December 2023

REFUSE TO SURRENDER
How an Underdog
City Applied for
a $10 Million
Federal
Grant
Louisiana’s villages and small towns struggle with infrastructure
issues. There is money available, but sometimes
applying requires a Herculean effort. Our neighbors
in Texas have found a way to take down Goliath
and put together a $10 million dollar application for federal
funding. The story below lays out the blueprint for how
Killeen, Texas, did it, and how you can do it, too.
Across the southeast, from Texas to Virginia, cities and towns
overflow with ideas, hopes, needs, and dreams. Unfortunately,
most find themselves wrestling with the realities of fragile
infrastructure, an affordable housing crisis, population fluctuations,
and little capacity to access the pots of federal funding
at the end of the rainbow that can help bring needed relief to
communities. Even preparing to apply for a federal grant may
seem daunting at best, impossible at worst. While the promise
of federal aid exists at historic levels, for those who have never
applied for a federal grant, where do you start? What does it
take to apply for these large funding pots and make the promise
of a better community a reality?
Let us look deep in the heart of Texas – Killeen to be exact.
With a population of a little over 160,000 residents, this city
sits about seventy miles north of Austin and adjacent to Fort
Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) military base, which is the primary
driver of the city’s economy. For 10 years, Killeen has
seen rapid population increases driven by the presence of
military families. This steady growth over the last decade and
disinvestment in North Killeen has led to a lack of sufficient resources
to support neighborhood revitalization. The city had
the opportunity to apply for a $10 million “Pathways to Removing
Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing)” grant. If awarded,
this grant will fund the implementation of a 10-year comprehensive
housing strategy to address local housing needs
by increasing affordable, energy-efficient housing through
owner-occupied rehabilitation, rental housing development/
preservation fund, anti-displacement strategies, equitable access,
and blight mitigation and demolition.
Start with identifying partners. Separated by only
a few miles, the City of Killeen and Fort Cavazos recognized that
while maintaining separate housing portfolios, their interdependence
made a more compelling case for federal grant assistance
to bolster their underserved community. In a letter of
support for the grant, US Army Colonel Lakicia R. Stokes wrote,
“Installation leadership recognizes the value of Housing and Urban
Development’s (HUD) strategic goals of supporting underserved
communities, ensuring access to, and increasing production of
affordable housing, promoting homeownership, and advancing
sustainable communities. As a priority geography, we stand ready
to partner with the City of Killeen and HUD to advance these strategic
goals so that Soldiers, Veterans, and their Families have access
to quality, affordable housing meeting their needs in the City of
Killeen, Bell County, and the Central Texas Region.”
Partnerships with mutually beneficial outcomes are key. Just
like Killeen found a formidable ally in Fort Cavazos, many cities
and towns should identify similar community-based organizations
(CBOs) and entities to join forces with to improve outcomes
when applying for federal grants.
Look for technical assistance. Killeen is the story of
the underdog. It is the tale of a small city facing a rising housing
crisis and lacking the resources, institutional knowledge, or
capacity to address the issues alone. Tiffanie McNair, Executive
LMR | DECEMBER 2023 Page 19