Operational Support Grant
Building and strengthening the capacity of CDCs.
The Operating Support Grant (OSG) is a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding source under HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).
The OSG is a competitive funding source made available through the City of Cincinnati Department of Community and Economic Development and is delivered to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) through HomeBase.
The OSG program provides operating and project support to build and strengthen capacity of eligible non‐profit CDCs. Eligible entities serve the region through developing affordable housing units, performing commercial and economic development, addressing public facilities and streetscape activities, violence prevention/reduction, neighborhood safety, and increasing community engagement in the neighborhoods.
For more information on the City’s involvement in the OSG CDC funding process, please reach out to Bob Bertsch and/or Joseph Malek at the Department of Community and Economic Development.
The 2024-2025 Operating Support Grant Application is now open and can be submitted at any time.
The 24-25 OSG application and selection process remains the same as the previous year’s funding process.
Applications are due Friday, May 10th.
You are able to save your work and progress on the application and come back to it.
The application can be found here >>
2024-2024 Operational Support Grant Application Review and Recommendation Committee Process:
The OSG Application Review & Recommendation Committee is made up of two City DCED staff and five other non-partisan members that are familiar with the community development ecosystem, 7 total committee members. Per HomeBase’s agreement with the City of Cincinnati, a conflict of interest policy is in place so that no applying CDC employee, or person affiliated with an applying CDC board within the City of Cincinnati can be a part of the selection process.
The committee reviews the applications and hosts a Question and Answer session with each applying CDC to ask clarifying questions about their application. Individual committee members score each CDC’s application and those 7 scores are averaged. The average of those 7 scores represents the committee’s final score for each application.
Recognizing there is not enough available funding from HUD to the City to fund each applicant 100%, the final scores are used to categorize each CDC’s capacity level to effectively utilize funds within the federally mandated time frame, as well as meet federal reporting requirements and key performance measures (KPMs). These categories determine level of funding recommendations from the committee to the City’s Department of Community and Economic Development, with DCED making final funding determinations.
2023-2024 FUNDING UPDATES
All applicants have been sent award notification letters. HomeBase, City of Cincinnati, and CDC’s are currently working on KPMs to be able to finalize sub-agreements with CDCs. Once sub-agreements/contracts have been signed with the City, funding amounts per neighborhood will be released. If you have any questions about the Operational Support Grant process, please reach out to HomeBase Executive Director Rosa Christophel.
We are proud to announce that 16 community development organizations were funded for the 2024 Fiscal Year! This is 4 more organizations than the previous fiscal year, with a first-time applicant organization receiving funding. Additionally, unexpected HOME dollars were added to the OSG funding pot and were distributed among the eligible applicants.
2023-2024 Operational Support Grant Application Review and Recommendation Committee Process:
The OSG Application Review & Recommendation Committee is made up of two City DCED staff and five other non-partisan members that are familiar with the community development ecosystem, 7 total committee members. Per HomeBase’s agreement with the City of Cincinnati, a conflict of interest policy is in place so that no applying CDC employee, or person affiliated with an applying CDC board within the City of Cincinnati can be a part of the selection process. The committee reviews the applications and hosts a Question and Answer session with each applying CDC to ask clarifying questions about their application. Individual committee members score each CDC’s application and those 7 scores are averaged. The average of those 7 scores represents the committee’s final score for each application. Recognizing there is not enough available funding from HUD to the City to fund each applicant 100%, the final scores are used to categorize each CDC’s capacity level to effectively utilize funds within the federally mandated time frame, as well as meet federal reporting requirements and key performance measures (KPMs). These categories determine level of funding recommendations from the committee to the City’s Department of Community and Economic Development, with DCED making final funding determinations.
Committee Members:
Mike Cappel, KMK Law, HBC Board President
Brian Ogawa, The Port, HBC Board Secretary
Deborah Robb, The Port, HBC Board member
Rob Denham, 3CDC, HBC Board member
Joseph Malek, City of Cincinnati, DCED
Kira Palmer, City of Cincinnati
Taylor Vogt, Model Group
Alternate, Kristen Baker, LISC (if/as needed)
HomeBase staff (non-voting participants)
Download the 2023-2024 Operational Support Grant application.
View the 2022-2023 Operational Support Grant award amounts.
An important note: Previously, CDC application scores were put into “Tiers 1-4.” These tiers were a way to categorize from the highest to the lowest scoring applications. This scoring method was not a reflection of the applicant CDCs, only the OSG application score. Much like grading in school, scores or grades fall upon a Bell Curve, and the previous “Tier” terminology was a way to define and categorize scoring only, e.g., the highest scores fell into “Tier 1” while the lowest in “Tier 4.” In an effort to better explain the OSG process and what these “Tiers” mean, the committee added language and descriptions to the categories of Community Development Corporations, and these additions can be found in the below “Cincinnati CDC Continuum” infographic.
CINCINNATI CDC CONTINUUM
HomeBase recognizes and supports the diversity of our City’s neighborhoods and the community development ecosystem. No two neighborhoods, nor CDC’s, look exactly alike, but are oftentimes involved in similar activities across a spectrum of community development efforts and capacities.
Some community-based organizations may be volunteers only, not involved in the real estate development aspects of their community yet, but are laying the foundation to do so by creating a comprehensive neighborhood plan. Some CDC’s have been building on their community plans for decades – revisiting and tweaking their plans to match the flux and needs of their residents, with development-based revenue streams and paid staff.
HomeBase supports the neighborhood-based community development continuum however we are needed – whether a startup community-based organization or a formal CDC operating by HUD and/or NACEDA definitions.
