Funding for Homelessness
San Diego County will receive $1,312,752 in federal funds to assist local emergency food and shelter programs throughout the county. A local board convened by the United Way of San Diego County and made up of 20 governmental and non-governmental members has allocated funding towards the following programs:
1) Group Shelter, including Seasonal, Day, Case Managed, and Shelter Voucher
2) Food- Supplemental (pantry) & Congregate (served)
3) Rent & Mortgage and Utilities Assistance
Catholic Charities will provide the fiscal administration of the funds on behalf of the local board.
The information below details eligibility and application information for each of the programs.
1) Group Shelter
To be eligible for group shelter funds, you must meet the following eligibility criteria:
• Non-profit, tax-exempt status
• Recent history/track records of providing emergency shelter services within the last two calendar years
• Complies with fire, safety and health standards
• No religious rituals or requirements attached to receipt of services
• No individual, family, or household may be charged a fee for service with relation to assistance received under EFSP
• Funds can only be used to serve the homeless in general rather than targeted groups (gender, age and family composition are not considered targeted groups)
• Compliance with local and state zoning requirements
To apply for group shelter funds, it is required that your organization attends application training. Trainings will be held on Monday, January 29, 2007 and Wednesday, January 31, 2007. Contact Marion Keller at MKeller@ccdsd.org to RSVP and for location details.
2) Congregate & Supplemental Food
The funds for Congregate Food are for food and limited amounts of consumable supplies essential to mass feeding (plastic cups, utensils, detergent, etc.). The funding is intended to provide for daily, basic, nutritional meal costs on an ongoing basis. If you are awarded funding for your congregate food program, payments will only be made to vendors, not to your agency.
The funds for Supplemental Food are used to purchase pantry items such as: beef stew, peanut butter, green beans, canned tuna and baked beans. Agencies can apply to be allocated a certain amount of food items for their pantry program.
Eligibility requirements for both food programs are as follows: organizations must have non-profit status for at least one year; have a functioning board; have an established accounting system; conduct annual audits; provide non-discriminatory assistance to needy individuals in the organization’s zip code (Note: if you have clientele requirements or restrictions, such as age, you do not qualify); demonstrate ability to deliver said program; and provide case management or referrals to case management agencies.
To receive an application, please e-mail Nani Oesterle- woesterle@uwsd.org or call 858-636-4178. In addition, application training will be available for organizations to receive technical assistance:
EFSP Congregate and Supplemental Food Technical Assistance (TA) Workshop
DATE: January 30, 2007
TIME: 9:00 – 10:00 AM
LOCATION: Alpha Behavioral Health Services
4069 30th Street (Upstairs Conference Room)
New applicants are required to attend; previous applicants are encouraged. Applications may be obtained at this training. Please RSVP to: Scott Suckow at ssuckow@mhasd.org
3) Rent & Mortgage
The Emergency Food and Shelter Program provides assistance to individuals or families who are in danger of losing their residence. Limited emergency rent, mortgage, and water utility assistance is afforded for individuals or families provided certain criteria are met as established both nationally and locally. Agencies interested in participating in this program must attend a mandatory training. The training will be Wednesday, February 7th from 9:30 am-3:00 pm at the United Way. You must contact Mary Ryan (mcryan26@yahoo.com) or Ruby Featherly (rubysf659@aol.com) to RSVP in advance.
————————————————————-
For any additional questions or information on the EFSP Board, please contact Nani Au Oesterle at the United Way of San Diego County at woesterle@uwsd.org or 858-636-4178.