Coronavirus Relief Fund Program
Welcome! This page has all the information you need to know about the CRF reimbursable grant opportunity. Please read thoroughly before reaching out with questions.
To the right is a recording of a Q&A session we held. PLEASE NOTE that this recording got cut-off after 16 minutes for some reason (our apologies!).
IF you’ve read the FAQs below, watched this video, and still have questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
December 1st UPDATE!!
Today the Board of County Commissioners allocated another round of funding CCCF’s Small Business Relief program. The deadline has been extended to Friday, December 11th at 5pm. All other criteria remains the same with preference being given to businesses facing a 50% occupancy restriction.
CCCF, together with the City of Salida, Board of Chaffee County Commissioners, and the Town of Buena Vista, is announcing a new funding program for Chaffee nonprofits and small businesses designed to provide financial relief to organizations disrupted by COVID, as well as address youth programming needs as an uncertain school year unfolds. Using up to a combined total of $350,000 in allocations from their CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars, each of the three local governments have engaged CCCF to design and administer a reimbursable grant program. Applications are now open and will utilize the online grants portal linked below.
Access Code to apply: CRF
This partnership and resulting grant program will have three primary funding ‘buckets’.
A general nonprofit relief fund of $140,000 will focus on helping Chaffee nonprofits recoup lost revenue or direct expenses related to COVID. Applications will ask organizations to provide clear and objective documentation which details their COVID-related revenue losses (i.e. from a cancelled event), or their COVID-related expenses (i.e. cleaning and sanitation supplies).
The second part of this program is a $52,500 fund designed to reimburse nonprofits, businesses, churches, and other entities for documented expenses related to providing youth care and programming for Chaffee youth who are either on COVID-related remote learning, or whose parents are essential workers. Applications will ask entities to provide receipts for costs incurred in providing this programming or care (i.e. safety training or background checks, facilities costs, staffing and supervision, food, health equipment, etc).
The third bucket is a Small Business Relief fund program totaling $145,000 and targeted primarily at Chaffee small businesses who are facing a 50% occupancy restriction (however, ANY Chaffee small business can apply!). Awards are capped at $5,000 per business.
FAQs
I am a business, can I apply?
Yes!! As of October 28th, you can apply for any COVID-19-related loss of expense. Please read the other FAQs for more details. If you have a physical location in Chaffee that is subject to 50% occupancy restriction from public health you will have priority over those who do not.
In addition, if you are pursuing the purchase of a piece of Small Business Coalition-approved ventilation, heating, or other equipment, you have priority! Please note these funds are REIMBURSEMENT ONLY, so you need to pay for the equipment, or demonstrate COVID-related losses or expenses, then, if approved, we’ll reimburse you.
I opened for business for the first time in 2020, am I eligible?
Yes, however you must provide documentation that clearly demonstrates your loss/expense is directly a result of COVID. This could mean providing sales projections for 2020 next to your actual sales, or providing receipts for COVID-related equipment or expenses.
I was shut down because of an employee testing positive for COVID, can I apply?
Yes. This grant is meant to alleviate COVID-caused disruption for small businesses to promote a healthy, functioning economy!
What are “COVID-related losses”?’
The pandemic has affected every organization differently, however in general any demonstrable loss in revenue that can be attributed to the pandemic or its public health shutdowns/restrictions would qualify for this program. Examples could include having to cancel a regular fundraising event, having a lower-than-normal individual fundraising income, or lower-than-normal program revenue due to public health protocols.
What are “COVID-related expenses”?’
These expenses can either be extremely straight-forward things like sanitizers, PPE, plexi-glass dividers for offices or program centers, etc, or they can be any expense directly tied to providing a COVID-related service or program (i.e. you started delivering food to home-bound seniors, you could submit mileage, food receipts, labor costs, etc for that program).
Also, through a partnership with Chaffee Public Health, we want to remove barriers and cover costs related to quarantine & isolation. CCPH has resources to help pay for hotel, short term rentals, food, transportation, etc related to quarantine, isolation, or complying with public health orders, especially for those experiencing disproportionate impacts from COVID. If this sounds like you, reach out to joseph@chaffeecommunity.org instead of filling out an application here.
What is the covered time period for allowable losses/expenses?
Any loss or expense incurred after March 1st, 2020 or before November 30th, 2020 is eligible. Please DO NOT submit for losses or expenses outside this timeframe.
We don’t normally do youth or other COVID-related programming, but we started something new this year, can we apply?
Yes! We LOVE innovative and adaptation. If you have started youth programming or other programming (i.e. food deliveries or transportation services) directly because of COVID, you can apply to cover those programming costs.
We didn’t hold a similar fundraising event in 2019 but were counting on income from a cancelled 2020 event, can we apply?
Yes – however you need to clearly demonstrate in the documentation you upload how much you were planning on generating (gross & net). For example, if you were planning an inaugural event which you cancelled, are your other revenue accounts (individual donations, grants, etc) also down, or did that hoped-for event revenue shift to another area?
We have experienced a drop in general donations and we think it is due to COVID, can we apply?
Yes, however you need to demonstrate in detail which types of revenue you think have been impacted by COVID as well as what changes, adaptations, or other efforts you’ve made to make up for that loss (i.e. show us you’ve tried everything!).
Can we apply for both the nonprofit & youth programs?
Yes! If you have demonstrable losses or expenses related to COVID or COVID-related programming, you can submit an application for those under the nonprofit program. If you also have specific COVID-related youth programming costs, you can submit another application under the youth program.
We want to launch a new program to meet a COVID-related need, can we apply?
YES – we highly encourage you to start something new to fill a COVID-related need in an innovative and unique way. You can submit an application based on future plans, and we will approve you up to a certain dollar amount. Then, when you’ve incurred those expenses (MUST be before the deadline of November 30th), you can submit for reimbursement up to your approved limit.