Alaska sets final block grant workshops for Oct. 28 online and Nov. 10 in Anchorage

The Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs has set the dates for its last two Community Development Block Grant application workshops, ahead of the program's Dec. 4 deadline.

The first runs on Zoom on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 9 am to noon. The final workshop, on Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 1 pm to 4 pm, will be held both on Zoom and in person at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Anchorage field office. The division announced the dates in a bulletin Friday.

Staff plan to cover the federal fiscal year 2026 funding announcement, eligibility rules, application submission rules, eligible projects and timelines, and to take questions.

The workshops are for local governments seeking block grant money. Alaska municipalities may apply, except the Municipality of Anchorage, which is ineligible, according to the division's Community Development Block Grants page.

The maximum award is $850,000 per community. About $2.5 million was available in the 2025 cycle. Federal rules require that at least 51% of the people a project benefits be low- or moderate-income.

Applications go through the division's online DGMS Portal, and paper applications are no longer accepted. Alaska News previously covered the Dec. 4 deadline, which the application handbook sets at 11:59 pm. The handbook says late submissions will not be considered. Updated application materials and the workshop handbook are on the division's website.

Housing is eligible this cycle, a change from past cycles, when the state program did not target housing. Alaska News previously reported that the most any single community could put toward housing construction under the new rules is about $170,000.

The division also reminded current and potential grant recipients that the federal Office of Management and Budget has paused changes to its uniform grant rules until Dec. 11.