On November 17 the City of Fort Collins opened two funding opportunities to address childcare and social services. The grants are part of federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Fort Collins community and as outlined in the Fort Collins Recovery Plan.
These funding opportunities represent a significant increase in available resources in the critical areas of childcare and social services and expand on similar grant opportunities piloted in 2022.
The Childcare System Support grant is for building critical capacity in the local childcare system. The grant will exclusively fund projects that advance mental health resources, accessibility needs for vulnerable populations, fee subsidies for income-qualified families receiving early childcare education and/or school-age care as well as childcare workforce recruitment, training, and retention. The grant may also fund physical spaces for new childcare or early childhood education services and renovations to existing childcare spaces to improve quality and safety. The total available funding is approximately $400,000 which will likely be distributed among multiple organizations. There are no maximum funding request requirements, however, the minimum requested funding amount is $15,000.
The Social Services Recovery grant will fund social service activities related to food insecurity, social isolation and seniors, mental and behavioral health, housing stability, abuse, access to transportation, and services for disabled residents. Funded programs will receive $20,000 through eligible reimbursements that occur during the funding period. The City has allocated funding to support nine programs.
The City will accept applications from November 17 through December 12, 2022. Funding decisions will be announced in January. The funding period is January 1 through December 31, 2023, and funding is contingent on council budget appropriation on January 1.
For details and to apply please visit: https://www.fcgov.com/socialsustainability/recovery
The City’s Social Sustainability Department assists with financial support for housing and human services and serves as a convener and collaborator as part of its Strategic Plan. For more information about the Competitive Process and the City’s recent human service and housing funding history, visit the Social Sustainability website.