The City of Little Rock has been awarded nearly $2 million in federal grants to assist with the City’s COVID-19 crisis response.

The Emergency Management Division has been awarded $786,845 from the Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding (CESF) program. While the City Department of Housing and Neighborhood Programs has been awarded $960,265 from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. CESF allowable projects include, but are not limited to:

• Overtime
• Equipment (including law enforcement and medical personal protective equipment)
• Hiring
• Supplies (such as gloves, masks, sanitizer)
• Training
• Travel expenses
• Addressing medical needs of inmates

In CARES Act funding, which comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the City will receive $879,049 for the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG) and $81,216 for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program.

CDBG allowable projects include, but are not limited to:

• Rehabilitate a community facility to establish an infectious disease treatment clinic.
• Acquire, and quickly rehabilitate (if necessary) a motel or hotel building to expand capacity of hospitals to accommodate isolation of patients during recovery.
• Provide grants or loans to support new businesses or business expansion to create jobs and manufacture medical supplies necessary to respond to infectious disease
• Carry out job training to expand the pool of health care workers and technicians that are available to treat disease within a community.
• Provide testing, diagnosis or other services at a fixed or mobile location.
• Deliver meals on wheels to quarantined individuals or individuals that need to maintain social distancing due to medical vulnerabilities.
• Provide equipment, supplies, and materials necessary to carry-out a public service.

HOPWA funding may be used to help eligible households access essential services and supplies such as:

• Food, water, medications, medical care, and information;
• Educating assisted households on ways to reduce the risk of getting sick or spreading infectious diseases such as COVID-19 to others;
• Transportation services (including costs for privately owned vehicle transportation when needed, to access medical care, supplies, and food or to commute to places of employment);
• Nutrition services (in the form of food banks, groceries, and meal deliveries);
• Providing lodging at hotels, motels, or other locations to quarantine;
• Providing short-term rent, mortgage, and utility (STRMU) assistance payments to prevent homelessness of a tenant or mortgagor of a dwelling for a period of up to 24 months.

Residents are encouraged to “Stay In and Tell a Friend” to practice social distancing. They can also visit LittleRock.gov/covid19 to gain further insight about how to best to protect themselves and their loved ones.​