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April is National Volunteer month. It recognizes the selfless volunteers who donate their time to make a difference. FEMA, and other federal agencies, work hand-in-hand with these organizations. They play a critical role in the whole-of-America response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, while continuing to help respond to other disasters.
Volunteers across the country are now mobilizing to help with distribution of food, counseling, medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for communities in need.
The following efforts are examples of the work voluntary organizations are performing to support Americans during the pandemic:
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National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster is promoting volunteer safety and shifting to virtual support in response.
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Salvation Army continues to provide prepared meals, food boxes, shelter, wraparound services, and emotional and spiritual care throughout the United States.
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The Disaster Distress Helpline (1-800-985-5990) is serving those seeking help coping with the mental or emotional effects related to the pandemic.
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Send Relief has set up 10 toll free COVID-19 prayer lines with over 100 trained, credentialed and endorsed chaplains in response to the growing need for crisis counseling services across the country.
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Feed the Children provided 147 shipments of 2.1 million pounds of food and essentials to communities across the nation.
Find the best way to donate, volunteer or provide critical supplies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic by visiting the FEMA website.
 The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and its AmeriCorps NCCC program, in coordination with FEMA, donated more than 14,000 N95 masks to the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for distribution throughout the state.
 Red Cross volunteer Sandra White brings a meal for a woman at a hotel where the Red Cross is providing shelter for people affected by the Easter weekend tornadoes. Red Cross photo by Scott Dalton.
The application period is now open for $100 million in additional Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program funding. The COVID-19 Supplemental (AFG-S) provides financial assistance directly to eligible fire departments, non-affiliated emergency medical service organizations and state fire training academies for critical personal protective equipment and supplies needed to respond to COVID-19.
The additional funding is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that was signed into law to address the impact of the global coronavirus public health emergency.
The application period for AFG-S closes at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, May 15. For more information on the grants visit the FEMA website.
The application period for Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grants is now open. The FP&S grants support projects that enhance the safety of the public and firefighters from fire and related hazards within the areas of fire prevention and firefighter safety research and development. There is $35 million in funding available. The application period closes at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, May 29.
The FP&S Notice of Funding Opportunity is available for download on grants.gov and the FEMA website. Fire departments and other applicants requiring assistance should email the AFG Help Desk or call the help desk at 1-866-274-0960 during business hours, Monday through Friday.
FEMA recently published a Temporary Final Rule and supplemental notice in the Federal Register to support President Trump’s “Memorandum on Allocating Certain Scarce or Threatened Health and Medical Resources to Domestic Use” issued on April 3.
FEMA is working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to implement the allocation order through the Temporary Final Rule published on April 10. Personal Protective Equipment subject to this allocation order includes: N95 respirators, a variety of other filtering respirators, air-purifying respirators, surgical masks and surgical gloves.
FEMA will determine if an identified shipment is in the national defense interest to remain in the U.S. to support the COVID-19 pandemic response. If this is the case, FEMA may purchase part or all of the shipment using a rated order under Title 1 of the Defense Production Act or return part or all of the shipment for domestic distribution. If a shipment is detained, FEMA and CBP will provide a response to the owner of the shipment within 72 hours.
FEMA also published a “Notification of Exemptions” on April 21 to supplement the rule. More specific details about the exemptions and the criteria for a letter of attestation are listed in the notice or the fact sheet on the FEMA website.
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Regional Emergency Communications Coordination Working Groups (RECCWG) established bi-weekly national information sharing meetings and frequent regional coordination meetings. They are also rapidly developing COVID-19 specific web-based portals for important emergency communications-related documents, points of contact, lessons learned and best practices.
This forum works through communications issues related to COVID-19 to ensure effective use of state and federal deployable communications assets; determine the status of operations, ensure staffing of public safety telecommunicators and other nationally public safety communications issues; and, facilitate coordination with federal support authorities.
For more information about the RECCWG efforts, visit the FEMA website.
The Regional Emergency Communications Coordination Working Groups (RECCWGs) serve as emergency communicators across federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments and the private sector. The RECCWGs have increased cross-regional coordination, increased private sector engagement and expanded and diversified membership in order to successfully enhance the emergency communications posture of the nation.
Emergency officials across the country have sent more than 260 important safety messages on the coronavirus pandemic to their residents using FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS).
As of April 28, 84 agencies across 28 states and the District of Columbia, as well as one Indian tribe and one U.S. territory, have sent a total of 261 messages. This includes 209 text alerts containing information on COVID-19 to cell phones and other wireless devices via the Wireless Emergency Alerts and 51 alerts to radios/televisions via the Emergency Alert System.
For more information on IPAWS and how to be able to use the system to send alerts, visit the FEMA website.
IPAWS is a national system for local alerting that provides authenticated emergency alert and information messaging to the public through cell phones and internet applications using Wireless Emergency Alerts, and to radio and television via the Emergency Alert System.
FEMA Released Procurement Video Tutorial for Grant Recipients
FEMA created this 36-minute video tutorial to help FEMA grant recipients and subrecipients understand how to properly contract during emergency or exigent circumstances.
Viewers will quickly learn about:
- Applicable federal procurement rules based on their entity type
- Requirements when sole sourcing
- Proper use of pre-existing contracts
Additional resources when procuring with federal grant funds and COVID-19 guidance are available on the FEMA website.
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FEMA Preparedness Grants Application Period Ends This Week
In response to COVID-19, FEMA will extend the deadline to submit applications for the following five preparedness grant programs:
Applications must be received by the new submission deadline of 5 p.m. ET on April 30. Further information on DHS preparedness grant programs is available on the FEMA website.
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Application Period Open for CTP Grants
There are just a few days left in the Cooperating Technical Partners Program application period. These grants support the mission and objectives of the National Flood Insurance Program through FEMA’s flood hazard identification and risk assessment programs. Cooperative Technical Partners supports FEMA to develop flood hazard data and maps for communities that have never had identified risks. Apply on Grants.gov by May 1. For questions, contact the Cooperative Technical Partner program.
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Public Comment Period Open for Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Proposed Policy
A proposed policy is now available for comments for the new Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. Stakeholders may view the policy and provide new comments until May 11. To locate the new policy, visit regulations.gov and search the identification number FEMA-2019-0018. To learn more, visit the FEMA website.
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Application Period is now Open for SAFER Grants
The application period is now open for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants. SAFER grants enhance the ability of recipients to attain and maintain fire department staffing and to ensure that their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. The application period will close at 5 p.m. ET on May 15.
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