Alternative Housing Pilot Program

The Department of Homeland Security administered the Alternative Housing Pilot Program (CFDA 97.087) to evaluate non-traditional short and intermediate-term housing alternatives for disaster relief, with the most recent grant award disbursed on September 17, 2007—nearly nineteen years ago.

No grant awards have been disbursed under this program since 2007. The portfolio contains only two Project Grants, both awarded in September 2007 with completion dates in 2007 and 2014 respectively. The program shows no recent grant activity and no evidence of open or recently posted grant opportunities.

The pilot program was designed to test alternative housing solutions to support victims of the 2005 hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, with the intent of developing a standard package of housing assistance options for future federal and state disaster response. The program explicitly required that pilot projects address the needs of diverse populations, including persons with disabilities, the elderly, historically underserved populations, and both renters and homeowners across single-family and multi-family dwelling contexts.

Both awards were Project Grants funded by the Department of Homeland Security. The two awards totaled approximately $19.2 million in federal obligations: Project Grant EMW2007GR0868 ($19.2 million, completion September 2007) and Project Grant EMW2007GR0880 ($17.6 thousand, ultimate completion September 2014).

This program does not appear to be actively issuing new awards. The absence of any grant activity, opportunities, or funding announcements beyond 2007 suggests the pilot phase has concluded and no current funding is available. Organizations considering pursuit of federal disaster housing funding should evaluate current FEMA disaster housing programs and other active Department of Homeland Security grant lines rather than this dormant pilot.