CMA 2025-303
A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, transmitting an update on federal grant funding
Voted yes (7), unanimous
Marc McGovern
Patty Nolan
Sumbul Siddiqui
Paul F. Toner
Ayesha M. Wilson
Cathie Zusy
E. Denise Simmons
Absent (2)
Burhan Azeem
Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler
The City of Cambridge received a total of 31 recurring federal grants in FY25, amounting $22.9 million, with 92% of that total (around $21 million) coming from the top 10 highest-value grants. For FY26, assuming all pending items move forward as expected, the City has received or anticipates receiving around 24 grants. The seven-grant difference is due to four still pending and three not awarded. Risks remain that some of the 24 grants may not be awarded, as detailed in the next page.
However, the outlook for FY27 presents even greater uncertainty. While a more accurate assessment will be possible once the federal budget is finalized, we estimate that two of the top 10 grants are at high risk of reduction or not being awarded, as shown below. Details of all 31 grants are provided in the appendix.
No Department
Federal Agency
Grant and Program
Description FY25 Amount Anticipated for FY26 FY26
Risk Level
FY27
Risk Level
1 Human
CoC Grant (permanent
supportive housing) $6.4 M $6.4 M* High 2 School DOE
IDEA Grant (special
education services) $2.9 M $2.9 M 3 Community CDBG Grant (housing, economic development, human services) $2.6 M $2.6 M* 4 School USDA
School Lunch Program
$2.4 M $2.6 M 5 Community HOPWA Grant (housing for people with HIV/AIDS, with only 5% for Cambridge) $2.4 M $2.4 M* 6 School DOE Title I Grant (education for low-income students) $1.5 M $1.4 M 7 Human HHS
HEAP Grant (home energy