Healthy Food Financing Initiative

 

The objective of this program is to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and to revitalize low income communities.

Active 10.872 Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Department of Agriculture B - Project Grants Not applicable. Healthy Food Financing Initiative, Title Agriculture Act of 2014, Section 4206, Public Law 113-79, 7 U.S.C. 6953 An applicant must be a Community Development Financial Institutions (CFDI) certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Department CDFI Fund. The applicant must have been in existence as of February 7, 2014 and still be in existence at the time of application. Beneficiaries may be profit organizations (including corporations, limited liability companies, sole proprietors, public benefit corporations) and nonprofit organizations (including institutions of higher education; state and local governments and governmental agencies, authorities, and food policy councils; tribal governments and tribal governmental agencies, authorities, and food policy councils) and partnerships. Applicants must describe their experience with projects associated with retail, regional food systems, and locally-grown foods as well as with projects that serve women- and minority-owned businesses. Applicants must also provide information on outreach and collaboration, financial condition, project management capacity, experience in rural areas, and how the program will be evaluated. The agency may require additional information at its discretion. Preapplication coordination is required. An environmental impact statement is required for this listing. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. An applicant must submit an application through Grants.gov using the requirements published in the NOFO. Applications will be ranked based on the points scored for the evaluation criteria. The highest ranking applicant will be selected for funding. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines From 90 to 120 days. From 15 to 30 days. Applicants that were not approved may request an informal review or formal appeal within 30 days of receiving notification that the application was not approved. Because this is a new program, renewal procedures have not been developed yet. Recipients can request an extension in writing up to 30 calendar days prior to the expiration of the period of performance. Extensions will only be approved in situations where circumstances beyond the control of the recipient prevented timely completion of project activities. Applications will first be reviewed for eligibility for funding. Applications determined to be eligible will be evaluated based on the criteria published in the NOFO. The National Fund Manager will provide grant funding and technical assistance. Grant funds will be available to beneficiaries to overcome the higher costs and initial barriers to entry in underserved urban, suburban, and rural areas. This flexible program will support innovations in fresh food retail and can assist retailers with a variety of aspects of store development and renovation processes, including predevelopment costs, energy efficiency upgrades, employee training, and security improvements aimed at providing a safe and welcoming shopping environment. All projects must accept, or plan to accept, Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Technical assistance will be provided to selected projects for managerial, financial, or operational consultation, as well as for marketing and feasibility studies. Performance Reports: Recipients must submit a Performance Report semi-annually. The semi-annual reports are due 30 days after the end of the reporting period and the final report is due 90 days after the end of the period of performance. Not applicable. Financial records, supporting documents (including any deliverables or work products), statistical records, and all other records must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final financial report. See 2 CFR 200.333 for additional information. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. The award has already been made for the National Fund Manager. The funding for the NFM will be available until September 30, 2020. The selection period for beneficiaries has already closed and no additional beneficiaries will be selected in 2019. The funding for beneficiaries must be spent within one year. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Lump. None/Not specified. Gail Thuner
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Room 4208-South
Washington, DC 20250 USA
Gail.Thuner@USDA.gov
Phone: 2026902426 https://www.reinvestment.com/initiatives/hffi/ 12-0015-0-1-451 (Project Grants) FY 22$5,000,000.00; FY 23 est $5,756,519.00; FY 24 est $5,000,000.00; FY 21$5,000,000.00; FY 20$2,000,000.00; FY 19$2,000,000.00; FY 18 - (Project Grants (Special)) FY 22$20,000,000.00; FY 23 est $0.00; FY 24 FY 21$0.00; - $20,000,000 provided under American Rescue Plan Act Not applicable/available. Not applicable. Not applicable.