(ABC 6 News) – Minnesota’s Workforce Housing Development Program (WHDP) aims to give funds to small and medium-sized cities that are struggling to staff their workforce due to a lack of market rate housing.

Businesses across the state are expressing challenges in hiring, with some saying it’s because there isn’t enough affordable housing for workers to live.

This year, Minnesota Housing is giving $39 million to the program; this amount is exponentially more than what’s been allocated in the past.

The program would give communities money to more build housing units to keep up with demand for workforce rental housing.

Officials hope by increasing resources to the program, it will serve even more communities who need the help.

“In past cycles, there was requests for $18.9 million, and they were able to fund only $4 million of those, and so the need greatly outstripped the resources previously, and so this is gonna last for some time to be able to help communities,” said Minnesota State Senator Liz Boldon (DFL-Rochester).

Eligible communities include:

• A home rule charter or statutory city with a population exceeding 500 located outside of a Metropolitan County.
• A community that has a combined population of 1,500 residents located within 15 miles of a home rule charter or statutory city located outside a Metropolitan County.
• An area located outside of a Metropolitan County that serves a federally recognized Indian Tribe in Minnesota, or their associated Tribally Designated Housing Entity as defined by United States Code, title 25, section 4103(22), as approved in writing by Minnesota Housing.
• An area served by a Joint County-City Economic Development Authority.

Applications will be open until 12 p.m. on April 30.

Minnesota Housing will host an online information session Tuesday at 10 a.m. where people can ask questions and get more information.

To join that webinar, apply to the program or find more information, go here.