CDA Seeks Community Advisory Committee Members

The City of St. Louis - Community Development Administration (CDA) is forming a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) as we work to transform neighborhoods, build community, and expand affordable housing in the City of St. Louis. 

CDA is seeking interested St. Louis residents who will meet on a monthly basis from February 2025 to December 2025. The CDA CAC will provide feedback and input through CDA's planning and funding processes. CDA seeks a committee that represents the diversity of our City including but not limited to a balance of race, profession, interests, income, education, geography, gender, and age. 

If you are interested in applying, please complete the application by February14 , 2025. Click here for the application.

If you have any questions, please contact Tom Nagel, Public Information Officer for CDA, at nagelt@stlouis-mo.gov or 314-657-3813. 

The CDA Consolidated Plan Committee meeting in April 2024. The CDA CAC will be a year-round committee. 

Do you know St. Louis? CDA is seeking nine total Committee members who are… 

• From diverse City neighborhoods, backgrounds, professions, and experiences
• Up to two committee persons may live outside of the City of St. Louis and must... 
  • Have strong connections to and expertise about the City of St. Louis
  • Have lived in the City of St. Louis for at least five years at some time
  • Must live in the St. Louis Region and be able to attend in-person meetings
• Knowledgeable and passionate about the St. Louis community - not necessarily government policy experts. For example, we’re looking for everyday St. Louis residents who know and care about the city. If you live or work in St. Louis and want to help shape its future, we want to hear from you!
• Ready to study CDA’s Consolidated Plan and formula grant programs.

Please note that individuals employed by CDA-funded programs or organizations are not eligible to join the CDA CAC. However, CDA-funded entities and staff are always encouraged to share their feedback via public comment.

When will the CDA Citizen Advisory Committee meet? Meetings will be bi-monthly on Tuesday evenings. The committee will meet in person with a virtual option. Additional meetings ahead of the Neighborhood Transformation Grant Housing Production cycle (Spring) and Neighborhood Transformation Grant Social Services CDBG Funding Cycle (Summer) will be held TBD as needed by the group to review the grant opportunities’ parameters. CDA CAC members will also be invited to special events like CDA tours, open houses, and other public engagement activities.

What is the Community Development Administration? The Community Development Administration, or CDA, is a City Department established in 1974 to administer Housing and Community Development Act funds. Today, CDA serves as a clearinghouse for a variety of federal, state and local funds for the City of St. Louis. CDA is committed to leveraging funds to drive economic justice and neighborhood transformation, and to ensuring funding priorities are determined through community driven and data informed processes.

What is the Consolidated Plan? The Consolidated Plan, or ConPlan, is a five-year plan that entitlement jurisdictions must produce in order to receive federal funding distributed via formula grant programs by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The plan is intended to align and focus funding from HUD grant programs on the City’s unmet needs. HUD also requires all entitlement jurisdictions to submit action plans and performance reports on an annual basis which track how the city is progressing towards the goals set forth in the consolidated plan. www.stlouis-mo.gov/CDA/consolidated-plan

What are formula grant programs? Each year the City of St. Louis receives roughly $25M in formula funding through four programs: Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG). All formula grant funds must be deployed to meet one of HUD’s three national objectives: serving low to moderate income households, eliminating slum and blight, and responding to urgent needs. 

How does the City currently spend formula grant funds? HUD funds are managed by the City’s Community Development Administration, and have historically funded a wide range of public and private entities providing social services, building affordable housing, activating vacant properties, and empowering communities. HUD funds are currently supporting the development of over 1000 units of affordable housing, and support over 5000 low to moderate income (LMI) St. Louis residents with social services on an annual basis. 

What other funding sources does CDA make grants with? In addition to HUD formula grant programs, CDA administers several other funding sources to support community development and affordable housing initiatives in St. Louis. These include:

• Economic Development Sale Tax Funds – Investments that stimulate business growth, job creation, and neighborhood revitalization.
• Proposed Affordable Housing Revolving Loan Fund (Rams Settlement Funds) – CDA is leveraging funds from the RAMS settlement to establish a revolving loan fund, which will help finance housing development and long-term neighborhood stability. Learn more about the proposed fund here. 
• Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) – Federal funding to support infrastructure improvements in flash flood and flood disaster-affected areas in the City of St. Louis. Learn more about CDBG-DR programs here. 
• HUD Section 108 Loan Program – A financing tool that allows the City to borrow against future CDBG allocations, making it possible to fund large-scale affordable housing projects and major development efforts.

These funding sources expand CDA’s ability to invest in housing, economic development, and community revitalization, ensuring that more resources are available to support St. Louis residents.

What is a NOFA? Formula grant funds are announced through a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), which invites developers and organizations to submit proposals for funding. Each NOFA outlines the funding parameters, eligibility requirements, and priorities based on the City’s Annual Action Plan, which identifies the most pressing community needs.

The NOFA also establishes rating priorities, which determine how applications are evaluated. These priorities are both geographic — targeting specific neighborhoods or areas — and programmatic, focusing on key services such as youth programs, senior services, food access, and more. Housing-related funding is often more geographically focused to align with community development goals - and marking markets in disinvested neighborhoods.

Before the NOFA is released, the CDA CAC will be invited to review it to ensure that the funding priorities align with the Consolidated Plan and the city's needs. Typically, the Housing NOFA is announced in early spring, while the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) NOFA for social services is announced in late summer.

Where can I learn more? You can learn more about CDA's work in our news archives. Additionally, you can learn more about how the City located its most recent tranche of formula funds by reviewing the2024 Action Plan here and 2024 Funding Recommendation slides here. Finally, you can review the impact that these funds have on the community by reviewing the City’s Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation report and summary slides here,