Blue Water Community Action

Blue Water Community Action, doing business as Community Action Agency Of ST. Clair County, is a Port Huron, Michigan-based tax-exempt nonprofit that operates as a federal grant recipient, with 80% of its recent award portfolio routed through sub-recipient relationships with state pass-through agencies rather than direct federal prime grants. The organization holds no federal contracts, competing exclusively in the grant funding space focused on homelessness prevention, housing assistance, weatherization, and community services block grant administration.

The organization's capability footprint centers on homelessness services, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing operations, weatherization assistance, housing counseling, and Continuum of Care (CoC) program administration. Blue Water Community Action received a $404,533 direct HUD Continuum of Care Program grant (CFDA 14.267) awarded July 1, 2026, running through June 30, 2027, supporting permanent housing (including permanent supportive housing for persons with disabilities), rapid rehousing, transitional housing, supportive services, and Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) activities in Port Huron. Prior direct CoC awards from HUD's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development followed the same July fiscal-year pattern in 2025, 2024, and 2023. As a sub-recipient, Blue Water Community Action draws the majority of its portfolio through Michigan Department of Health and Human Services pass-throughs, with funding streams including Weatherization Assistance (DOE, LIHEAP, and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law variants), Community Services Block Grant allocations, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)-supported diaper bank operations, consolidated rapid re-housing, and housing counseling programs; Michigan State Housing Development Authority sub-awards for Housing Assessment and Resource Agency (HARA) coordination and entry services ($14,019 in 2022, $8,642 in 2021); and pass-throughs from the Michigan Department of Education for USDA program support.

Customer concentration is dominated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (18 awards), the Department of Energy (12 awards, primarily weatherization), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (9 awards, primarily CoC), accounting for 80% of the award count. Recent activity shows decline from a 2023 peak of 19 awards to 2 awards year-to-date in 2026, though the source captures only the first three months of the calendar year. Only one award faces ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating low recompete pressure in the immediate term. Blue Water Community Action's federal footprint is characteristically grant-recipient work with no contracting vehicles, no prime IDIQs or GWACs, and no subcontracting relationships on federal contracts. The organization functions as a community action agency operating within Michigan's state grant administration ecosystem, with funding concentrated in anti-poverty and housing-stability programs serving low-income populations in St. Clair County and subordinate regions.