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The City of Columbia Community Development Department is requesting proposals for Fiscal Year 2019-20 for funding from Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program for the Columbia Eligible Metropolitan Statistical Area (Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Richland, and Saluda counties). All projects must comply with applicable federal, state, and local statutory requirements including but not limited to those set forth in Code of Federal Regulations 24 (CFR), Parts 50 and 574, as well as applicable administrative and accounting standards as set forth in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars, CFR Part 200 and all City policies and procurement standards. HUD Website: http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/aidshousing/index.cfm Housing Opportunity for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) funds are authorized by the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act and as amended by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992. The program is designed to provide states and local jurisdictions with resources to develop long-term, comprehensive strategies for meeting the housing needs and reduction of homelessness in low-income persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and their families. The HOPWA Program provides grants for activities providing eligible housing and related supportive services to low- to moderate-income persons with HIV/AIDS and their families. Organizations interested in applying for participation as Project Sponsors under the HOPWA program must document their conformity with certain eligibility requirements. Organizations must be tax exempt under section 501 (c)(3) of the 1954 Internal Revenue Service Code and meet the statutory definition of a non-profit organization. Eligible organizations must have, among its purpose, significant activities related to providing services or housing to persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or related diseases. HUD interprets the use of “related diseases” in this definition to include HIV infection. Eligible Beneficiaries: Eligible persons must have medical documentation of having HIV or AIDS and income that does not exceed 80 percent of the median income for the area, as determined by the Secretary of U.S. HUD. All City of Columbia HOPWA Grant awards are made through a competitive Request For Proposal (RFP) process based on clients’ needs, gaps in services, and ability of agency to successfully implement the program.
Funding Priorities and Eligible Services [hide this]
Funding Priorities Funding priorities for fiscal year 2019-20 are listed below reflecting the City’s priority order of HOPWA Funding. Proposals to use HOPWA funds to provide services must give a full description of what is to be funded, and offer clear justification for the use of HOPWA funds. Funding Priorities are: Permanent Housing Programs Permanent Housing Vouchers Emergency Housing Assistance Supportive Services The City of Columbia would enter into a contract as the grantee with the prospective project sponsor to carry out housing assistance services designed to: (1) Provide permanent housing through long-term rental assistance, apartments, SRO dwellings, and community/group residence services, (2) Provide permanent housing vouchers through tenant-based rental assistance which is a subsidy that covers a portion of full rent based on adjusted or gross income, (3) Provide financial assistance to prevent homelessness through temporary or emergency shelter, short-term rent, mortgage, and utility payments, and (4) Provide quality supportive services (case management, to assist clients with achieving and maintaining housing stability that maximize a continuum of care approach for persons living with HIV. Eligible Service Categories Below is a comprehensive list of all services that are eligible for funding under HOPWA as described in HUD regulations 24 CFR 574.300 (eligible activities). Housing Development to provide housing services Acquisition Rehabilitation Conversion Lease Repairs (requires HUD prior authorization) New Housing Construction Single Room Occupancy Community Residences Housing Operating Costs (direct housing assistance) Maintenance Security Operation Insurance Utilities Furnishings Equipment Supplies Other Incidental Costs (emergencies)
Rental Assistance, including shared housing arrangements (direct housing assistance) Tenant-Based Rental Assistance including assistance for shared housing arrangements. Maximum monthly assistance for an eligible person may not exceed HUD approved subsidy standards. The rents shall be established by the Project Sponsor and shall not be more than the published Section 8 fair market rent rates (FMR) for this EMSA. Funds will be paid directly to the project sponsor, not the client. Facility-Based Housing Assistance including master-leased units and project-based rental assistance; operating costs for housing including maintenance, security, operation insurance, utilities, furnishings, equipment, supplies, and other incidental costs; capital funds for the acquisition, rehabilitation, conversion, lease, and repair of facilities to provide housing and services; and capital funds for the new construction of single-room occupancy units or community residences. Short-Term Housing Assistance Short term temporary shelter, rent, mortgage, and utility payments to prevent homelessness of the tenant or mortgager of a dwelling. A short term supported housing facility may not provide residence to more than fifty (50) families or individuals at any single time or to any individual for more than sixty (60) days during a six (6) month period. Short-term rent, mortgage and emergency utility payments (STRMU) cannot be applied to cost accruing over a period of more than twenty-one (21) weeks in any fifty-two (52) week period. (Does not include security deposits, first-month rent, food, transportation vouchers, etc.) Supportive Services Health (alternative/complementary, HIV test counseling, dental, home health, hospice, medications, partner counseling/referral, primary & specialty care, rehab) Mental Health (Psychiatric, Other Counseling: Peer/Spiritual/Support group) Assessment Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment and Counseling Day Care (respite care, foster care) Personal (buddy/companion, child care, legal, transit, interpreter-translator, emergencies) Nutritional Services (food bank) Intensive Care Government Benefits Access Assistance (job/vocational rehab, insurance/other benefits) Permanent Housing Placement (direct housing assistance) Application fees Credit checks Security deposits 1st Month rent Housing Information Services to locate, acquires, finance and maintain housing (client advocacy) Counseling (e.g., fair housing counseling for eligible persons who encounter discrimination on the basis of race, color religion, sex, age, national origin, familial status, LGBT or handicap.) (non-medical case management) Information Referral (Does not include housing placement services such as security deposits, first-month rent, relocation costs, etc.) Resource Identification to establish, coordinate and develop housing resources Preliminary research Feasibility study costs Technical Assistance to establish and operate a community residence Planning Pre-Construction Community Outreach Community Education Administrative Expenses: No more than 7% of funds awarded to sponsor. General Management Staff Training Oversight Coordination Evaluation Activity Reporting
Funding Process/Evaluation Criteria and Award Process [hide this]
Funding allocations will be partially based on (1) the four priority service categories listed above (see page 3), (2) the unique needs of specific target populations (ex. rural areas), and (3) the availability of funds. Available funding is an estimate based on the current funding level and carryover from previous funding years, and will not be finalized until the 2019-20 Annual Action Plan is submitted to HUD. All awards are contingent on availability of funds. Funding is for a one-year contract period and available only for the Columbia Eligible Metropolitan Statistical Area (Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Richland, and Saluda counties). For the Fiscal Year 2019-20 the grant amount must be spent by June 30, 2020. Continuation funding is not to be assumed or implied. Decisions about funding are made based on the established priorities, needs assessment, quality assurance, program performance and available funding. Below is the HOPWA funding process, please note the following: The funding period covers July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020. This grant is for eligible reimbursable expenses. The City of Columbia reserves the right to determine, based on average monthly reimbursements, that if a project sponsor is not spending at a rate that indicates it will expend its full allocation within the contract period, the dollar amount awarded to the sub-recipient for any category of service may be reduced accordingly. Sponsor administrative costs are not to exceed 7% of the HOPWA budget. Administrative cost includes any expense not directly related to service provision. If your agency is applying for continued City HOPWA funding, the percentage of employee salaries for individual positions may not increase over FY 2018-19 funding level (although percentages may be less). If your agency is applying for continued City HOPWA funding, your agency may not propose to serve fewer clients than the previous year, unless otherwise justified. If your agency is applying for continued City HOPWA funding; only programs that demonstrate an expansion of services may request increased funding over FY 2018-19 levels. Please note that the City is expecting the total FY 2019-2020 HOPWA allocation to be at or above the FY 2018-2019 entitlement amount. The application process is competitive with awards made to agency’s demonstrating sufficient capacity to successfully administer funding and fulfill a priority service or housing need in the community. NOTE: The City of Columbia reserves the right to increase or decrease funding based on a Project Sponsor’s rate of spending or lack thereof as delineated in their contract. Deadline for proposal is Thursday, January 31, 2019. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Hand delivered or faxed proposals will not be accepted. Technical assistance questions should be directed to Dollie Bristow at (803) 545-3371, dollie.bristow@columbiasc.gov or Adrian Scott at (803) 545-4121, adrian.scott@columbiasc.gov prior to the submission deadline. Corrections and modifications to submitted applications are only permitted prior to the application deadline. City staff reserves the right to request clarification or additional information on any application, deny funding of any proposal submitted, and negotiate terms and amounts of the final budget. The City reserves the right to disqualify incomplete applications. Proposals will not be returned. Agencies will not be compensated for expenses related to the submission of the proposal. City staff and a community-based review panel will review applications, with final recommendations being made by the Citizens Advisory Committee to Columbia City Council for submission to HUD.
By entering your initials here you certify this submission truthfully and accurately represents your application and is hereby submitted for review. Submission of this application does not, in any way, guarantee that your application will yield a favorable result.
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Please note that per City Code 2-204, any person or company responding to an RFA or RFQ will not contact the Mayor, Columbia City Council members, Citizens Advisory Committee or any City staff not authorized by the RFP to discuss in any way the RFP. Willful disregard with this provision will lead to a rejection of the person or company's response. Organizations funded through this grant are required to submit to the Community Development Department, the following technical reports on or before the period specified: 1. Monthly Financial Status/Reimbursement Reports, to be submitted no later than 10 days after the end of each month. 2. Semi-Annual CAPER Report the submitted no later than January 15th. 3. Annual HOPWA CAPER and Beneficiary Worksheet to be submitted no later than July 15th or 15 days after the end of the program year. All Final Reports to be submitted no later than July 31st or within 30 days after the end of the grant period. 4. The funded organization is also required to: • Participate in site visit conducted by Community Development or HUD Regional Staff to monitor your program progress. • Participate in other activities as defined by the Community Development and/or HUD Regional Staff related to supplemental reporting, tracking, and/or evaluation. • Participate in training or other technical assistance opportunities provided by Community Development and/or HUD Regional Office Staff. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 require sub-recipients receiving federal funds to register with Dunn and Bradstreet to obtain a DUNS number and complete or renew their registration in the Central Contractor Registration. To find information on how to obtain a DUNS number and register in CCR please visit the following websites: • http://www.grants.gov/applicants/request_duns_number.jsp and • www.ccr.gov/startregistration.aspx. Completing these registration processes is free, but may take up to 10 days to complete. • A DUNS number and confirmation that your agency is active in CCR is required as part of this year’s application. No awards will be made without this information. An agency requesting Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) funding through the fiduciary may appeal funding decisions. Appeals are limited to alleged illegalities in the decision-making process. Appeals should be addressed to the Community Development Department - Director within 14 days of the date on the notification letter (see RFP Timeline below for approximate date of release of letters). All appeals must be accompanied by supporting documentation of the alleged illegality. The Director of Community Development will convene and chair a 3-person committee composed of the CD Director, Citizens Advisory Committee Chair, and one person at large from the Proposal Review Panel. The committee will conduct a fact-finding investigation. The committee will notify the complainant of its decision within 30 days of receipt of the appeal. The committee’s decision will be communicated in writing to the appealing agency. Any decision made by the committee shall be considered final.
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Proposals should adhere to the following general guidelines for HOPWA funding. The proposal should be submitted with the required content, in the format requested and must address service delivery from July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018. Actual allocations are subject to the availability of funds. Applications that do not follow the proposal guidelines stated below, will not be reviewed: 1. Each applicant must submit an electronically transmitted proposal. 2. Hand delivered or faxed proposals will not be accepted. 7. All required attachments should be attached to the end of your proposal and should be arranged in order and marked/tabbed appropriately as listed. 8. If a question is not applicable to your organization, use the designation N/A. Your application will be evaluated by the quality of the responses to the RFP questions, so it is important to answer the questions completely.
Application Title
Amount Requested
Applicant Information
First Name
Last Name
Telephone
Email
Address 1
Address 2
City
State/Province
ZIP+4/Postal Code
Country
Organization Information
(changes to this data will be reflected on all other applications for this organization)
Create an Organization
Pre-Application
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This Pre-Application section must be submitted and Approved by the Administrator (not ZoomGrants) before you can fill out the rest of the application. Click the Submit Pre-Application button at the top or bottom of this tab to submit this section to be reviewed.
Application Questions
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1. Please provide a description of your organization to include Services Provided, Dates that Services Provided Began, Contact Person/Title(s), and Audit Firm Name.
2. Is your organization geographically located in the Columbia ESMA?
3. Does your organization provide services within all or part of the six-county Columbia ESMA?
4. Are you a community group/organization; private non-profit; private for-profit, or a government agency?
5. Does your organization currently have valid Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 501(3) tax-exempt status?
6. If your organization is not Tax Exempt please indicate the name of the tax exempt organization that is sponsoring your application and attach a copy of the sponsoring organization's exempt certificate. If N/A please indicate N/A.
Summary of Application
7. Give a brief description of your organization’s work. What is your organization’s mission statement? What are your organization’s major programs?
8. What are your proposed outputs (e.g. number of clients, number of units, etc.) and outcomes (e.g. clients achieving stable housing, clients achieving employment with benefits, etc.)?
9. Describe the type of services to be provided by this grant under each service category. [Please note if services are continuing, expanded, or new].
10. Please describe the Target Population/Service Area for the proposed services.
11. Please list the target population that each Service Category below will create. Answers are limited to 10 characters. Abbreviate as necessary.
12. Please list the number of units that each Service Category below will create.
13. Please list the number of unduplicated clients that each Service Category below will create.
14. Please outline the total requested funding amount per Service Category below:
Continuous Quality Improvement
15. Does your organization administer a client satisfaction survey.
16. How often are surveys undertaken and when are reports available? If your organization doesnt administer a client satisfaction survey, discuss how you will implement client survey.
17. Does your organization have a client grievance procedure?
18. If yes to Question #17, describe the standard process for assuring that clients are made aware and understand the grievance procedure. If no, discuss your plan to implement client grievance
procedure.
Budget
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Complete for each budget line item of your FY 2018 - 19 City of Columbia HOPWA budget. Please note that administrative costs are limited to 7% of programmatic costs and measurable outcomes are not needed for administrative costs.
Please attach a copy of your IRS 501(c)3 designation or other documentation of proof of eligibility.
Required
Organization registration or any other official document which indicates your organization’s address being located within the Columbia ESMA.
Required
-none-
Organization’s by-laws and/or other official document showing that the organization serves areas located within the Columbia ESMA. Please highlight relevant portion.
Required
-none-
Copy of the sponsoring organization's exempt certificate if applicable.
-none-
Copy of the confidentiality policy and confidentiality statement.
Required
-none-
Copy of the client satisfaction survey form for review.
-none-
Copy of grievance procedure and policy for review.
-none-
Copy of the organization's structure.
Required
-none-
Description of Key Roles within the Organization as it relates to this project.
Required
-none-
Articles of Incorporation/By-laws: Documents should include names of board members, officers, and date agency was incorporated.
Required
-none-
On a separate sheet of paper provide a list of the names, phone numbers, and addresses of all individuals who are authorized to sign official papers and documents on behalf of the organization.
Required
-none-
If you are a for-profit business, attach a copy of the State of South Carolina Business Registration Certificate.
-none-
Letters of support or MOA/MOU for agencies providing in-kind support (Housing Development/ New Construction only).
-none-
Organizations financial management policies and procedures.
Required
-none-
Audit Report / IRS Form 990: Applicants are required to submit a 2014 Financial Audit or 2014IRS Form 990.
*If the 2014 Financial Audit is unavailable, submit most current Financial Audit along with an official letter stating when it will be avail.
Required
-none-
Certificate of Insurance (Required Coverage and Endorsement).