CCRH has played a central role helping Northern California tribes generate over $2.6 million in non-traditional funding from HUD, including ICDBG, and other sources for tribal housing projects, as well as coordination of over 80 leadership development institutes and preparation of the Fair Housing Equity Assessment for the HUD Sustainable Regional Planning Grant Smart Valley Places Project in California’s San Joaquin Valley. 

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PREP

Through capacity needs assessments, core competency trainings, and specific technical assistance, Pathways to Rural Economic Progress (PREP) provides city staff and community leaders with the skills to proactively address the ongoing challenges of distressed housing and economic decline.

 

In September 2014, CCRH and our partners at the California State University, Fresno, Office of Economic and Community Development (OCED) completed the first phase of PREP under a 2-year Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) grant from USDA Rural Development. 

 

During the grant period, CCRH and OCED provided technical assistance to 14 cities, three non-profit organizations, and one tribe. We conducted 8 group trainings and workshops and regularly provided on-site assistance for each recipient. Examples of projects and assistance provided include:

 

• Housing and community infrastructure needs assessments

• Upgrades of recipient websites to support business development

• Housing project and site planning

• Updates of city economic development strategies

• Updates of city economic development and infrastructure plans

• Development of public/private economic development task forces

• Nonprofit board development.

 

In October 2014, CCRH and OCED received an additional RCDI grant to continue providing technical assistance to 10 rural cities, tribes, and non-profit organizations in the San Joaquin Valley (PREP-SJV II).

 

Current recipients include the cities of Firebaugh, Mendota, San Joaquin, Parlier, Orange Cove, Biola, Home Garden, Avenal, and Taft, tribal organizations North Fork Rancheria and Tule River Indian Reservation, and non-profit organizations including the Allensworth Progressive Association, George Washington Carver Center in South Dos Palos, and Yosemite Sequoia Resource Conservation and Development Council in North Fork.