Purple designates the federal Qualified Census Tracts where services must be delivered. Note that the 501.00 and 506.00 tracts in the upper right corner are actually in Newport and not eligible for Covington’s funds.
City seeking proposals to use ARPA money to mitigate damage of COVID-19 on families, workers
COVINGTON, Ky. – The City of Covington has $1.15 million to give away to non-profit agencies and organizations whose work helps mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on Covington families and workers.
The City issued a request of proposals on Friday – due by 4 p.m. June 13 – for programs, services, and initiatives aimed at people who live in certain Census tracts identified by the federal government (as seen in the attached map). The programs don’t necessarily have to be new, but they have to represent at least an expansion or enhancement of the agency’s current service delivery.
An optional Q&A meeting will be held virtually from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday (tomorrow, June 1). To join, click OPTIONAL VIRTUAL MEETING.
“Even beyond the obvious health impacts, the pandemic has caused a lot of suffering and financial uncertainty among our families and workers in Covington, and that pain has been felt disproportionately,” said Casey Barach, Covington’s ARPA Manager. “We want to help the people who have been most vulnerable, and we think we can best do so by partnering with providers who are experts at doing this.”
The money will be awarded on a competitive basis.
As detailed in the request for proposals (RFP):
- Food assistance and nutritional education programs.
- Mental health services.
- Senior transportation services.
- Translation services, document interpretation, and services to residents for which English is not their first language.
- Foreclosure prevention programs.
- Financial literacy service programs.
- Workforce development and job training programs.
- Schools and universities.
- Child-care providers.
- Arts / Arts enrichment organizations.
- Hospitals, medical practice groups, health care organizations.
- Rental and utility assistance programs.
- Homeless shelters and homelessness prevention services funded in the Continuum of Care.
- Organizations must have federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and be registered with the Kentucky Attorney General’s office.
- Applicants can partner with other organizations to be their fiscal agents.
- Applicants’ principal place of business must be in Kenton, Campbell, or Boone counties.
- The funding cannot be used in place of or instead of existing local, state, federal, or other funds already designated toward that activity.
- Applicants must demonstrate they have the expertise and capacity to sign a contract by the end of 2022 and spend the funds by the end of 2023.
Awards will range from $50,000 to $500,000.
The $1.15 million will be spread over two rounds, with a second request for proposals to be sent out later this year. Of that amount, $500,000 will be earmarked for mental health services.
The program is one of 32 general categories of spending that the Covington Board of Commissioners identified for Covington’s $36 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. The Commission allocated that money ($35,914,130, to be exact) into “buckets” early this year. The non-profit bucket contains $1.25 million, with $100,000 set aside for compliance and monitoring, given the intricacies of the federal requirements.
The City will publicize funds and services in the other 31 categories as they become available.
Note that programs geared toward people who are homeless or who are vulnerable to homelessness, particularly because they’re fleeing domestic violence, will be funded using separate federal funds allocated to the HOME consortium.
Also, note that the Commonwealth of Kentucky already has significant money set aside for rental assistance, which can be accessed at RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
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