The grant application round for FY23 is closed.
Modeled on EOHED’s Urban Agenda Program, the Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program seeks proposals for projects and programming located within eligible communities that entail community-driven responses to community-defined economic opportunities, and that build leadership, collaboration, and capacity at the local level. The Administration recognizes that some communities face unique challenges, and that the path to success lies in tapping into and strengthening the unique local assets that they already possess.
Program Information
The Administration is pleased to announce the second round of the Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program. This program seeks to develop, strengthen, and invest in community-led efforts to bring positive economic outcomes to communities that face historically disproportionate challenges to economic growth. Specifically, the program was developed to support communities with high rates of incarceration and/or recidivism, widespread poverty, and large groups of disadvantaged and underrepresented populations.
The Community Empowerment and Reinvestment program is administered by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) and offers flexible grant funding to support local partnerships. The program is designed to support projects in communities and neighborhoods across the Commonwealth that are led by these community-based coalitions, to carry out programming that meets the goals of the program as outlined in the state budget line item.
Like EOHED’s Urban Agenda Grant Program, the initiative seeks proposals for projects and programming that entail community-driven responses to community-defined economic opportunities, and that build leadership, collaboration, and capacity at the local level. The Administration recognizes that some communities face unique challenges, and that the path to success lies in tapping into and strengthening the unique local assets that they already possess.
The program will make general operating grants, on a competitive basis, primarily to projects proposing to mitigate the negative impacts of incarceration through education, training, and small business development, as well as recovery, prevention, and other social support services to individuals and families that to help reduce justice system involvement. The program will not fund capital projects or purchases, including but not limited to real property purchase and/or renovation.
The Commonwealth’s economic development plan, Partnerships for Growth, highlights Equitable Opportunity as a guiding principle – noting that opportunity and growth to people and places that have not fully benefitted from the state’s overall prosperity, will have significant positive effects on families and communities. In addition, the Governor’s Black and Latino Advisory Commissions both published reports outlining strategies that emphasized workforce advancement and business competitiveness as critical to advancing equity and increasing economic outcome in communities that have historically been disadvantaged, and the Administration believes that these recommendations offer a clear path forward for progress.
For reference and access to the Commissions’ reports:
How to Apply / Key Dates
The Application Deadline is September 14, 2022 @ 5:00 PM.
Please note: as of August 23, 2022, revisions have been made to the list of acceptable verifications for applications over $500,000. The RFP, application template, and application form reflect those changes.
Community Empowerment FY23 RFP - Updated (PDF)
Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program FY23 Budget Form (to be completed and uploaded into the application)
Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Application Template FY23 - Updated (PDF)
Informational Webinar
Please use the link below to access a recording of the informational webinar held on Tuesday August 9, 2022.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please use the link below to access the 2022 CERM FAQ, updated September 7, 2022.