Federal Grants

Attached to the Neighborhood Services Department, the Federal Grants/Housing Assistance Division oversees federal grants that fund programs benefiting Covington homeowners – including down payment assistance and emergency repairs – and help pay for improvements to infrastructure like roads, sidewalks, and parks.

It does this by engaging the public to help create an annual plan for those grants, primarily from the federal HOME and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs.

Homeowner Repair Program: Gives grants of up to $10,000 to help low-income homeowners with urgent repairs of conditions in their home that pose a threat to the life, health, and safety of people living there, such as certain electrical problems, plumbing issues, malfunctioning AC units and furnaces, leaky roofs, and wheelchair ramps.

You must apply online, and note you must create an account before you apply. If you need help accessing the online application or completing the application, contact Housing Development Specialist Archie Ice at (859) 292-2124 or aice@covingtonky.gov.

• Guidelines
• Before you get started
• Application Portal
• Previous news release: “City expands home repair program”

Homebuyer Assistance Loans: Gives deferred, forgivable loans of up to $10,000 to help low-income homebuyers with lender-required down payment and closing costs.

You must apply online, and note you must create an account before you apply. If you need help accessing the online application or completing the application, contact CDBG/HOME Program Coordinator John Hammons at (859) 292-2105 or jhammons@covingtonky.gov.

• NKY HOME Consortium (Covington, Ludlow, Erlanger, Independence, Florence, Newport, Bellevue and Dayton) Guidelines.     
• Before you get started
• Application Portal
• Previous news release: “Down payment assistance raised to $10K”

• Public survey: Fill out this quick survey to add your thoughts and ideas to how Covington should spend several million dollars in federal grants this year, as outlined in the forthcoming CDBG/HOME Annual Action Plan 2024-2025. For details, see “Goal of CDBG/HOME? Help people”. The survey will be active until 3/31/2024.
• Northern Kentucky HOME Consortium HOME-ARP Allocation Plan
• CDBG/HOME Consolidated Plan 2020-2025: The Five-Year Consolidated Plan assesses affordable housing and community development needs and market conditions and makes data-driven, place-based investment decisions. Its planning process serves as the framework for a community-wide dialogue to identify housing and community development priorities that align and focus funding from the CDBG and HOME programs.
• CDBG/HOME Annual Action Plan 2023-2024
• Covington Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023): The City of Covington is accepting public comments by Sept. 28 on the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report, which details how the City used Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnership Funds (HOME) allocated for use from July 1, 2022, to  June 30, 2023. At the link is the report. Email comments to jwallace@covingtonky.gov or mail to the Neighborhood Services Department, 20 West Pike St., Covington, KY 41011.
• Covington HOME Consortium Citizen Participation Plan: This plan outlines the process that the City will undertake to solicit community input into the development of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan, the Annual Action Plan, and the CAPER.

• HUD
• CDBG
• HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME)
• Kentucky Housing Corporation
• Fair Housing in Kentucky
• Neighborhood Foundations (City of Newport and Campbell County)
• Housing Authority of Covington
• Catholic Charities
• Brighton Center
• HONK (Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky)