law_justice_and_legal_services · HUD

Fair Housing Initiatives Program - Fair Housing Organizations Initiative FY2025 and FY2026

Department of Housing and Urban Development · OFH-2600-DC-021B

Closed

Award Range

$1.7M – $8.9M

Total Program Funding

$50.1M

Expected Awards

Deadline

August 6, 2026

GRANTQUICK SUMMARYPlain-English Overview

HUD is making 5 LARGE awards ($1.7M-$8.9M each, $50.1M total) to help fair housing organizations BUILD CAPACITY — hiring staff, developing testing programs, training investigators, and creating sustainable enforcement infrastructure. This is the "help us get bigger" grant for organizations that ALREADY do fair housing work but need resources to scale. It's separate from the enforcement (PEI) and education (EOI) grants.

Who Should Apply

Existing fair housing organizations (QFHOs or QFHEOs) that want to expand their enforcement capacity — hire more testers, train more investigators, build legal teams, develop systemic case strategies. Must already be doing fair housing work.

Who Should NOT Apply

New organizations without existing fair housing experience, education-only orgs, government agencies, or for-profit entities. This is for SCALING existing operations, not starting new ones.

Key Requirements (Plain English)

•Must be a qualified fair housing organization (QFHO or QFHEO)
•Must propose capacity-building activities (staffing, training, systems)
•Must demonstrate existing enforcement track record
•Must show how increased capacity leads to more enforcement outcomes

💡 GrantQuick Tip

Only 5 awards but they're HUGE ($1.7M-$8.9M). This is HUD investing in a small number of organizations to become national fair housing enforcement powerhouses. If you're a mid-size fair housing org that's been limited by staff capacity, this is transformational funding. Show a clear growth plan: how many more tests, complaints, and cases you'll handle with the additional resources.

Competitiveness: Moderate — only 5 awards, but the very large award size limits applicants to organizations with genuine capacity to absorb and deploy millions in enforcement infrastructure.

What This Grant Funds

The program funds organizations to build capacity to engage in fair housing enforcement activities and fair housing enforcement related activities, and engage in such activities for the purpose of supporting the continued development or implementation of initiatives which enforce the rights granted under the Fair Housing Act, particularly in those areas of the country which are currently underserved by fair housing enforcement organizations as well as those areas where large concentrations of people with protected characteristics exist.

Attachments

PDF

Foa_Content_of_OFH-2600-DC-021B.pdf

Who Can Apply

FHOI Eligible applicants are: private non profit charitable tax exempt Qualified Fair Housing Enforcement Organizations (QFHOs) whether or not solely engaged in fair housing enforcement activities, private non profit charitable tax exempt Fair Housing Enforcement Organizations (FHOs) whether or not solely engaged in fair housing enforcement activities; and other private nonprofit groups seeking to build their capacity to provide fair housing enforcement. All applicants are required to complete Appendix B, FHOI Eligibility Certification, and submit it as a part of their application. All applicants will be required to provide not for profit status if selected for an award; only private not for profit charitable tax exempt organizations are eligible to receive FHIP FHOI funding. Not for profit fair housing organizations seeking to build their capacity to become fair housing enforcement organizations are encouraged to apply. Individuals, foreign entities, and sole proprietorship organizations are not eligible to compete for, or receive, awards made under this announcement.

Eligible Applicant Types

Other (see NOFO for details)

Funding Details

Minimum Award: $1.7M
Maximum Award: $8.9M
Total Program Funding: $50.1M
Expected Number of Awards: 5
Cost Sharing Required?: No
Funding Instrument: grant

Key Dates

Posted: July 2, 2026

Application Deadline: August 6, 2026 (0 days remaining)

Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.

Agency Contact

Katherine Vasilopoulos Katherine.Vasilopoulos@hud.gov

Katherine.Vasilopoulos@hud.gov

Ready to apply?

View the full NOFO and submit your application on Grants.gov

View on Grants.gov