By Staff Reports
(HONOLULU)– Mayor Rick Blangiardi today announced that the City and County of Honolulu will soon begin accepting applications for up to $30 million in relief for non-profit organizations that have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-profits may be eligible to receive up to $100,000. These funds will be awarded to qualifying non-profits on a first-come, first serve basis until the funds are exhausted.
The City and County of Honolulu Department of Information Technology is nearing completion of an online application portal, which will allow non-profit organizations to submit their applications digitally. The portal is expected to launch imminently, and since the program is first-come first-serve, non-profits are advised to finish gathering the required documents and designate an authorized representative to be prepared to complete the online application when the application portal opens.
“Our non-profits are the unsung heroes in our community,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “Their tireless work is fueled by a very special caring and dedication to many of the biggest challenges people often face, and if not for the respective non-profit, there would be no one there to help them. They deserve our support, and we are extremely pleased we have this opportunity.”
To help non-profits prepare to submit their application for this relief funding, the Department of Community Services (DCS) will be hosting an informational webinar on Monday, December 12, 2022 at 1 p.m. for interested non-profits. DCS staff will attend to describe the program and answer questions from attendees.
DCS has created a page on OneOahu.org to consolidate all of the information related to this relief program. There you will find the link to the application portal when it launches, information about how to attend the webinar, all relevant information to learn whether your non-profit is eligible for these relief funds, and a complete listing of all the documents needed to apply. Please visit www.oneoahu.org/nonprofitreliefprogram.
“We are honored to distribute so much funding to O‘ahu’s non-profits,” said Department of Community Services Director Anton Krucky. “Mahalo to our Department of Information Technology for working so hard to build the digital application portal, so that our non-profits have every opportunity to apply for these crucial funds. We want to ensure that every non-profit is able to continue providing the services that our community needs.”
To be eligible to apply for the City’s program, each non-profit must meet certain criteria established by the City and the guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Treasury for utilizing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds under the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program. The non-profit must also demonstrate the need for economic support resulting from financial hardship caused by declines in revenues such as the loss of donations or fundraising revenue due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. For a full list of eligibility requirements, please visit: www.oneoahu.org/nonprofitreliefprogram.
To receive regular updates on our Non-Profit Relief Program, please add your contact information to our email distribution list: https://www.honolulu.gov/esub/email-subscribe-dcs. Any additional questions about the program may be directed to bfspurchasing@honolulu.gov.