The Lassen County Emergency Food & Shelter Program is calling on local organizations to apply for grant funding to support vital services for residents.
EFSP is a federal program administered by a local board composed of non-profit and government representatives. The program provides financial assistance to organizations working to address food insecurity and homelessness here in Lassen County.
The Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program was created with a $50 million federal appropriation in 1983. The program was created by Congress to help meet the needs of hungry and homeless people throughout the United States and its territories by allocating federal funds for the provision of food and shelter.
This collaborative effort between the private and public sectors has provided over $6 billion in Federal funds during its 40-year history.
The program is governed by a National Board composed of representatives of the American Red Cross; Catholic Charities, USA; Jewish Federation of North America; The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.; The Salvation Army; and United Way Worldwide. The Board is chaired by a representative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Eligible Programs
Applicants are able to apply for costs associated with food programs (served meals programs, bagged grocery programs, and/or food voucher programs), shelter, motel voucher programs, and utility/rental assistance programs.
Lassen County Local Board Priorities
The Emergency Food and Shelter National Board mandates that Local Boards must set funding priorities annually prior to the selection of agencies for funding. The Local Board looked at resources available in the community, the emergency food and shelter need of the community, and gaps in services in the community and focus the dollars to address these needs in the areas of emergency food and shelter.
The following populations are priorities for the Lassen Local EFSP Board:
Families
A family is defined as any of the following: minor parents with children: one or more adults with legal custody of the minor children; a couple in which one person is pregnant; grandparents or others who are legal guardians with children present; multi-generational families with grandparents, parents, adult child and minor children.
Programs proposing to serve families must have provisions for accommodating the children regardless of age or gender. Programs that serve women and/or women with children but will not serve two-parent families in virtue of one of the members being male, are excluded from this definition and should identify “Other Populations” as the primary target population served.
Elderly
The elderly are defined by the Older Americans Act to be persons at least 60 years of age, in the greatest social and economic need, with special emphasis placed on low-income minority elderly
Veterans
Transitional Age Youth
Transitional Age Youth is defined as unaccompanied persons, ages 14 to 24.
Chronically Homeless
Chronically homeless is defined as an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.
Grant funds can be used for a variety of purposes, including:
- Emergency shelter services
- Rental assistance programs
- Food distribution and nutrition education initiatives
The application process is currently open and closes on Wednesday, August 28th, 2024. Interested organizations can access the application online at bit.ly/LassenEFSP24.
For any questions, please contact James at [email protected].
