Fiscal Year: 2010-2011

Allocation: $13,315.00 Juniata County, $33,512.00 Mifflin County

Get the EFSP RFP documents for applying for funds.

Origin: The Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program, EFSP, was created in 1983 to supplement the work of local social service organizations within the United States, both private and governmental, to help people in need of emergency assistance. This collaborative effort between the private and public sectors has disbursed over $2.3 billion in Federal funds during its 21-year history.

Background: The EFSP began in 1983 with a $50 million federal appropriation. 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.

Purpose: Program funds are used to provide the following, as determined by the Local Board in funded jurisdictions:

• food, in the form of served meals or groceries
• lodging in a mass shelter or hotel
• one month’s rent or mortgage payment
• one month’s utility bill
• minimal repairs to allow a mass feeding or sheltering facility to function during the program year
• equipment necessary to feed or shelter people, up to a $300 limit per item

Eligibility: When a jurisdiction is funded, the Local Board must advertise the availability of funds. Local organizations, whether nonprofit or governmental, may apply. The Local Board is responsible for considering all applications, and for determining which organizations will receive funds. The Local Board also determines which services are funded.

All funded agencies must retain invoices and canceled checks for all program expenditures. Agencies funded for the first time under the program, and those that have had previous compliance problems, must submit their documentation to the National Board. To help ensure that agencies maintain National Board standards of accountability, National Board staff routinely conduct on-site reviews of agency programs and financial documentation. In addition any agency may be asked to submit its documentation to the National Board at any time.

Service Providers: