Senate Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Susan Collins today announced twelve counties in Maine will receive more than $420,000 in federal funds under the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency within the Department of Homeland Security. The funding was included as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which Senator Collins helped craft with a bipartisan group of senators earlier this year.
“Each year, this program helps families throughout Maine and across America who are at risk of losing their homes or going hungry because of circumstances beyond their control,” said Senator Collins. “This program is successful because it gives communities the flexibility to determine how best to spend these resources and assist families with the greatest need.”
Senator Collins has long been a supporter of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program. Since its creation 25 years ago, the Emergency Food and Shelter Program has provided a helping hand to local social service organizations that assist thousands of people in need of food and shelter. A national board, chaired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, governs the program. The Board itself is composed of representatives from the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities; United Jewish Communities, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A, the Salvation Army, and the United Way of America.
Those funds are distributed by the national board according to a formula that includes unemployment and poverty statistics in each county. Once local boards — composed of individuals and organizations who live and work in the communities they serve — in counties, parishes and municipalities across America receive the funding, they decide how to best address the needs of their communities. For example, many communities use these funds to supplement the efforts of local soup kitchens, Meals-on-Wheels programs, and food pantries or to address emergency shelter and housing needs.
The breakdown of funding per county is as follows:
Androscoggin County $35,869
Aroostook County $27, 540
Cumberland County $70,497
Franklin County $11,060
Kennebec County $36,744
Oxford County $22,380
Penobscot County $49,274
Piscataquis County $7,380
Somerset County $21,849
Waldo County $13,301
Washington County $13,947
York County $61,220
State Set-Aside Committee, ME $52,733
Maine Total $423,794