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Pinellas Community Foundation (PCF) and the City of Clearwater are collaborating to distribute American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to expand emergency housing and social services programming in Clearwater.

Phase I of this funding provided relocation support to the residents of the recently closed Capri Mobile Home Park. PCF has created an archive of information about Phase I.

Information about Phase II is below.

Phase II will fund organizations providing services in Clearwater to support individuals and families with emergency housing and social services needs. Qualifying program areas include:

• Housing
• Food security
• Dental care
• Mental healthcare
• Substance use
• Services for individuals with disabilities
• Aging services and support
• Legal aid
• Youth & families

Your organization may request between $50,000 and $325,000 with a maximum grant period of 24 months. A total of $650,000 is available for award. Your grant request should be proportional to your annual budget. You may request a 5% indirect cost rate, though this should be included in your total amount requested. Proposals that request the full amount should be able to demonstrate how the funding will have a significant impact on Clearwater residents in need. You may include minor equipment purchases in your request, but such purchases should have a clear connection to the programming in your proposal.

The selection process will consist of the following steps:

• Letter of Intent (LOI): PCF will collect information about your grant request, including background about your organization, a grant spending timeline, programming description, and a preliminary budget.
• LOI Committee Meeting: A committee of Clearwater residents and professionals will review qualifying LOIs to determine those most qualified to move forward. The virtual committee meeting will be open to the public, and applicant organizations will be invited to answer questions the committee may have. Organizations denied at the LOI phase will be eliminated from further consideration.
• Full Proposal: Organizations approved at the LOI phase will complete a full proposal that will give more detail on the proposed programming and impact of the grant.
• Full Proposal Committee Meeting: A committee of Clearwater residents and professionals will review qualifying full proposals and make funding decisions.

PCF will establish contracts with those recommended for award.

To be eligible for this opportunity, your organization must be a 501(c)(3) public charity that has had such status for at least two years at the time of application. You must be providing programming to residents in Clearwater.

Schools, hospitals, institutions of higher education, and government entities are not eligible to apply.

Grantmaking public charities that also operate programming may only apply for client-facing programs.

Nonprofits whose sole mission is to support another institution financially are not eligible to apply. The organization/entity being supported must qualify to apply.​

Your organization may request between $50,000 and $325,000. The review committee reserves the right to partially fund requests.

Grants made through this process may be on a cost-reimbursement basis. PCF will have some flexibility in advancing payment for a portion of the grant award.

PCF will use verbal reporting for awarded grants. PCF staff will meet with each grantee to establish a meeting schedule and determine what types of information will be discussed at each reporting meeting. PCF staff will take notes which grantees will later approve.

Due to the public nature of these funds, PCF will still require invoices that document all expenditures on awarded grants. PCF staff will provide technical assistance on invoicing if needed.

The review committee for full proposals was held on August 31, 2023. Minutes will be posted soon.

A committee meeting was hosted on June 21, 2023 to review Letters of Intent. A recording is now available.

Status Description

LOI Denied: The request was denied further consideration at the LOI stage
Proposal Denied:The organization’s LOI was approved, but its full proposal was denied
Withdrawn: The organization withdrew its request from consideration
Under Review: The organization’s full proposal has been sent to the committee for scoring
Awarded:The request has been fully approved

Slight variations may exist between Letters of Intent and full proposals for approved organizations. The uploaded full proposals contain what will be reviewed and scored to make funding decisions.