The Starke County Commissioners opened a public hearing Tuesday night to take public comments about the county’s application for the third round of COVID-19 Response Grant funds in the amount of $250,000 from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA).
If awarded, $100,000 of those funds will be used for $100 food boxes made available to those impacted with COVID-19 for pick-up, or sponsor more food distribution days with the Northern Indiana Food Bank. The remaining $150,000 would be available to small businesses in the unincorporated areas of the county, and the Town of Hamlet.
K-IRPC Executive Director and Grant Administrator Edwin Buswell commented that this round of COVID-19 Response Grants is highly competitive.
“We heard from OCRA last week that they received 118 proposals requesting $26 million,” stated Buswell. “Gerry White from OCRA told me they had $20 million to give out this round. This is by far the most applications they’ve gotten in the three rounds they’ve had so far.”
Buswell said some proposals will not make it to the full application or some requests may not meet eligibility guidelines.
Buswell asked if some of the business owners interested in applying for grant assistance could submit letters saying how they were affected by COVID-19 and how much the grant money would assist them in keeping employees employed. Those letters would be submitted with the grant application. Additionally, Buswell said more information needs to be submitted concerning the food box portion of the application, including a more detailed budget and an estimated list of foods.
The commissioners previously asked residents to complete a survey in support of the grant application. So far, Buswell commented that 564 people have completed the survey. The link to complete the survey can be found here.
No other comments were given during the meeting. The county’s application is due March 11 and grant announcements will be made on April 15.
