About Me

My photo
Nazareth, Pa., United States

Friday, August 14, 2020

Lehigh County to Distribute $33.3 M in CARES Act Funds

Blogger's Note: Lehigh County, larger than NorCo, receives slightly more money in CARES Act funding, but is poised to distribute it pretty much exactly the same way NorCo did. 

Lehigh County, PA- Effective Friday, August 14, 2020, the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners voted to create funding streams to provide relief for non-profits, tourism, regional entities and educational and workforce entities.  This is in addition to a fund already established to provide emergency aid for small businesses. 

In order to maximize transparency, the county has enlisted the help of community partners to promote the grant programs as well as receive, organize and help process the applications.  United Way of the Lehigh Valley will assist with the non-profit fund, Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board will assist with the education/workforce broadband fund and Discover Lehigh Valley will assist with the tourism and regional fund. 

The source of funds for these programs is the Lehigh County COVID-19 Block Grant.  Applications for relief from these grant funds must directly correlate with COVID-19 expenses. All related expenses can be charged from March 1, 2020 to December 30, 2020. All COVID-19 grant funds MUST be spent by December 30, 2020.

Applications will be processed by the corresponding community organization as noted above.  They will be reviewed by primary committees and submitted to the County Executive who will then make recommendations to the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners. 

These programs as well as the small business program is authorized under the Lehigh County COVID-19 Block Grant of $33.3 Million received under the CARES Act.

  • $8 Million for county/municipal government COVID response offset
  • $5 Million for Small Business Grant Pool
  • $6 Million for drug, alcohol, behavioral health and Human Services
  • $5 Million for non-profit and community entities
  • $5 Million for regional co-operation and tourism
  • $4 Million for Broadband, Education and Workforce assistance

Applications for all Lehigh County COVID-19 Relief grant programs can be found on the Lehigh County website at lehighcounty.org .

No comments: