Strong Communities Grant Program

The Illinois Housing Development Authority is offering Round 3 of the Strong Communities Program to support local affordable housing and community revitalization efforts in Illinois. The program was created in 2020 and provides grant funds to units of local government throughout the state. SCP is intended to address the negative effects of vacant and abandoned residential properties, including reduced housing values, diminished affordable housing stock, public safety concerns, and barriers to neighborhood reinvestment. The purpose of the grant is to return vacant residential properties to productive and taxable use. Funds may support rehabilitation when properties can be restored, or demolition when properties are beyond repair and negatively affect nearby residences. The program is designed to increase property values, create jobs, reduce crime, generate additional tax revenue, attract additional investment, and preserve existing affordable housing stock near community amenities such as schools, parks, medical facilities, shopping, employment, and transportation. Eligible grant activities include acquisition, rehabilitation, demolition, tree, shrub and debris removal, lot treatment and greening, reasonable hard and soft construction costs related to eligible activities, and administrative costs. Acquisition costs may not exceed $15,000 per PIN. Rehabilitation may not exceed $125,000 per PIN. Demolition is generally limited to $40,000 per PIN, although exceptions may be considered case by case for remediation requirements and strategic demolition aligned with local planning efforts. Administrative costs are limited to 10 percent of the total grant. Eligible properties are 1-6 unit residential properties in Illinois, properties meeting the program definition of abandoned residential property, and certain manufactured homes taxed as real property with a foundation and no hitch or wheels. Ineligible properties include occupied residential properties, historically registered properties, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and mixed-use properties, and residential unimproved lots. Eligible applicants must be units of local government located in Illinois. A county or municipality may join with other counties or municipalities and submit one application. Land banks and regional planning commissions may apply on behalf of eligible units of local government. Each county or municipality may only apply once per funding round. No match funds are required. Maximum grant awards are $750,000 per applicant, and funding will be allocated to approved grantees based on evaluation of competitive applications. SCP grant funds will be available for a two-year grant term, and IHDA may extend the term at its sole discretion. Applications must be submitted online through Jotform, with attachments uploaded directly into the Jotform application. Hard-copy submissions will not be accepted, and files or sub-files may not use .exe or similar extensions. A completed application and all supporting attachments must be received by Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. CDT. IHDA will host an application and technical assistance webinar on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. CDT covering the application process, program details, and a live question and answer session. Applications will be scored competitively using a 100-point scale. Evaluation areas are need, capacity, impact, budget and cost reasonableness, and readiness to proceed. The application guide instructs applicants to answer all questions within the space provided and to explain if there is no answer for a specific question, because blank responses will be treated as non-responses and receive zero points. Questions should be directed to SCPinfo@ihda.org. SCP Round 3 will use Monday.com for grant management, including funding tracking, pre-approval documents, and reimbursement requests.

Address all scoring areas directly, especially need, capacity, impact, budget and cost reasonableness, and readiness to proceed. Do not leave any application question blank; if there is no answer, explain why, because blank responses receive zero points.