On Friday, April 3, 2020, HUD began distributing award letters notifying city, county, territory, and state Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program recipients of their supplemental allocation of ESG funds as authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Public Law 116-136. These special ESG-CV funds are to be used to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) among individuals and families who are homeless or receiving homeless assistance. The funds will also support additional homeless assistance and homelessness prevention activities to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. This
first allocation, totaling $1 billion, was based on HUD’s FY 2020 formula allocation. In accordance with the CARES Act, HUD is developing a new formula for a second allocation of $2.96 billion. The CARES Act requires HUD to distribute the second allocation within 90 days of enactment of the Act.
Eligible ESG recipients generally consist of states, metropolitan cities, urban counties, and territories, as defined in 24 CFR 576.2. ESG subrecipients may include units of general purpose local government or private nonprofit organizations. Local governments (whether recipients or subrecipients) may also subgrant ESG funds to public housing agencies and local redevelopment authorities. Eligible subrecipients are encouraged to contact their local government for information about applying for ESG-CV funding.
