Rural Development

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development provides "Housing Rehabilitation Grants." The program provides financial assistance to rehabilitate homes in areas where the majority of residents are at or below the national poverty level. This program is designed to help individual property owners, co-ops and landlords. Populations of the towns must be under 20,000 residents to qualify for the Housing Rehabilitation Grants.
  
  

Housing and Urban Development

• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has numerous programs available for providing affordable homes. Property owners can rehabilitate a home using these funds, and then either rent or sell it to a family with low income. There are also HUD programs available to help with financing a home, including direct and indirect loans. With these different programs available, an investor can purchase a home, use funds to fix it up, then sell it to a family who uses HUD financing to secure their loan.
  
  

Environmental Protection

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a number of grant programs available. The programs focus on removing deteriorating lead-based paint and other toxic hazards to provide a safer environment for youth and families. The EPA's Brownfields Clean-Up Grants focuses on cleaning up sites that are considered a "brownfield." These include sites where petroleum and other hazardous chemicals and toxins may be present and must be dealt with to ensure the safety of future residents.
  
  

State Government Programs

• Federal government agencies such as the EPA and HUD provide funding to individual states. The states focus on projects within their state. The state agencies offer funding opportunities for everything from cleaning and repairing abandoned properties to rehabilitating homes for the elderly and low income individuals. Clean water is the focus of one EPA grant that is funded through the state level. Here, water quality is tested and improvements for usage and methods to prevent pollution into watersheds are addressed.