Montgomery County Community Development
Montgomery County Community Development (MCCD) became operational in 1998 with the submission of the County’s first Consolidated Plan, a five-year strategy for managing Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership (HOME), American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI) and other federal entitlement funds for which Montgomery County is eligible under federal statute. On October 1, 2018, Montgomery County began implementation of its third Consolidated Plan, which will be in effect until September 30, 2023. Goals and objectives identified in the Consolidated Plan are achieved through a series of five annual strategic plans, called Annual Action Plans, and are reported on in a series of five year-end reports known as the Consolidated Action Plan Evaluation Report (CAPER).
Federal entitlement funds are allocated to various jurisdictions based on a complicated formula which includes population, demographics, area of the country, and the total amount of funding made available by Congress each budget year. Census data is used to determine allocations and the appropriateness of proposed projects.
Montgomery County Community Development is a department of county government, directed by Commissioner’s Court and overseen by the Houston Field Office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. All activities must comply with relevant portions of the Code of Federal Regulations, state and federal statutes, and county rules.
In December 2019, a new coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in Wuhan,
Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China, causing outbreaks of the coronavirus disease COVID2 19 that
has now spread globally. The first case was reported in the United States in January 2020. In March 2020,
the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and President Trump
declared the outbreak a national emergency. Montgomery County was included in the Presidential
declaration for the Texas Covid-19 Pandemic (EM-3458) as of March 13, 2020.
Beginning March 12, 2020, Montgomery County, Texas Judge Mark Keough initiated a series of
declarations gradually restricting gatherings and movement, and later business operations in
Montgomery County, effecting many service jobs throughout the area. On March 27, 2020, Judge Keough
issued a Stay At Home, Stop The Spread order for County residents, which ended on April 17, coinciding
with a State-mandated phased gradual re-opening of businesses.
As a consequence, many local residents are facing economic challenges from the mass shutdown of
businesses and lack of availability of traditional mainstream benefits. Congress passed the Coronavirus
Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) on March 27, 2020 in anticipation of addressing those
financial needs. On April 21, 2020, Montgomery County Community Development was notified that it
would receive $2,416,459 in Round 1 CARES Act funding, called CDBG-CV and ESG-CV.
In early 2021 we applied for a grant under this program and received funding that is helping us provide our Horses & Heroes Equine Learning Program to those in our community who are low income and have been affected by Covid-19. These are our first government dollars and the staff here at MCCD has been very patient with helping us to learn the proper reporting and help with demographics and understanding who qualifies for low income assistance. We are very thankful for their funds and their mentoring as we do this important work of mental health, by way of our rescued horses, for those in Montgomery County.