Thursday, Jun 27 2013 3:14PM

Rural grants may continue to decline, despite economic recovery.

Rural communities have received significantly less in grants from nonprofit organizations and other foundations since the market downturn and housing crisis, the Daily Yonder reports.

Citing data compiled by researcher and frequent contributor Rick Cohen, the news source notes that grants in several rural ZIP codes declined following the 2008 financial crisis. While the 2008 data did not surprise researchers, a later analysis reveals that in 2011, after foundations began to see economic improvements, grants to rural areas actually fell lower than they were in 2005 before the economic crisis hit.

For example, when examining grants to rural health clinics, foundations extended 55 grants totaling more than $4 million. This is a steep drop from the 81 grants extended to rural clinics in 2005, during which time total grants exceeded $5 million. 

Rural areas rely upon various grants to facilitate economic community development, and the decline in foundation grants coupled with the effects of federal budget cuts, known as the sequester, may challenge the budgets of local communities. However, federal grants, such as those extended by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), are still on pace.

This may not be the case for long though. News reports reveal that that many housing authorities and organizations that rely upon HUD and USDA funds to provide housing assistance and other services may see their budgets cut in the coming months. For example, the Berkeley Housing Authority in California was recently forced to suspend housing vouchers for many Section 8 recipients as a result of the sequester, the Bay View reports.

For more information, check out this resource: The Daily Yonder