Lehigh Valley Homeless Veterans Fund

Lehigh Valley Homeless Veterans Fund (HVF) | Notice of Funding Availability

The next grants cycle is to be announced

The Lehigh Valley Homeless Veteran Fund Committee (“The Committee”) is pleased to announce the availability of funds for homeless Veteran transitional and supportive housing through the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veteran Fund at the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation.  Funds are available to agencies that serve Veterans in Lehigh and Northampton Counties. To download a PDF of the Notice of Funding Availability – click here. Programs offering transitional or supportive housing (up to 24 months) must also provide appropriate services such as case management, education, crisis intervention, financial, housing, and life-skills counseling.

Grants to supplement, stabilize, or expand existing programs, or as seed money to initiate new and innovative programs, are preferred. However, applicants should note that future grant availability is predicated on future funding availability and should ensure that programs can be sustained through other sources should additional funding from the Homeless Veteran Fund (HVF) not be available.

Applicants must disburse grant funds with 24 months of award date.

$200,000 in funding is available for grants of up to $50,000 per project/application. The minimum dollar amount for grant awards is $10,000. An applicant may submit multiple grant applications if they are clearly for separate projects or initiatives that can be awarded and implemented individually. Proposals that accomplish the same mission or objective should be submitted as one grant application.

Joint applications by two or more agencies are permissible subject to the following conditions:

• Each agency must meet eligibility requirements for a grant award
• The maximum grant award per project applies

Previous Homeless Veteran Fund grant recipients may apply for this round of funding. However, if a new grant is awarded, a substantial portion of the existing grant funds must be expended prior to disbursement of additional funds. Substantial disbursement will be at the determination of the Committee.

Funds are anticipated to be dispersed approximately 60 days after application closeout date pending approvals and agreement execution.

Further Notices will be published if additional funding becomes available throughout the year or in successive program years.

Homeless Veteran Fund grants shall be granted to projects that address transitional and supportive housing needs of homeless Veterans in the Lehigh Valley; Veteran-Centric Case Management:/counseling in relation to housing, employment, finance, and life-skills; or other Veteran-Oriented Programs. See program descriptions below.

Program Descriptions

Transitional Housing: This program is similar to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program.  The purpose is to fund community agencies providing services to homeless and at-risk of homelessness Veterans to promote the development and provision of supportive housing and/or supportive services with the goal of helping homeless Veterans achieve residential stability, increase their skill levels and/or income, and obtain greater self-determination.

Eligible transitional housing models include, but are not limited to:

• Bridge Housing — short-term stay in transitional housing for homeless Veterans with pre-identified permanent housing destinations, when that housing is not immediately available.
• Low Demand — to accommodate homeless Veterans experiencing chronic homelessness, who were unsuccessful in traditional housing/residential programs.
• Hospital to Housing — addresses the housing and recuperative-care needs of homeless Veterans who have been hospitalized and/or evaluated in an emergency room.
• Clinical Treatment — provides residential substance use and/or mental health treatment in conjunction with services to help homeless Veterans secure permanent housing and increase income through benefits and/or employment.
• Service-intensive Transitional Housing — residential services that facilitate stabilization and transition to permanent housing.
• Transition in Place — provides support services in the Veteran’s living unit, phasing out over time, as the Veteran adjusts to permanent housing. 

Supportive Housing: This program will generally mirror the procedures and expectations of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Services for Veteran Families (https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/docs/SSVFProgramGuide_October2017.pdf) Wherein the goal is to promote housing stability among very low-income Veteran families who reside in or are transitioning to permanent housing. Grantees are expected to provide a range of supportive services to eligible Veteran families that are designed to promote housing stability.

This program has two tracks: Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) and Homelessness Prevention (HP)

• Rapid Re-Housing Assistance: Grantees may use funds to serve very low-income Veteran families who either (i) are homeless and scheduled to become residents of permanent housing within 90 days pending the location or development of housing suitable for permanent housing or (ii) have exited permanent housing within the previous 90 days to seek other housing that is responsive to their needs and preferences. Grantees should establish the appropriate level of rapid re-housing assistance within the context of the overall community plan, crafted in collaboration with their partners in the PA-509 Continuum of Care (https://www.pennsylvaniacoc.org/easterncoc/).
• Homelessness Prevention: Assistance For Veteran families who do not meet the housing categories (i) or (ii) for rapid re-housing assistance, grantees may use grant funds to provide prevention assistance to eligible households who also meet criteria for imminent risk of homelessness. Veterans in supportive housing may be asked to pay rent if it does not exceed 30% of the Veteran’s monthly-adjusted income.

Veteran-Centric Case Management: Case management/counseling in relation to housing, employment, finance, and life-skills.

Other Veteran-Oriented Programs – A full description of the program to include actual or anticipated outcomes must accompany the application. The proposal should align with the intent of the Lehigh Valley Homeless Fund Ordinance.

Applicants must:

• Be 501(c)(3) charitable organizations or 501(c)(19) veterans’ service organizations
• Be active participants in the Lehigh Valley Regional Homeless Advisory Board (LV-RHAB) or willing to join and actively participate
• Housing providers must utilize the Housing First model

Funding:

$200,000 in funding is available for grants of up to $50,000 per project/application. The minimum dollar amount for grant awards is $10,000.

An applicant may submit multiple grant applications if they are clearly for separate projects or initiatives that can be awarded and implemented individually. Proposals that accomplish the same mission objective should be submitted as one grant application.

Leveraging HVF grant funding by pledging cash matching funds or in-kind assistance is encouraged, but not required.

The Committee reserves the right to approve reduced awards; however, organizations may decline a reduced award.

Organizations that choose to accept a reduced award must submit a revised budget and narrative for the new dollar amount, which may be offset by reducing the programs or services provided, or by increasing matching funds or in-kind assistance.

Agreement(s):

Organizations will be required to sign a grant agreement for each grant awarded. Funds will be released to the grantees upon full execution of the grant agreement.

Supporting Documentation:

• Organizations must provide their most recent IRS Form 990, if required to be filed by the IRS. If the organization is exempt from filing, then either the most recently compiled (internally or externally), reviewed or audited balance sheet and income statement is required.
• Letters of support, commitment, or participation from partnering agencies or organizations may be included with the application.
• Organizations must submit the minimum number of documents necessary to establish that serving Veterans or their families is one of their organization’s objectives and that programs or services are to benefit or will directly benefit Lehigh Valley Veterans. Examples include mission statements, charters, bylaws, or project descriptions.

Contact Information:

Telephone and email addresses should be provided for the senior authorized official signing the grant application as well as the day-to-day points of contact for program and financial administration

Evaluations:

Competitive submissions should contain sufficient detail, including a detailed program/project budget, to evaluate the organization’s experience and ability to successfully carry out the purpose of the grant if funding is awarded.

Grant proposals will be reviewed and scored by the committee.

An officer or director of an organization shall not participate in the review or scoring of a grant application, nor appoint a designee, for any grant in which the organization is an applicant.

Reporting:

The grant agreement will include provisions for periodic reporting on financial obligations and expenditures, as well as performance measures and outcomes. The reporting frequency will be based upon the length of the grant period and the award amount. At its discretion, the committee may require interim or more frequent reporting, conduct on-site visits, and review documentation of grant-funded programs, purchases, and events.

Auditing:

The cost of obtaining a compiled financial statement or conducting a project audit is an allowable expense to be paid with grant funds.

Interim or post-award audits may be conducted by the committee. Any audits by the committee, its agencies or assigns, will be conducted at no cost to the grantee.

Funding Prohibitions:

Grant funds may not be used for:

• Technical Assistance
• Staff Development
• Application Criteria:

The following factors will be scored in each application as they relate to the Homeless Veteran Housing Fund goals:

• Project proposes transitional housing with appropriate case management
• Project proposes supportive housing with appropriate case management
• Project proposes veteran-centric case management/counseling in relation to housing, employment, finance, and life-skills
• Other proposal that aligns with the goals of Homeless Veterans Fund program

In addition, the following criteria will be evaluated:

• Number of individuals or groups served or proposed to be served;
• Opportunities for long-term housing solutions;
• Proven program management capabilities and past successes in providing transitional or supportive housing services;
• Programs for direct assistance versus administrative fees. In general, administrative fees should not exceed 10% of program/project budget;
• Projects which leverage additional funding;
• Lehigh Valley geographic distribution capabilities;
• Ability to disburse funds within a two-year timeframe from date of receipt of funding

Timeline from 2022:

March 30, 2022       Invitation for proposals is sent

May 15, 2022          Proposal due date for grant applications  (Application for 2022 now closed)

June 2022               Notification of award

How to Apply:

Please apply through Foundant, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation’s online portal system. If you do not have a log-in currently. Please click on the “Create a New Account” button.  Once you log-in, please follow the below steps:

On the applicant dashboard page, please click the “Apply” button

On the Application Page, look for “2022 Lehigh Valley Homeless Veteran Fund” in the list of open applications and click the blue “Apply” button.

Resources for Foundant Help

Foundant is the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation’s grants management portal. This portal allows users to view, edit, and submit grant applications and related documents. Foundant requires all users to create an account before accessing grant information. For instructions on creating a new account or making changes to an existing account see below.

• For Step-by-step instructions on creating a new Organization Account in Foundant reference this PDF. 
• For Step-by-step instructions on updating your user profile or resetting your password, reference this PDF.  

For help creating a new user account, updating an existing user account or deactivating an existing user account please email Holly Fitzpatrick, holly@lvcfoundation.org

Questions about the application process or grant opportunity should be directed to:

Mike Wilson Director of Communications Lehigh Valley Community Foundation Voice 610 351-5353 ext. 18          Cell 484 695-3277 michael@lvcfoundation.org(link sends e-mail)

Thomas Applebach Director Lehigh County Office of Veterans Affairs Voice 610-782-3295 tapplebach@lehighcounty.org

---