Bend AHAC subgroup rewrites public‑services application, emphasizes accessibility and HUD compliance

City of Bend staff and members of a subgroup of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee spent a meeting reviewing and revising the city’s public‑services grant application and scoring criteria, focusing on clarity for applicants, federal compliance and ways to reduce barriers for small or new nonprofits.

The work session centered on eligibility language, question design, budget and reporting fields, and the committee’s scoring rubric. Melissa Kamonya, the city’s affordable housing coordinator, opened the meeting by saying, “the purpose of this group is to take a look at our applications and scoring criteria.” Chris O’Brien, the City of Bend grants coordinator, joined the discussion and explained staff needs for federal reporting.

Why it matters: the city distributes federal and local funds to nonprofit service providers and must both meet HUD reporting rules and make the application process accessible. Committee members repeatedly raised concerns that long, highly technical questionnaires and hard limits on text deter smaller organizations and increase administrative workload for both applicants and reviewers.

Key changes and points discussed

Eligibility and application access: Committee members agreed the application should more clearly state that individual residents cannot apply and that eligible applicants are public entities and private nonprofit organizations. Staff proposed moving eligibility language higher in the application so it is visible up front rather than buried on page 5.

Application length and question design: Several members urged removing strict character caps and instead using recommended…