Emergency Food & Shelter Program

These are Federal funds made available through the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

United Way of Cowlitz & Wahkiakum Counties manages the local funding process. A local board of the national required representatives is assembled to determine how the funds awarded to our community will be disbursed. 

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 

Any applicant funded by this program must certify that it: 

  • Currently providing emergency food, shelter, mortgage/rental, and/or utility assistance within Cowlitz County. 
  • Has the staff and capacity to take on the added responsibility of this program. 
  • Proposes to use funds to supplement or expand existing programs and services (i.e. does not intend to start a new program with this funding).  
  • Is a nonprofit (governed by a voluntary board), faith-based entity, or an agency of government with a FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number). 
  • has a UEI (Unique Entity Identifier) number (note that a DUNS number will not be accepted), an agency checking account, an accounting system, and a valid email address. 
  • Understand that cash payments (including petty cash) are NOT ELIGIBLE under EFSP. 
  • Practices nondiscrimination. 
  • Does not charge any client a fee for services funded by EFSP. 
  • Will provide and retain required reports and documentation, as requested, to the EFSP. 
  • Will expend monies only on eligible costs and keep complete documentation for at least 3 years. 
  • Pays vendors directly within 90 days of service. 
  • Will spend all funds and close out the program by the spending deadline. 
  • Has no known Emergency Food and Shelter compliance exceptions (i.e. must not have any open Local Recipient Organization (LRO) holds). 
  • Will not use federal EFSP funds as a cost match for other federal funds or programs. 
  • Is not debarred or suspended from receiving Federal funds. 
  • Has not received an adverse or no opinion audit. 
  • Will not use EFSP funding for any lobbying activities.

Any agency awarded funds that participated in the EFSP in the past and has outstanding compliance exceptions must resolve them before the release of new funds.

Phase 42-  Cowlitz County

December 6, 2024: It has been announced that Cowlitz County will be awarded Phase 42 Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) funds, which are Federal funds made available through the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency. Cowlitz County will receive $49,173.00 to assist the emergency food and shelter programs locally. 

United Way of Cowlitz & Wahkiakum Counties manages the local funding process. A local board made up of the national required representatives is assembled to determine how the funds awarded to Cowlitz County will be disbursed. 

Currently, the National Board staff are updating materials, including the EFSP Responsibilities and Requirements Manual. Once the updates are complete, official award announcements will be sent to each Chair. When we receive this official announcement, the application and deadline will be released. Please check back here and on our social media for updates.

 

Agencies may apply under the following categories:

Served Meals
Other Food
Mass Shelter
Other Shelter
Rent/Mortgage
Utilities: Metered
Utilities: Non-Metered
Supplies
You may apply for more than one category, but the Local board will vote to approve and will decide exact amount for each category. 

OBTAINING UEI VIA SAM.GOV

Agencies that previously had a DUNS:

If your agency has a DUNS number and is registered in SAM.gov, a UEI should have been assigned to your organization and you may be able to access it by visiting SAM.gov or the Federal Service Desk, FSD.gov. For more information, visit SAM.gov or the Federal Service Desk, FSD.gov.

After retrieving your UEI, you will need to enter your twelve 12-character EFSP website. Please note that the EFSP National Board staff did not assign, nor have they entered UEIs to replace DUNS for agencies currently available in the EFSP database.

Agencies Without UEI (New to EFSP)
If an agency does not have a UEI, it can be requested in, and assigned by, SAM.gov. Once you receive your UEI, you will need to enter it along with additional information required by the National Board into the EFSP website. It is highly recommended that agencies act quickly to request their UEI to avoid any unnecessary delays in the receipt of funding.

After retrieving your UEI, you will need to enter your twelve 12-character EFSP website. Please note that the EFSP National Board staff did not assign, nor have they entered UEIs to replace DUNS for agencies currently available in the EFSP database.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
National Board staff may be contacted regarding the UEI requirement. However, staff cannot provide technical assistance related to
the SAM.gov website; please follow the instructions on the site and reach out to the helpdesk for the website with any questions or technical needs.

If you have questions regarding this notice, please reach out to EFSP staff via email at efsp@uww.unitedway.org or phone at 703.706.9660.

A few pointers our United Way can give you:
1. Create a login on the SAM.gov site.
2. Search for your organization and see if you have already been assigned a UEI.
3. If no UEI has been assigned
    a. go back to the main page and click on Get a Unique Entity ID
    b. Click Get Started
    c. Pick from one of the 3 options and click next (as United Way, I chose #3)
    d. Then fill in the required information the requested, organization name, address,
        phone #, email, etc. click next,
    e. They ask for the year the organization became active and in which state, can
        find this on their 501c3 determination letter.
    f. I clicked next and was given our UEI#.
4. Very simple.
 

Phases 39, ARPAR & 40 spending period has been extended to 12/31/24. Final Reports for these phases will not be due until sometime after this date.

The Emergency Food and Shelter Program was established on March 24, 1983, with the signing of the "Jobs Stimulus Bill," Public Law 98-8. That legislation created a National Board, chaired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that consisted of representatives of the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities USA, The Jewish Federations of North America, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, The Salvation Army and United Way Worldwide.

The EFSP was authorized under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (P.L. 100-77 signed into law on July 24, 1987, since renamed the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and subsequently reauthorized under P.L. 100-628, signed into law on November 7, 1988). Since 1983, in its 40-year history, the EFSP will have distributed $6.158 billion to over 14,000 human service agencies in more than 2,500 communities across the country through this collaborative effort between the private and public sectors.

The original authorizing legislation (PL 100-77) specifically calls for "sensitivity to the transition from temporary shelter to permanent homes and attention to the specialized needs of homeless individuals with mental and physical disabilities and illness and to facilitate access for homeless individuals to other sources of services and benefits."

Also in accordance with the legislation, the National Board encourages Local Boards, the decision-making local bodies, to place special emphasis on identification of and assistance to the elderly, families with children, Native Americans and Veterans. In addition, the authorization as revised (PL 102-550) in 1992 requires that a homeless or formerly homeless person serve on the Local Boards