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  For Immediate Release  
  Contact: Matt Bisbee  
  Phone: (217) 403-4690 / (217) 649-1754  
December 20, 2004
 
Rep. Johnson Announces Illinois’ 15th District Awarded $344,726 Federal Dollars for Emergency Food and Shelter Program
 

 

 

Champaign, IL…U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson (IL-15) announced today that Illinois’ 15th District will be receiving $344,726 in federal grant money from the Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Program.

                                      The following counties are receiving funds:

Champaign County        $62,809                                      McLean County        $51,328  

Coles County                 $27,970                                      Macon County          $72,333

Crawford County            $12,159                                     Saline County           $15,641

Cumberland County        $7,472                                       Vermilion County      $61,510

DeWitt County                $9,411                                       Wabash County        $7,755

Lawrence County            $9,110                                       White County            $7,228

Additional counties may be selected at a later date by the EFS State Set-Aside Committee.  The EFS National Board, chaired by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and composed of representatives from American Red Cross; Catholic Charities, USA; United Jewish Communities; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.; The Salvation Army; and United Way of America, provides supplemental funding to shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks.  One-month awards for rent, mortgage, and utility assistance are also available.  The funds are used to help individuals and families with non-disaster, temporary emergency needs.

In each funded jurisdiction, a Local Board advertises the availability of the funds, establishes local priorities, selects local non-profit and government agencies to receive supplemental funding, and monitors program compliance.  The Local Board’s composition mirrors the EFS Program National Board, with a local government official replacing FEMA and board members voting to select their chair.

The EFS Program has been in existence since 1983 and was authorized under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987.  The EFS Program has distributed more than $2.65 billion to communities nationwide, and has accounted for millions of additional meals and nights of shelter to the hungry and homeless most in need across the nation.

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