The National Board for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program Announces Application Extension

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Way Worldwide, on behalf of the National Board for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, announced on August 19, 2019, that the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act (signed into law on July 1, 2019) includes $30 million for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (DHS/FEMA) Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), to provide aid to southern border migrants. This funding is available to reimburse eligible nonprofit, faith-based, and government entities that have expended funds on or after January 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020. Initial reimbursements will be for the period on or after January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019.

The deadline for entities to make application was September 6, 2019. The National Board has now extended the deadline to Monday, September 16, 2019, 11:59:59 p.m., ET, to allow agencies more time to gather information to submit applications for reimbursement of eligible expenditures. All agencies that have applications in progress in the EFSP system - and all agencies that are newly entering applications in the EFSP system - must complete and sign them prior to the deadline so they may be considered for funding. After the deadline, neither the EFSP system nor the National Board will accept any application for supplemental funding consideration.

In extending the application deadline, the National Board has also determined that eligible administrative costs, incurred by EFSP Local Boards (LBs), State Set-Aside (SSA) Committees (acting as LBs), and Local Recipient Organizations (LROs) will be considered for reimbursement. LROs that want to be reimbursed for administrative costs but did not include those costs in previously submitted applications, may submit new applications to capture those costs.

State and local social service organizations, including non-profit, faith-based, and governmental, that have assisted migrants released from DHS custody at the southern border with shelter, food, and supportive services are eligible to apply for this supplemental funding. Only direct service and administrative costs will be considered eligible reimbursable expenditures.

The Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance grant provides funding to the National Board to disburse to State and local social service organizations to defray their costs in providing assistance to southern border migrants in need of food, shelter, and other supportive services. $25 million is allocated to reimburse eligible services within Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas and $5 million is allocated to reimburse eligible services in all states nationwide.

Eligible organizations may apply, regardless of current or former EFSP participation, through their EFSP LBs or SSA Committees. The application, information about the application process, Supplemental Funding Guidance, guidance on finding EFSP LB and SSA contacts, and pre-recorded trainings to assist with the application process and administration of the funds can be found here. All applications must be completed via the EFSP website. To determine if an agency is eligible to receive funds, please reference pages 20-22 of the Supplemental Funding Guidance.

Potential applicants may seek assistance about the supplemental funding by contacting:

• The EFSP Local Board (LB) in your community which can be found here
• State-wide agencies can contact their State Set-Aside (SSA) Committee, which can be found here
• EFSP website by clicking Supplemental Funding Information
• National Board staff at suppfund@uww.unitedway.org or 703.706.9660

This is a competitive grant, so no application is guaranteed an award. Due to the limited funds, priority will be given to communities deemed to have been most impacted by this humanitarian crisis.

About the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP):
EFSP was established by Congress in 1983, in response to the 1982 Recession, which brought to light that public and charitable institutions at the state and local levels could not adequately respond to the nation’s homeless and food insecurity crises without Federal support. The program funds can be used for a broad range of services, including mass shelter; mass feeding; food distribution through food pantries and food banks; one-month assistance with rent or mortgage payments, and/or utility payments, to prevent evictions; and transition assistance from shelters to stable living conditions. EFSP is administered by a National Board chaired by FEMA, in partnership with American Red Cross, Catholic Charities USA, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., The Salvation Army, The Jewish Federations of North America, and United Way Worldwide, which serves as the National Board’s Secretariat and Fiscal Agent. Through the network of leading charitable organizations, the program is far-reaching, supporting the work of more than 10,000 local nonprofit and public social service agencies in more than 2,500 counties and cities across the country.