EMS Grant Press Releases

Award announcements will continue in mid-October. The list of new awardees will be posted each week on the Awards page for each grant program on the AFG website.

If your application is approved for award, the primary contact will receive a single e-mail notification from firegrants@fema.dhs.gov; a copy of the e-mail message will be sent to the application's Mail Center in the e-Grant Application system. For confidentiality reasons, application decisions will not be released to anyone other the primary contact listed on the application.

Applicants will be required to formally ACCEPT or DECLINE their awards. This should be done as soon as possible after receiving award notification but no later than 30 days after the date of award. The award will not be final until the primary contact formally accepts the award using the e-Grant Application system. Instructions for doing this will be provided in the Award Notice. Grant funds that are declined will become available for award to other eligible applicants.

SAM REGISTRATION is required to receive any Federal award, including all AFG and SAFER grants. Awardees must be registered and have up-to-date information in the online System for Award Management or SAM, which has replaced the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). As with the CCR, SAM registration is FREE of charge, must be completed online, and is required of all Federal awardees.

• NEW AWARDEES. If your organization was not registered in the CCR and has not registered yet in SAM, go to the SAM website and follow the FAQs and User Guides to complete the SAM registration process. Awardees will not be able to draw grant funds until they have completed the SAM registration process.
• PREVIOUS AWARDEES. If you registered previously in the CCR, your data was migrated to the new SAM system, and you will be notified by e-mail when it is time for your annual data update. At that time you will need to create a new SAM account to check and verify your existing data. You don't have to do anything with SAM until it is time for your annual data update, unless there has been a change in your financial or payment information, e.g. DUNS number, payment address. In that case, you should open your SAM account immediately and enter the necessary updates.
• QUESTIONS ABOUT SAM? Go to the SAM website and follow the FAQs and User Guides to complete the SAM registration process. If you are having trouble registering, the fastest way to get help is to visit the website of the Federal Service Desk (FSD). Read their Top FAQs About SAM Registration, User Guides (including one on How to Optimize Browser Settings for SAM), and other resource information. You also can call their toll-free number at 1-866-606-8220, but the FSD advises that their phone lines are very busy. If you need additional help, contact Jane Early or Chanee Williams.

You can periodically check the status of your application in two ways:

• Check for a new message from “firegrants@dhs.gov” in the e-mail inbox of the application’s primary point of contact.  If your application is approved for award, the primary contact will receive a single e-mail notification from firegrants@fema.dhs.gov.This is only notification that the applicant organization will receive; 
• Log in to your application using the same e-Grant Application system that you used to submit your application. Look in the AFG Mail Center for a copy of the e-mail notification sent to the primary contact on the application. If no new message is in the Mail Center or the Message Archive, then no decision has been made yet on your application.

All applicants will be notified of the decision made on their application regardless of whether they will receive an award.

NEW COMMUNITY RESILIENCE CHALLENGE GRANT AVAILABLE

FEMA recently announced a new funding opportunity: FEMA 2012 Community Resilience Challenge Grants. The opportunity is provided through the Rockefeller Foundation and FEMA and will be administered by the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation who will act as a third-party intermediary.

Grant Objective: To foster community resilience nationally by identifying needs; mobilizing partners; and creating innovative, motivational, and effective solutions that can be grown, sustained, and replicated.

Eligibility: Agencies, institutions, business entities, associations, organizations, or groups operating within the local jurisdiction where the project will be conducted; must be located within the USA or its territories.

Application Process: Go to www.resiliencechallenge.org for a downloadable application, evaluation criteria, and other information.

Application Deadline: October 26, 2012. Applications may be sent by e-mail to Application@ResilienceChallenge.org no later than 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

Questions: Send questions to the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation at Questions@ResilienceChallenge.org, or call 213-325-3035.