Penobscot County has opened its competitive grant applications for American Rescue Plan Act Funds.
Donor Name: Penobscot County
State: Maine
County: Penobscot County (ME)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 06/15/2022
Grant Size: $25,000
Details:
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was enacted by Congress and signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021. It provides $350 Billion dollars in funding to states, counties, cities, towns, and tribal governments. This is a once in a generation lifeline to recover from the effects of the pandemic. The uses of the funds are broad but also specific.
Priorities
Addressing the need for affordable housing and homelessness for everyone in Penobscot County- in the areas of aid to the homeless and in affordable housing.
- Increasing access to Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder services in the County.
- Supporting the expansion of Broadband so that it is affordable to their residents.
- Addressing the Transportation needs of their rural areas.
- Improving the Emergency Response services in the County.
In order to provide the most equitable distribution of funds they have developed a two-tiered approach.
- This approach will allow smaller organizations that are the backbone of support in many communities to apply for funds even though they may not meet the federal standards needed for larger awards. These organizations will be treated as beneficiaries, or the direct recipients of the funds given, and they may use these funds to support the work they are already doing. They do this in recognition that in many cases, these organizations were tasked with added demand on their services during the pandemic while also having fewer resources to rely on. The application for these grants is simplified, as will be the reporting requirements. These one-time awards will be capped at $25,000.
- For organizations, that will be receiving money to fund programs to distribute goods or services to a wider group, they will have their Sub-Recipients application. These pass-through funds are for more money per individual award but have more requirements for accounting and reporting that might overwhelm a smaller organization. As with any federal funding there will be an eligibility test to determine if the organization is qualified for this level of funding. One-time awards for these grants will start at $25,000. The Commissioners are not putting a cap on these awards but will be making note of their relevance to the stated priorities as outlined in the listening sessions report.
How can the ARPA funds be used?
- Support a public health response
- Replace public sector revenue loss
- Address negative economic impacts
- Hazard pay for essential workers
- Infrastructure with regard to sewer, water, and broadband
Eligibility Criteria
The following governments are eligible:
- Tribal governments
- Counties
- Metropolitan cities
- Non-entitlement units, or smaller local governments
For more information, visit Penobscot County.
