Four local organizations will receive funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for its 33rd distribution phase, said Cretia Bunney, executive director of United Way.
The news came after an announcement that Latah County was chosen to receive $11,812 in federal funds by the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program. It is down from the $12,683 the county received during the last phase, Bunney said.
Frances Trevisan of St. Vincent De Paul, a nonprofit Catholic organization that received a portion of the FEMA funds, said she writes grant applications that her organization can use to give back to the Moscow community.
The organization relies solely on outside donations, Trevisan said. As a Catholic agency, members come from both St. Augustine’s and St. Mary’s Catholic churches in Moscow, where collections are held four times a year for the agency.
“That’s our only regular money that we know we’re going to do every year,” Trevisan said.
Trevisan recently submitted an application on behalf of the agency asking for $5,500 worth of FEMA funds. She said she was not yet aware how much the organization will actually be allocated. In the last phase, Bunney said St. Vincent De Paul received $4,179.
Other agencies receiving funds include Latah County Community Action Partnership, Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse and JK Good Samaritan Food Bank. They were the only agencies to apply, Bunney said.
The local agencies that applied were required to meet certain conditions, said Elizabeth Prasil, account executive at Appearances and Marketing Promotions, in a press release. This included being a private voluntary nonprofit or unit of government, having an accounting system, practicing nondiscrimination, having demonstrated the capacity to deliver emergency food or shelter programs and having a voluntary board if they are a private voluntary organization.
Bunney said the application process can be a lot of work, though Trevisan said FEMA applications are actually easier to submit than others.
An agency’s application must include a narrative with the amount they are requesting and an explanation for the request, a capacity statement that includes references to an accounting and service delivery system, a statement agreeing to educate staff and volunteers about available referral resources and a list of the organization’s board of directors, Prasil said in the press release.
Agencies can apply to use the money for several categories including served meals, mass shelter, supplies and equipment, rent and mortgage, other food, other shelter, rehabilitation and utility assistance, Bunney said. Most applications are submitted for mass shelter, other shelter and food.
St. Vincent De Paul volunteers spend the funds on other shelters, including hotel rooms for people or families who have nowhere to stay, Trevisan said.
“You get inspired by people, too. It’s amazing,” Trevisan said. “There’s nothing like making you feel like, whenever you feel like your life is hard, and then you see what some people are going through, with their illnesses, or their disabilities, or their mental health issues or whatever, and you just realize how blessed you are because they have such challenges.”
Trevisan was one of the founding members of the Moscow conference of St. Vincent De Paul. She and several others have remained active volunteers ever since. Trevisan said she was president of the conference for 10 years before she began writing grant applications and the role was turned over.
The organization works to help those who are poor or in a crisis by distributing money, meeting with people in need and running a hotline that Trevisan said gets anywhere from five to 25 calls a day. She said the organization has an estimated 20 active members and 50 associate members.
“It’s good work. We like it,” Trevisan said.
Taylor Nadauld
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