WHAT IS IT?
The Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) was created in 1983 to supplement and expand the work of local social service agencies, both non-profit and government, to help people with economic emergencies (not disaster-related emergencies). EFSP funds are open to all organizations helping people experiencing hunger and homelessness. EFSP funds must supplement feeding, sheltering (including transitional sheltering), and rent/mortgage and utility assistance efforts only. The amount of funding the EFSP administers to communities throughout the nation is dependent on multiple factors, including the local unemployment rate.
Locally, the Pope, Yell & Johnson County Emergency Food and Shelter Program Boards are the entities responsible for the allocation of the Federal dollars awarded to each county. The local boards select local nonprofits or governmental organizations that have a demonstrated capability to provide emergency food and/or shelter.
LOCAL BOARDS
Local boards are comprised of representatives from United Way, City & County Government, Salvation Army & Red Cross.
The EFSP Local Board’s responsibility is to:
- Consider all private, voluntary, and public organizations currently providing or capable of providing emergency food and shelter programs.
- Select and recommend which local organizations should receive funding and the amounts of the funding awards.
- Advertise the availability of funds.
- Establish priorities among community needs.
- Award funds to nonprofit and government emergency food and shelter agencies.
- Monitor program compliance with Rules and Regulations set forth by the National EFSP Board.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- Local non-profit, faith-based, and governmental organizations
- Be eligible to receive and be able to manage federal funding
- Practice non-discrimination
- Have demonstrated the capability to deliver emergency food and shelter programs and have a currently funded (non-EFSP) program for which they can receive supplemental funding from EFSP; funds may not be used to establish a new program
- Allowable costs:
- Shelter (hotel/motel), food, transportation, basic health and first aid, utilities, COVID-19 testing and associated medical care needed during quarantine and isolation, and other supportive services
- Have an accounting system
- Have a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) and a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)
- Apply for FEIN – www.irs.gov
- Apply for UEI – agencies that had a DUNS previously should have been notified of the change, and access to their UEI should have been provided
- Instructions will be provided to agencies that need to get a UEI
- Have a voluntary board
- Be prepared to adhere to all requirements and guidance provided by both the National EFSP and the Local Board
Please refer to the EFSP website, https://www.efsp.unitedway.org, for additional details, requirements, and stipulations for how awardees can utilize funds. Further information is available at the federal website, https://www.fema.gov/grants/emergency-food-and-shelter-program.
