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- ANCHR - ARPA Nonprofit Community Health and Recovery Grants Program
ANCHR - ARPA Nonprofit Community Health and Recovery Grants Program
Providing Nonprofits with an Anchor in the Covid-19 Storm
On August 16, 2022 County Executive Jan Gardner announced the award recipients for the ANCHR grant program. A full list of awards can be found here: ANCHR Awards
Background
Frederick County maintains a strong commitment to supporting the local nonprofits that provide much needed and valuable services and programs to vulnerable populations within the community. In continued work of mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on its citizens, Frederick County is investing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding in the nonprofit community.
The Frederick County ARPA Nonprofit Community Health and Recovery (ANCHR) grant program will allocate approximately $1,000,000 in funding to provide awards to eligible nonprofit 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(19) organizations impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency or its negative economic impact.
For a full program description, including eligibility requirements and application information, continue reading below, or click HERE.
Program Overview
The ANCHR program is designed to support organizations, programs and activities that benefit Frederick County residents, and that address public health and economic challenges caused by the pandemic, including those that have contributed to the unequal impact of the pandemic in Qualified Census Tracts.
Priority will be given to those nonprofit organizations that have not previously received other COVID-related relief funding, including, but not limited to, CARES Act, Maryland Nonprofit Recovery Initiative (NORI), Frederick County Nonprofit Bounce Back or Jump Start grant programs, or ARPA project/program funding.
Award Use
Awardees may use funding from the ANCHR grant awards for:
- demonstrated need of operational expenses (resulting from revenue gaps/shortfalls and/or expense increases); or
- to expand or create programs to serve the community as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Award Amounts
The grant awards for the ANCHR program will be based on an organization’s approved operating budget. Requests can range between $5,000 and $50,000, with a recommended target of 10% of the nonprofit organization’s annual budget for fiscal year 2021.
Grant Period
Beginning with the execution of a grant agreement with Frederick County and ending no later than June 30, 2023.
Application Timeline
The County anticipates the following schedule for reviewing submitted applications and determining funding awards:
May 9, 2022 Release of ANCHR grant application
June 9, 2022 Deadline for ANCHR grant application submission
Summer 2022 ANCHR application submission review period, Announcement of awards, Grant agreement execution and Release of support funding
This project is being supported, in whole, by Federal award number SLFRP1623 awarded to Frederick County, Maryland by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
- Eligibility Criteria
- Application Information & Required Documents
- Help & Contact Information
- Grant Application Portal
An organization is eligible for an award if it:
- has a physical location/address in Frederick County and serves a majority (over 51%) of Frederick County citizens;
- is in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service, the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation’s Personal Property Tax Division, and Frederick County Government;
- is in compliance with Federal, State and Local human rights laws (by self-attestation);
- was established prior to March 1, 2019, and plans to continue operating through at least June 30, 2023; and
- has an annual operating budget of $500,000 or less.
Nonprofit organizations under an umbrella (or fiscal sponsor) are not eligible to apply. The following types of nonprofit organizations are also ineligible: churches and religious organizations; fraternal and/or civic organizations; homeowner’s associations; labor unions
Applicants will complete an online application and will:
- Demonstrate alignment with one or more of the County Executive’s ARPA priority outcomes:
- Health
- Health Disparities
- Children & Families
- Economic Recovery
- Mental Health
- Seniors
- Transportation
- Demonstrate the impact from the COVID-19 public health emergency or its negative economic impacts such as:
- Decreased revenue (i.e., from donations or fees for service)
- Financial insecurity
- Increased costs (i.e., increased demand for service)
- Capacity to weather financial hardship
- Challenges covering payroll, rent or mortgage, and other operating costs
- Downsizing of staff and/or business services
- Provide financial information as follows:
- finalized budget information (includes budgeted and actual revenue and expenditures) for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, and year-to-date fiscal year 2022 budget information (includes budgeted and actual revenue and expenditures). The budget template can be downloaded HERE;
- itemization of all COVID or other relief grants received;
- provide a PDF copy or screenshot of the good standing confirmation with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation, and
- provide a copy of the IRS Nonprofit Designation Letter.
Awardees will complete a grant agreement with the County prior to receiving their awarded funds. The grant agreement will outline the terms of the award, the reporting requirements, and important grant dates, including the date by which funds must be spent. The grant agreement will also include the requirement that awardees retain all grant documentation on spending for a period of five (5) years and agree to a County, State and/or Federal audit if required.
Applicants approved for a grant will be required to provide a Unique Entity Identification number. A Unique Entity Identification (UEI) number is provided by the Federal Government and may take time to obtain. If applicant does not already have a UEI, applicant will be required to register for a UEI on the SAM.gov Federal website. Frederick County will pay award amounts to approved recipients within 30 days of execution of a grant agreement and receipt of the awardee’s verified UEI number.
Questions about the ANCHR Grant Program may directed to Dan Lewis, CPFO, Deputy Director of Finance, Frederick County Government at ARPA@FrederickCountyMD.gov.
For technical assistance with the grant portal, you may contact Kelli Goetz, Director of Operations for Citizens Services Division, Frederick County Government at kgoetz1@FrederickCountyMD.gov or 301.600.1410.
The online grant portal may be accessed at: Logon Page - Grant Lifecycle Manager (grantinterface.com).
The ANCHR program will open May 9, 2022. Applicants will first complete an eligibility verification. If the applicant is eligible, based on the questions in the verification, they will be taken immediately to the application section of the portal. The portal will close ANCHR program application automatically at 11:59 p.m. on June 9, 2022.
Organizations that do not have an account within the grant system will need to set that up first, by clicking "Create New Account" on the portal home page.
For technical assistance with the online grant portal, you may contact Kelli Goetz, Director of Operations, Citizens Services Division, Frederick County Government at kgoetz1@frederickcountymd.gov or 301.600.1410.