Bend advisory committee recommends council approve 2025 CDBG annual action plan

The Affordable Housing Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the Bend City Council approve the 2025 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) annual action plan and authorized staff to take all actions necessary to implement the recommended activities.

The committee’s recommendation covers four projects pre‑vetted to align with the City of Bend consolidated plan (2023–2027): three public‑service grantees — Thrive Central Oregon, Volunteers in Medicine, and Saving Grace — and one infrastructure project, the City of Bend sidewalks project. Melissa Kamana, the committee’s Affordable Housing Coordinator, told members that the submitted applications had been screened for consistency with the consolidated plan’s priorities, which list assisting people experiencing homelessness and shelter services first, then affordable rental housing preservation and production, public services, homeownership preservation, and infrastructure.

Why it matters: CDBG is a federal program administered by HUD that can be used for a wide range of activities; Bend’s consolidated plan determines the local funding priorities. Committee members included a contingency in their recommendation: additional funds received would be split so that public‑service grantees receive equal increases and any extra affordable‑housing funding would instead be applied to the sidewalks infrastructure project.

Details of recommended awards and uses include: Thrive Central Oregon’s CDBG allocation will fund up to two outreach advocates to provide housing navigation and case management services for up to 500 people and will complement funds the organization received through the City’s CICT allocation for emergency rent, deposit and application‑fee assistance. Volunteers in Medicine would use its award for health care, clinical services and case management for uninsured clients. Saving Grace proposed funding for a lethality assessment program and a law‑enforcement liaison expected to serve 58 clients. The City of Bend sidewalks application requests funding to build five sidewalks to increase connectivity in low‑income housing areas; staff noted the sidewalk project may expand beyond five sidewalks if additional funds become available.

Questions raised during public comment focused on the data sources and geographic targeting used in the consolidated plan. Committee member Isabelle Malkovich asked what data underpinned the plan’s statement that there are no racial/ethnic or poverty concentrations; Kamana said the city uses HUD CHAS data and U.S. Census data and applies HUD’s definition of a “concentration” (1.5 times the citywide rate within a census tract). Kamana and other staff also said the city can designate targeted areas for infrastructure projects, but that such designations require further vetting and council approval.

Action taken: a committee member moved to recommend council approval of the 2025–2026 CDBG annual action plan and to authorize staff to implement the recommended activities; another member seconded. The committee voted unanimously to approve the motion.

The committee chair noted that Bend has not yet received a HUD grant agreement for the program year; staff said they will return to the committee if the grant agreement contains new or legally significant conditions that require further review.

The committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to City Council for final action and for staff to pursue any necessary downstream administrative steps, including HUD grant agreement review and further designation of targeted infrastructure areas if additional funds become available.