Washington County has been awarded $11,290 in Federal funds made available through the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program (ESFP).
A local board chaired by United Way of Washington County Executive Director Kristin Brandner, is charged with distributing the funds to help supplement the capacity of food and shelter programs in Washington County. The 2016 award was approved in August by the Wisconsin EFSP State Set-Aside Committee. It is based on the number of people who are unemployed and in poverty in the county, as compared to other jurisdictions.
The board will distribute funds to qualifying agencies that apply for funding for services provided in 2016. Under the terms of the grant, local agencies chosen to receive funds must: be private, voluntary non-profits or units of government; be eligible to receive federal funds; have an accounting system; practice nondiscrimination; have demonstrated the capability to deliver emergency food and/or shelter programs; and, if they are a private voluntary organization, they must have a voluntary board. Qualifying agencies are urged to apply.
The Washington County EFSP Board—made up of the United Way of Washington County, Department of Social Services, Family Promise, Friends of Abused Families, St. Vincent DePaul Society, Full Shelf Food Pantry, Youth & Family Project, and other agencies and individuals—will determine how the funds will be distributed among the emergency food and shelter programs run by local service agencies in 2016.
For services provided in 2015 the Washington County EFSP Board distributed $11,698 in Emergency Food and Shelter funds to Family Promise and Friends of Abused Families.
Public or private voluntary agencies interested in applying for EFSP funds should contact Sarah Malchow at the United Way of Washington County office, (262) 338-3821, by Monday, September 25th.