The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted on June 21 to approve the United Way of Lee County Nonprofit Human Service projects recommended by United Way for funding through the American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.

The vote authorizes distribution of up to $16.2 million of American Rescue Plan Act funding to local nonprofits previously obligated by the commissioners in March. Recommended services include mental health, homelessness recovery, healthcare, youth programs, food security, workforce training, violence prevention and others.Through the American Rescue Plan Act , Lee County was provided $149 million in funding to support the local response and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency. The funds are designed to assist governments in responding to the pandemic, addressing its economic impact, and establishing a foundation for a strong and equitable recovery.

Funds are being allocated for infrastructure, public health, negative economic impacts, revenue replacement and more. Additional details about allocations are available at www.leegov.com/arpa.To respond to the human service needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lee Board of County Commissioners partnered with United Way of Lee County to issue a Notice of Funding Available (NOFA) for the American Rescue Plan Act funds. Requests from eligible not-for-profit agencies far exceeded the available funds. United Way reviewed the applications, evaluated the proposals, and ranked them in terms of priority needs.

United Way, with the assistance of 71 community volunteers, selected 67 projects to ensure broad distribution of funding, proportionality, and highest-quality outcomes. United Way will develop and execute funding agreements with each awarded nonprofit organization to define the parameters of the project and the disbursement of funds. United Way will monitor the subrecipient projects for local and federal compliance through quarterly reports to Lee County on project progress and performance and through other organizational monitoring based on organizational risk. Lee County will review and submit the required quarterly and annual reports to the U.S. Treasury with information related to each of these projects.

Included project categories and funding amounts are:

Mental Health Services: $3,269,000

Healthcare Services: $3,136,000

Youth Services (Academic, Social, and Emotional): $3,097,000

Homelessness Services: $2,385,000

Nonprofit Aide or Strong Healthy Communities: $1,527,000

Food Services: $1,146,000

Job Training and Employment Support: $525,000

Immigration Services: $490,000

Violence Prevention: $400,000

Risk Mitigation Contingency: $226,080

 

In addition to raising funds for human service organizations in our community, United Way promotes partnerships and collaborations among agencies and initiatives, helping them to work together focusing on issues and solutions that continue to improve lives.