Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(dhr.virginia.gov)
For Immediate Release
February 6, 2025

Contact:
Ivy Tan
Department of Historic Resources
Marketing & Communications Manager
ivy.tan@dhr.virginia.gov
804-482-6445

Next Round of Virginia Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Historic Preservation Fund Now Open

—Administered by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the funds will support projects to rehabilitate, stabilize, and acquire historic properties across the state, as well as to recover data on those sites—

RICHMOND – The Department of Historic Resources (DHR) announced today that the second round of the Virginia Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Historic Preservation Fund for the 2025 fiscal year is now open and accepting preapplications. The Virginia BIPOC Historic Preservation Fund was established under Virginia Code § 10.1-2202.5. The intent of the program is to support Virginia’s historically underserved and underrepresented communities through protecting their associated cultural and historical sites. This fund will provide grants for the acquisition, protection, and rehabilitation of historic and archaeological sites of significance associated with Black and Indigenous communities and People of Color in the Commonwealth.

Eligible applicants for the BIPOC Fund include nonprofit organizations that are registered as tax exempt under the Internal Revenue Code; Virginia localities as defined under Code § 1-221; and state- or federally-recognized Indian tribes in Virginia. All applicants must be the owner of the project property, or be able to submit a signed letter of support from the property owner and a copy of the recorded deed.

Funding is restricted to the following uses: rehabilitation and/or stabilization of real property (fixed property, principally land and buildings), purchase of a fee simple or protective interest in real property, and/or data recovery (e.g. archaeological excavation). All eligible project applicants must request at least $50,000 in grant funding but no more than $1,000,000. Applicants can apply for more than one project across application rounds but grant awards per applicant will not exceed $1,000,000 in total. Project properties must be listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and/or the National Register of Historic Places, designated as a National Historic Landmark, or determined eligible for such listing by DHR.

The program consists of a two-step application process, starting with a brief preapplication to determine whether the project meets the minimum eligibility requirements. Preapplications will be accepted until March 28, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST. The projects that advance will have until May 23, 2025, to submit a full application.

For more detailed information and updates or to fill out a preapplication form, visit the program webpage here.

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