By CAROLINE BECK, Alabama Daily News
Applications for a $50 million grant program to support nonprofit and faith-based organizations financially hurt by the coronavirus pandemic will soon be open.
The Alabama Nonprofit Grant Program and the Alabama Faith-Based Grant Program will be awarded to eligible applicants on a first-come-first-served basis, Gov. Kay Ivey’s office announced on Thursday. There is an up to a $25 million cap in each program.
“Nonprofits and faith-based organizations are truly the backbone of our great state,” Ivey said in an emailed statement. “Alabama relies on these entities to be equipped to serve our communities in ways where the state is either unable or incapable of doing so. Unfortunately, many of these groups often have a hard time keeping critical funds flowing in normal circumstances, and the pandemic has exponentially increased their struggle to remain operational. It is simply the right thing to do for our state to ensure Alabama nonprofits and faith-based organizations can recover in order to benefit the citizens they serve.”
Administered through the Department of Finance, the state of Alabama will offer cash grants in an amount up to $15,000 per Alabama-based nonprofit and faith-based entity that meets eligibility requirements.
The application period begins Monday and ends Aug. 14. All funds received through this grant program have to be spent by the end of this year.
The funding is made possible through the approximately $1.9 billion that Alabama received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to mitigate problems created by the pandemic.
Through legislation passed earlier this year, Ivey and lawmakers designated up to $300 million of the Coronavirus Relief Fund to be used to support citizens, businesses and non-profit and faith-based organizations directly impacted by the pandemic.
Information on if a nonprofit is eligible can be found HERE and if a faith-based organization is eligible HERE.
The application portal will be open at noon Monday at the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund website.