Community Development Block Grant Services
CDR has assembled a team of experienced grant management professionals who have simultaneously managed several multi-billion CDBG-DR grants. Having worked on the grantee level, our team understands the complex challenges that grant managers face and can provide solutions that solve the largest and smallest problems.
CDR CAN PROVIDE CDBG-DR SUPPORT AND EXPERTISE TO SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVE:
LEADING PRACTICES
CDR brings a wealth of disaster recovery expertise, with unmatched “Leading Practices” that have been refined as a result of response and recovery initiatives in Louisiana, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Colorado, USVI, California, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Oregon, Florida, Connecticut, and Puerto Rico.
UNRIVALED RESULTS
OUR EXPERTS’ EXPERIENCE AND CAPACITY
CDBG SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE
Over 90 years of experience in CDBG-DR administration and program management across disasters throughout the US and US Territories. Our staff has developed and established leading practices that have been adopted in CDBG-DR throughout the nation. With that experience, our staff brings an extensive library of tried-and-true policies and procedures that can be adapted to meet the program needs for any CDBG-DR grant.
GRANTS MANAGEMENT AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SERVICES
CDR’s CDBG experts have experience assisting state and local jurisdictions in all phases of program
development and management—from grant agreement to closeout—while ensuring that all federal,
state, and local requirements have been met. Support provided to state and local governments include:
MEET OUR TEAM
Lara Robertson
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Lara Robertson has over 26 years of experience managing FEMA and HUD funded community recovery and redevelopment initiatives from concept to completion. As a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Lara was responsible for managing the Road Home Program, the largest CDBG-DR housing and elevation program in U.S. history, which assisted over 131,000 homeowners with more than $10 billion in funds and resulted in the elevation of over 11,000 homes. In addition, the Road Home Program restored over 8,500 rental units with an additional $418 million in CDBG-DR funding. In her role at the state of Louisiana, Lara was directly responsible for the management and compliance of over $11 billion in federally funded programs while working with HUD and FEMA officials to obtain the flexibility needed to effectively address recovery needs, streamline recovery processes, and achieve close out. During her career, Lara has provided management and Subject Matter Expert (SME) support for over $23 billion in CDBG-DR and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) programs, covering 14 disasters, for 10 grantees.
Robbie Viator
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Robbie Viator has more than 16 years of federal, state, and local grant management and compliance experience with small to large-scale HUD and FEMA funded programs and projects. Mr. Viator has managed multi-disciplinary teams responsible for management, compliance, and monitoring of housing, economic development, and infrastructure programs and projects in Louisiana, Texas, and Georgia.
Robbie has also been responsible for compliance management and oversight of over $14 billion in CDBG-DR funded projects for the state of Louisiana. In his previous capacity as Compliance Manager for the Office of Community Development Disaster Recovery Unit (OCD DRU) and Louisiana Economic Development (LED), he directed the daily compliance and monitoring efforts of CDBG-DR funded programs and projects. In these roles, he managed, trained, and developed a staff of 15 analysts responsible for monitoring of public entities, non-profits, small businesses, and contractors. As part of these efforts, Robbie was instrumental in the development and implementation of the OCD DRU Disaster Recovery CDBG Grantee Administrative Manual.
Hugh Hyman
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Mr. Hyman has 13 years of experience developing and managing complex systems of record and reporting platforms while serving at the director level in the state CDBG-DR agencies for Louisiana and North Carolina. Mr. Hyman has also providing consulting to various other programs in Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and Puerto Rico. A recognized expert for HUD’s Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting (DRGR) system, he has provided technical assistance to several CDBG-DR grantees in their systems of record development and integration. Among other qualifications, Mr. Hyman is a Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) through DAMA International.