The County receives funding from HUD to operate a community development block grant (CDBG) program in its unincorporated areas and in the sixteen following cities with populations of less than 50,000:

The County receives about $2.3 million a year from HUD for this program which can be used for a variety of purposes as long as they either eradicate blight, principally benefit low/moderate income people, or eliminate a community-threatening condition. The County uses about 20% of this funding to operate the program and another 15% to fund a Home Loan Counseling Center. The remaining 65% is allocated to the cities using a formula that takes into account a city's population and the percentage of it that is low/moderate income.

Cities participating in the program are generally allowed to utilize their allocations, which typically range from about $60,000-$175,000, for whatever eligible projects they desire as long as they do not jeopardize the County’s ability to meet HUD’s annual spending requirement. Most of the money received by the cities is used for code enforcement and for capital improvement projects like reconstructing streets, replacing water/sewer lines, installing bridges, or renovating parks. Projects are typically determined every April-May. For more information about the County’s CDBG program, please call (214) 653-6368.

By virtue of its participation in the CDBG program, the County also receives HOME funding and Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) funding from HUD.  The County’s ESG funds are used to help assist the operation of homeless shelters. For more information about this funding, please call (214) 653-6359.

The County typically allocates its HOME funds to a down-payment/closing cost assistance program for low/moderate-income home-buyers and to a replacement housing program which demolishes owner-occupied low/moderate-income homes that are too dilapidated to be economically repaired and replaces them with newly constructed homes with about 1000 square feet. For more information about the down-payment assistance program, please call (214) 819-6060.  For more information about the replacement housing program, please call (214) 653-6884.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the County is also receiving one-time Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding, Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) funding, and CDBG-Recovery funding.

The County is receiving about $4.4 million in NSP funding which is being used by Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity to acquire vacant foreclosed homes in targeted neighborhoods within Duncanville, DeSoto, Lancaster, and Cedar Hill; repair them; and resell them to eligible home-buyers.   For more information about this program, please call Dallas Habitat at (214) 678-2379 or (214) 678-2339.

The County is using the $866,753 in HPRP funding that it is receiving to provide up to twelve months of  utility/rent assistance to people who are at-risk of becoming homeless.  For more information about the County's HPRP funding, please call (214) 653-6359.

The $556,867 that the County is receiving in CDBG-Recovery funding is being used to fund additional homes under the County's replacement housing program.