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The Washington County Commissioners receive four requests for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds from area non-profits to review.

Requests from Churches United for Community CONCERN (CONCERN), Paths to Independence (PTI), Samaritan Counseling & Growth, and Elder Care were received.

Chairman Mitch Antle says they have never had the capacity to interact with non-profits before. Antle says this is the largest group of non-profits that he has seen apply for ARPA funds at one time during the process so far. He says they have already funded a request from Ray of Hope Advocacy Center, while other monies have been directed toward internal Washington County projects for capital improvement to bolster the community as a whole.

Earl Sears with the PTI Committee thanked the Commissioners for taking up the requests for review. He only asked for continuous updates on how the review process is going and when they can expect their requests to come before the Commissioners again.

ARPA Administrator Jerry Kelly with Washington County Emergency Management (WCEM) was praised by those representing the non-profits on Monday morning. They say Kelly has been instrumental in helping them through a difficult two years. They says all of their groups have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commissioner Antle says the closest people they have to experts when it comes to handling ARPA funds are those that are members of WCEM because they constantly deal with federal rules. Antle says have WCEM work through the ARPA process was a natural pairing. He agrees that Kelly and WCEM has done an excellent job in navigating ARPA.

Below are the requests submitted by each non-profit:

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CONCERN – Part 1, Part 2

Paths to Independence – Part 1, Part 2

Samaritan Counseling & Growth – Part 1, Part 2

Elder Care – Part 1, Part 2

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A Notice of Intent and a Memorandum of Understanding could be approved for the four requests at a later date. The non-profits could receive funds within 60 to 90 days upon approval of these items. Kelly says the goal is to have the documents reviewed and ready to go in a week or two.

For more on the story on the ARPA funds approved for Ray of Hope, click here.