Houses of worship that sustained damage from the flooding in Nebraska may apply for grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The deadline to apply is May 20, 2019.
FEMA’s Public Assistance (PA) Program provides grants to certain kinds of nonprofit organizations. Among these are faith-based organizations that provide essential social services to the public.
To be eligible, the house of worship must be owned or operated by a private nonprofit organization. It must have sustained damage caused by the severe storm, straight-line winds and flooding March 9-April 1, 2019 in Nebraska. The facility must be open to the public. It must provide U.S. Internal Revenue Service documentation of tax-exempt status, pre-disaster charter and other documentation.
Organizations that provide services of non-critical, essential social-type services must apply for a low-interest disaster loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in order to be considered for PA grants. Grants may be available to these organizations for repair or replacement costs that SBA loans do not cover. The organizations can apply to FEMA while they are waiting for response from SBA.
Only organizations with state or IRS tax-exempt status may be considered. More information about eligible essential and critical service providers can be found on FEMA.gov by viewing the table on page 13 of FEMA’s Public Assistance program and Policy Guide by clicking here..
.NEMA is conducting briefings for applicants. For a schedule or for more information on how to apply, click here.