Hawaiʻi County will receive $80 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. The County is moving quickly to get these critical dollars into our community to provide financial assistance during the COVID-19 emergency.
To help manage financial recovery programs, the County will release a Request for Proposals (RFP) on Sunday, July 12 at hawaiicounty.gov/cares. Nonprofits, financial institutions or other management organizations with the ability to deliver direct services or sub-awards to communities, businesses, and individuals are invited to apply. Applicants can be nonprofit or for-profit entities with the capacity to receive grant awards starting from $250,000 to more than $2 million. Funds must be distributed to the community no later than December 30, 2020. Contractors must comply with all federal and state CARES Act guidelines. Individuals and individual businesses are not eligible to apply if seeking to address only their needs.
Programs addressed in the RFP include:
Food Assistance – Grants to nonprofits to purchase local farm produce, distribute to restaurants for meal preparation and delivery of meals to vulnerable families and other food need allocations. $3,992,000
Childcare – Grants to licenses childcare providers to support expansion of operations and incentives for new childcare providers; supplies including sanitation, disinfecting supplies, foggers, UV lights and temperature scanners. $2,500,000
Community and Family Resilience – Grants to support new and existing social-related health and wellness programs that build resilient communities through building capacity, supporting the creation and strengthening of relationships that build social capital and foster cooperation and trust. $4,000,000
Connectivity Enhancement – Grants for micro-transmitters and tablets to support remote telework, business and education. $1,000,000
Business and Nonprofit Assistance – Grants to support financial obligations including but not limited to rent, leases, mortgage, vehicle leases, master supply agreements and non-governmental utilities and reopening costs. $22,000,000
Individual Grants to Prevent Housing Displacement – Grants to provide unduplicated monetary assistance for rent, leases, mortgages and non-governmental utilities to households directly impacted by COVID-19. $10,000,000
For more details on these programs, visit hawaiicounty.gov/cares. Applications for the RFP are due by Tuesday, July 21 at 4:30 p.m. by electronic submission.
To answer potential applicant questions, the County is hosting a webinar on Monday, July 13 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. To sign up for the webinar, or to submit questions in advance, email cohCARES@hawaiicounty.gov.