May 19, 2021

VIHFA HOSTS CDBG-DISASTER RECOVERY SUBRECIPIENT TRAINING

ST. CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands – The Virgin Island Housing Finance Authority (VIHFA), in partnership with NeighborWorks America and Enterprise Community Partners hosted a virtual Community Development Block Grant- Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and CDBG-Mitigation Subrecipient Training for current subrecipients, and organizations interested in applying for disaster recovery funds.

The training covered the responsibilities of a subrecipient, and the federal reporting requirements mandated by HUD to include the application process, environmental review, financial management and record keeping.

Subrecipients are public/government agencies, nonprofit or community-based organizations who enter into a legal written agreement with VIHFA to use CDBG-DR funds provided by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to carry out eligible projects and activities. Subrecipients are responsible for executing their own project and meeting federal program requirements. VIHFA serves as the funding source and compliance unit that maintains checks and balances.

The first step in actualization for subrecipients is the capacity assessment. The Compliance and Monitoring unit conducts the capacity assessment to grade the organization’s policies and procedures for accounting, procurement, and grants managements; system of internal controls; and audit history, etc. Once the capacity assessment is completed, the subrecipient agreement is executed.

Once the subrecipient agreement is completed, organizations can proceed to submit project applications for the intended use of funds. Following a successful project application submission, subrecipients continue to project implementation and finally, closeout.

As a partner and facilitator in the territory’s disaster recovery, the VIHFA is committed to providing technical assistance and training to its subrecipients throughout the life of the grant program. In addition, routine monitoring is done to ensure that all parties are in compliance to maintain the integrity of the funding appropriation.

The print copy of the presentation and live recording of the training is published on the website at https://cdbgdr.vihfa.gov/vihfa-hosts-cdbg-dr-subrecipient-training/