Riverside County to receive nearly $1.2M in FEMA funding for food & shelter

Riverside County is set to receive just under $1.2 million in funding for food and shelter for residents facing non-disaster-related emergencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced today.

FEMA granted a total of $140 million to the Emergency Food and Shelter Program National Board -- $15 million more than last fiscal year -- and the board will now distribute those dollars to jurisdictions across the nation. Los Angeles County is set to receive more than $6.8 million, while Orange and San Diego counties will each receive roughly $1.4 million.

EFSP funds assist local organizations dedicated to feeding, sheltering and providing critical resources to people with economic emergencies, including hungry and homeless populations.

The money can be used for a broad range of services, including shelters, food pantries and food banks, utility bill payments to prevent cut-offs, rent and mortgage payments to prevent evictions and foreclosures, and transition assistance from shelters to stable housing.

The National Board is chaired by FEMA with representatives from the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities USA, The Jewish Federations of North America, National Council of the Churches, The Salvation Army and United Way Worldwide.

Funding is allocated to qualifying local jurisdictions based on a formula using the most recent national population, unemployment and poverty data. Grants are then awarded locally to nonprofit and government agencies that provide direct services to those in need.

A full list of awards is available at https://www.efsp.unitedway.org/efsp/website/websiteContents/pdfs/Phase38Allocations.pdf