AI-Supported Community Design Grant Brief

Rouben Mohiuddin is publicly positioned as the founder of Design SI and a CSU Chico Professor of Interior Architecture, with decades of professional design and teaching experience. His background connects sustainable design practice, student learning, and community-focused work.

The strongest local proof point is the Camp Fire recovery work. Rebuild Paradise and Chico State coverage document CSU Chico Interior Architecture, Rouben, Design SI, and partners supporting community listening, plan development, and permit-ready rebuilding resources for Paradise-area residents.

A CSU Chico and Design SI-led community design lab that uses responsible AI, student studios, professional supervision, and civic partners to accelerate resilient, affordable, age-friendly, and housing-stable rebuilding.

Fire resilience

Home hardening, defensible-space education, smoke readiness, evacuation support, and resident-facing design packets.

Aging in place

Accessible home modification templates, ADU and multigenerational options, mobility audits, and safer retrofit plans.

Homelessness

Supportive housing concepts, adaptive reuse visuals, service-adjacent layouts, and community engagement materials.

AI workforce

Responsible AI training for design students, civic partners, nonprofits, and local construction/design collaborators.

Rouben has two strong direct applicant lanes: Design SI as a professional design practice, and CSU Chico as a professor/curriculum lead. For public capital, housing, homelessness, and infrastructure grants, the stronger structure is usually partner-led with Rouben/Design SI/CSU Chico named for design, curriculum, community engagement, AI workflow, and technical assistance.

Rank	Grant / funder	Verdict	Status / deadline	Applicant lane for Rouben	Why it is worth time, or the main caveat
1	Envision Resilience National Design Studio Grant	High: apply now	Open now; due June 19, 2026.	CSU Chico direct faculty lane.	Cleanest direct fit: Rouben can lead a fall 2026 or spring 2027 climate adaptation studio around housing, materiality, environmental justice, and resilient communities.
2	SGC Community Resilience Centers Round 2	High: build coalition	Applications open July 2, 2026; Planning due Sept. 4; Implementation due Sept. 25.	Partner-led or CSU/public-agency role.	Best big fit for interiors, adaptive reuse, heat/smoke sheltering, accessibility, year-round services, and community facility design.
3	SGC TCC Project Development	High: build coalition	Open now; final due Sept. 30, 2026; application TA priority deadline July 31.	Partner-led with nonprofit, public, or tribal lead.	Strong for predevelopment, feasibility, community engagement, design concepts, basic infrastructure, and future implementation-readiness.
4	OpenAI People-First AI Fund	High, but eligibility-sensitive	Applications reopen June 15, 2026; new $50M commitment; deadline TBD.	Likely nonprofit lead; Rouben/CSU/Design SI as project partners unless 2026 rules expand eligibility.	Very strong concept fit, but prior rules required a U.S. 501(c)(3) and excluded university departments and fiscally sponsored projects.
5	CAL FIRE Wildfire Prevention Grants	High: partner-led apply now	Open now; due July 8, 2026.	Public agency, nonprofit, tribe, or eligible entity lead.	Strong North State fit for home-hardening education, defensible-space support, evacuation readiness, and workshops for elderly, disabled, or low-income residents.
6	HUD PRO Housing	High: partner-led	Forecasted/opening; estimated due July 31, 2026.	City, county, MPO, multijurisdictional, or housing authority lead.	Strong for housing barriers, predevelopment, zoning/design process, aging housing stock, and affordable housing supply. Rouben/Design SI cannot lead.
7	Homekey+	High: project-dependent	Open, rolling review until funds are expended.	Public agency, tribe, or eligible housing entity lead.	Excellent homelessness/supportive-housing fit, but only worth time if a real PSH site/project and lead applicant already exist.
8	California ERF Round 5	High: partner-led apply now	Open now; first application window through June 30, 2026.	County, city, CoC, or tribe lead.	Strong homelessness/encampment-resolution fit if a partner has a site and service pathway; Rouben can support site planning, community visuals, and interim-to-permanent concepts.
9	CAL FIRE Regional Wildfire & Landscape Resilience Grants	High upside, coalition-only	Open now; concept proposals due June 30, 2026; $5M-$20M awards.	Regional collaborative lead.	Large value and strong wildfire fit, but not a solo design grant. Worth pursuing only with an existing regional resilience coalition.
10	HUD Older Adults Home Modification Program	High fit, immediate partner needed	Forecasted/opening; estimated due June 28, 2026.	Experienced nonprofit, government, or PHA lead.	Excellent aging-in-place fit, but lead must have experience serving older adults. Rouben/Design SI should be design/curriculum partner.
11	SGC TCC Round 6 Implementation / Planning	Medium-high: coalition-only	Pre-proposals due June 30, 2026; final applications due Sept. 30.	Eligible community coalition lead.	Huge upside for eligible disadvantaged communities, but only realistic if Chico/Paradise/North State partners already have an eligible geography and coalition.
12	Citi Foundation 2026 Housing Supply RFP	Medium-high, target-market caveat	Open now; LOI due July 1, 2026 at noon ET.	501(c)(3) nonprofit housing developer lead.	Excellent for early design, engineering, and predevelopment, but Butte/Chico does not appear to be in Citi’s listed California target markets.
13	CAL FIRE Forest Health Research Program	Medium: CSU research lane	Opening June 2026; concepts due July 15, 2026.	CSU Chico lead or co-lead with fire/ecology/social-science partners.	Worth it if Rouben owns human dimensions, WUI rebuilding behavior, design adoption, risk communication, or community resilience research.
14	SGC Tribal Housing Pre-Development Fund	Medium: partner-specific	Open May 11-Aug. 11, 2026.	California Tribe or tribal housing entity lead.	Strong predevelopment/design fit only with a tribal housing partner; otherwise not actionable.
15	HUD CoC / YHDP	Medium: CoC-dependent	Open/forecasted; estimated due Aug. 26, 2026.	Local CoC-backed project applicant.	CSU may be technically eligible, but practically this must plug into Butte County CoC priorities and a service-provider project.
16	Bank of America Charitable Foundation	Medium: nonprofit lead	Open May 18-June 29, 2026.	501(c)(3) nonprofit lead.	Useful smaller support for stable housing, home repair, energy-efficient housing, or resilience; CSU/Design SI should not lead.
17	Agog Open Call	Medium: only if immersive	Open now; closes June 12, 2026.	Design SI or CSU Chico direct may work via eligible entity.	Only worth it if the concept is immersive climate storytelling or spatial media around wildfire/rebuild futures. Skip if it is just AI curriculum.
18	NSF TechAccess: AI-Ready America	Medium: hub coalition only	LOI due June 16, 2026; full proposal due July 16.	CSU Chico partner or co-PI in a California hub.	Too large for Rouben solo, but relevant if CSU Chico can join a state AI-readiness/workforce coalition.
19	USDA Rural Business Development Grant	Medium: tight deadline	SECD due June 15, 2026; regular applications due June 30.	Rural nonprofit, public body, tribe, or CSU lane.	Good for rural rebuild workforce, design-business training, and technical assistance. Design SI cannot lead as a for-profit.
20	AIA Small Project Design Community Grant	Low-medium: small visible win	2026 cycle announced open; deadline must be verified.	Nonprofit community client plus architecture firm.	Useful if Design SI can be the architecture partner for a modest feasibility/design deliverable. Not core funding.
21	CEC BUILD Technical Assistance	Support tool, not grant cash	Technical assistance applications accepted.	Affordable housing owner/developer project lane.	Worth using alongside low-income all-electric residential projects; not a Rouben funding target by itself.
22	HCD DR-INF / MIT-RIP	Low-medium: only existing local project	Open now; due July 10, 2026.	Eligible local government lead only.	Real money, but specific disaster infrastructure eligibility. Worth time only if Butte/Paradise already has a suitable project.
23	California Fire Foundation Prop 4 Grant	Track hard	Application period to be announced Fall 2026.	Fire department, nonprofit, tribe, or partner coalition.	Very relevant for preparedness/outreach/home-hardening, but not open yet.
24	OpenAI Economic Futures	Track closely	$250M commitment announced May 27, 2026; first initiatives expected later in 2026.	Unknown until call details post.	Good future fit for AI + regional workforce transition, but not actionable yet.
25	NVCF Camp Fire Fund	Track locally	Closed now; annual cycle expected November 2026; special inquiry may be possible.	Local nonprofit/agency/CSU coalition.	Very relevant to Paradise/Camp Fire, but likely smaller and not open now.
26	HUD Comprehensive Housing Counseling / Training	Track only	Forecasted; estimated due Sept. 21, 2026.	HUD-approved counseling agency or national training nonprofit lead.	Possible curriculum/materials role, but lead eligibility is narrow.
27	HCD Community Development Block Grant	Track only	2025 portal closed April 3, 2026; watch next cycle.	Non-entitlement city/county lead.	Good future rural planning/public-facilities fit, but not currently actionable.
28	FEMA BRIC	Track only	No clear current FY26 window confirmed on official FEMA pages during audit.	State, local, or tribal lead.	Relevant to hazard mitigation, but too large and indirect for this immediate Rouben package.

How to win

Lead with community outcomes, not AI.

The fundable problem is not students using AI. The fundable problem is slow, expensive rebuilding; unsafe homes for older residents; recurring wildfire and smoke risk; and housing instability that requires faster, more trusted planning pathways.

Build the applicant coalition. CSU Chico leads education/research grants; public agencies lead FEMA/HCD work; CoC and service providers lead homelessness programs.
Use AI as a capacity multiplier. Focus on faster research, clearer options, better visualization, multilingual materials, and measurable decision support.
Package three lanes. Fast pilot grants, applied public programs, and larger capital/infrastructure funding should each have different leads and deliverables.
Measure what matters. Track residents served, plans produced, workshops held, partner applications supported, dollars leveraged, time saved, and projects advanced.

AI Resilient Rebuild Studio

Community-vetted plan variants for fire-resilient, insurable, accessible homes and ADUs.

Paradise Aging-in-Place + Fire Hardening Clinics

Home safety audits, smoke-readiness upgrades, defensible-space education, and prioritized retrofit plans.

Supportive Housing Rapid Concept Lab

Adaptive reuse concepts, modular layouts, service adjacency plans, and public meeting visuals.

North State AI Workforce Pathway

A responsible-AI training pathway for students, agencies, nonprofits, designers, and construction partners.

Cleaner Air + Resilience Hubs

Community-serving building assessments for wildfire smoke, heat readiness, filtration, and operations.

Design SI - Rouben Mohiuddin CSU Chico Campus Directory - Rouben Mohiuddin Rebuild Paradise - CSU / Design SI / Rancho Engineering Chico State Helps Rebuild Communities CSU Chico Interior Architecture Program OpenAI Foundation - Economic Futures in the Age of AI OpenAI Foundation - People-First AI Fund Update OpenAI Foundation - Resilience in the Age of AI CAL FIRE Wildfire Prevention Grants announcement FEMA BRIC FY 2024 and 2025 California HCD DR-INF/MIT-RIP California HCD Homekey+ HCD Homekey+ May 2026 Awards HUD FY 2026 CoC and YHDP NOFO North Valley Community Foundation Camp Fire Fund SGC TCC Round 6 and CRC Round 2 NOFA SGC Community Resilience Centers California HCD Community Development Block Grant Bank of America Charitable Foundation RFP FAQ AIA Small Project Design Community Grant SGC Tribal Housing Pre-Development Fund Agog Open Call 2026 California Fire Foundation Proposition 4 Grant HUD Older Adults Home Modification Grant Program Envision Resilience National Design Studio Grant NSF TechAccess: AI-Ready America CAL FIRE Regional Wildfire & Landscape Resilience Grants CAL FIRE Forest Health Research Program HUD PRO Housing California ERF Round 5 HUD Comprehensive Housing Counseling / Training SGC TCC Project Development Grant SGC CRC Planning Grant Citi Foundation 2026 Housing Supply RFP USDA Rural Business Development Grant CEC BUILD Technical Assistance

AI-supported community design for resilient Northern California communities

Rouben brings the unusual combination funders want: practice, teaching, and local recovery work.

North State Resilient Living Lab