NARRAGANSETT — Helping would-be home buyers and agencies that serve the needy and the homeless will be among the priorities this year as the town receives $62,566 in federal Community Development Block Grants.

The end recipients include a number of local agencies that help the needy, but most of the town’s 2008 award — $40,000 — will go to a down-payment assistance program run by the Narragansett Housing Authority.

The program typically helps buyers who meet income guidelines cover their closing costs, providing grants of $1,000, said Michael McLaughlin, the authority’s executive director. In cases where a buyer receives more than $1,000, the money is typically paid back, he said.

The remainder of the town’s award will go to several local nonprofit agencies, including the Domestic Violence Resource Center of South County, which is receiving $7,500, and the WARM Shelter in Westerly, which is receiving $6,666.

The other awards approved through the town include $4,500 for the Johnnycake Center of Peace Dale, $2,500 for the Narragansett Housing Authority’s Housing Information Program on fair housing laws and $1,500 for the Community Housing Land Trust of Rhode Island, an association of community development corporations that works to create affordable housing.

Michael J. DeLuca, the town’s community development director, said officials were “a little disappointed” with the town’s allocation.

“A couple of them we thought were good applications, and they didn’t get funded as much as we asked,” he said.

The town is receiving a little more than a third of the $164,504 that it asked for. In fact, the town could have requested up to $250,000, but DeLuca said it did not receive as many requests this year from local agencies.

Overall, Rhode Island communities requested nearly $11.7 million and are receiving about $4.9 million through the federal program, about 42 percent of what was requested, said Michael Tondra, program services manager at the state Office of Housing and Community Development.

Smaller communities such as Narragansett can request up to $250,000, while others can request $400,000 and some as much as $500,000, depending on population and a number of economic indicators that measure local need, Tondra said.

redgar@projo.com