The Office of Community Development was established in the summer of 2009 by Mayor C. Ray Nagin as the City of New Orleans continued its transition from recovery planning to recovery implementation. Throughout our city, this implementation process includes a myriad of capital and programmatic initiatives that will impact the lives of all New Orleanians – whether at home or still working to return.

The mission of the Office of Community Development is to improve the quality of life for New Orleans residents and businesses through the effective administration of resources such as Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME funds, Neighborhood Housing Investment Funds (NHIF), Housing for People with AIDS (HOPWA), and State Emergency Shelter Grants.

Mayor Nagin implemented OCD as part of the transition from the Office of Recovery and Development Administration. The agency is comprised of many traditional government functions and includes the departments of Housing, Neighborhood Development and Economic Development. Disaster-related initiatives have been absorbed by the city’s Project Delivery Unit. This reorganization has allowed the City of New Orleans to efficiently and effectively focus on long-term community development, neighborhood stabilization and infrastructure modernization and to capitalize on economic development opportunities for our city.