Funding will help Commonwealth address poverty and unemployment
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey announced today that the Department of Homeland Security has allocated $3,777,611 in federal funding for Emergency Food and Shelter Programs (EFSP) across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The funding is contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“I am pleased that Pennsylvanians in need will benefit from the stimulus bill,” said Senator Specter. “This funding will ensure that Pennsylvania has the resources to assist communities impacted by unemployment and poverty and to help get families back on their feet.”
“I am happy that these recovery funds are being allocated so quickly to help Pennsylvanians who need it most,” Senator Casey said. “These funds will help ensure that Pennsylvania’s less fortunate have the food and shelter they need.”
The federal funding is allocated to city and counties based on measures of unemployment and poverty. Additionally, Pennsylvania will receive $724,112 to serve areas in need that do not qualify based on this formula through the State Set-Aside Program.
According to DHS, EFSP funds can be used for a broad range of services, including mass shelter, mass feeding, food distribution through food pantries and food banks, one-month assistance with rent, mortgage and utility payments to prevent evictions, and transition assistance from shelters to stable living conditions.
More information on the program is available here.
Pennsylvania Counties receiving funding are:
County Grant Amount
Allegheny County $337,599
Armstrong County $22,172
Bedford County $19,190
Berks County $122,022
Bethlehem/Lehigh, Northampton Counties $203,913
Blair County $37,672
Bradford County $18,158
Bucks County $185,212
Cambria County $47,252
Carbon County $23,402
Centre County $34,472
Clarion County $14,468
Clearfield County $30,219
Clinton County $13,270
Columbia County $23,475
Crawford County $27,363
Dauphin County $71,206
Delaware County $156,640
Erie County $87,217
Fayette County $48,065
Fulton County $7,213
Greene County $11,831
Huntingdon County $16,772
Indiana County $26,915
Jefferson County $14,541
Lackawanna County $69,455
Lancaster County $128,318
Lawrence County $30,125
Lebanon County $33,628
Luzerne County $112,182
Lycoming County $39,340
McKean County $15,156
Mercer County $41,748
Mifflin County $16,814
Montgomery County $208,781
Northumberland County $35,149
Philadelphia City/County $488,621
Pike County $20,004
Potter County $6,296
Somerset County $27,665
Susquehanna County $13,311
Tioga County $13,885
Venango County $16,678
Wayne County $14,708
York County $121,376
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