Melancon Announces South Louisiana Awarded Almost $500,000 for Emergency Food and Shelter Program
Federal Grants will Help Local Shelters and Food Banks
December 19, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) announced today that $497,217 in grant funding has been awarded to parishes in the Third Congressional District to help feed and shelter needy Louisianians in the coming year. The grants are awarded through the Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Program, a federal grant program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that provides supplemental funding to shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks to help individuals and families with non-disaster, temporary emergency needs. Grants are allocated to localities based on population, unemployment, and poverty levels.
“South Louisianians are some of the most generous people in the world, always willing to help a friend or neighbor,” said Rep. Charlie Melancon. “This federal grant funding will help supplement the private donations that our local support agencies rely on to help those who are struggling meet their most basic needs – food and shelter. In the spirit of this holiday season, let’s all take a moment to lend a helping hand to those in our community who are in need.”
Emergency Food and Shelter Grants for South Louisiana
Ascension Parish
$46,657
Assumption Parish
$12,998
Iberia Parish
$31,737
Jefferson Parish
$195,579
Lafourche Parish
$36,440
Plaquemines Parish
$8,396
St. Bernard Parish
$9,913
St. Charles Parish
$24,403
St. James Parish
$14,945
St. John the Baptist Parish
$27,691
St. Martin Parish
$20,989
St. Mary Parish
$24,479
Terrebonne Parish
$42,990
3rd District Total
$497,217
In September, Rep. Melancon voted in support of funding for the Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Program, which will distribute a total of $200 million in grants nationwide this fiscal year. The EFS funding was included in the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L. 110-329), which provided $22.9 billion in disaster assistance to help communities rebuild and recover from the Gulf Coast hurricanes, Midwest floods, and wildfires in the West (click here for more details.)
The EFS Program is administered by a national board of volunteer agencies and chaired by FEMA. Member agencies of the National Board include a diverse cross section of social service organizations, including the American Red Cross; Catholic Charities, USA; United Jewish Communities; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.; The Salvation Army; and United Way of America.
The National Board qualifies local jurisdictions for annual EFS Program awards based on criteria involving current population, unemployment, and poverty levels. EFS grants are disbursed by local affiliates of the National Board to nonprofit organizations and government agencies in the eligible jurisdictions. In each funded jurisdiction, a local board advertises the availability of the funds, establishes local priorities, selects local non-profit and government agencies to receive supplemental funding, and monitors program compliance.
For a listing of the Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Program Local Board contacts in particular jurisdictions or for more information, please call the EFS Program National Board staff at (703) 706-9660.
The EFS Program has been in existence since 1983 and was authorized under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. With the FY 2009 allocation, more than $3.105 billion in federal aid will have been disbursed through the EFS Program since its inception to communities nationwide, and has accounted for millions of additional meals and nights of shelter to the hungry and homeless most in need across the nation.
Program funds are used to provide the following services, as determined by the local board in each funded jurisdiction:
Food, in the form of served meals or groceries
Lodging in a mass shelter or hotel
One month's rent, mortgage, and/or utility bill payment
Transportation costs associated with the provision of food or shelter
Minimal repairs to mass feeding or sheltering facilities for building code violations or for handicapped accessibility
Supplies and equipment necessary to feed or shelter people, up to a $300 limit per item
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