The emergency solutions grant (ESG) authorizes the department of housing and urban development (HUD) to make grants to states, units of general-purpose local government, and territories for the…

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development awarded the City of Rockford $195,054 under the Emergency Solutions Grant Program (CFDA 14.231) on January 28, 2026.

ESG funds support five program components: street outreach, emergency shelter operations, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing assistance, and Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data collection, along with administrative activities. The grant enables communities to engage homeless individuals and families on the street, improve emergency shelter capacity and quality, operate shelters, provide essential services to residents, rapidly rehouse homeless individuals and families, and prevent housing instability.

The award obligates $195,054 through January 27, 2028, with performance taking place in Rockford, Illinois. This formula allocation represents one of the City of Rockford's recurring ESG awards; the city also holds concurrent HOME Investment Partnerships Program and Community Development Block Grant funding from HUD's Community Planning and Development office. The city acts as a direct recipient of ESG formula allocations and does not pass through sub-awards under this grant. Recipients must establish and maintain records sufficient to demonstrate compliance with ESG requirements for the greater of five years or the period specified under 24 CFR 576.500(y).

Activities

ESG funds may be used for five program components: street outreach, emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, rapid RE-housing assistance, and homeless management information system (hmis). Funds can also be used for administrative activities. The five program components and the eligible activities that may be funded under each are set forth in 24 code of federal regulations (CFR) 576.101 through 576.107.

Expected outcomes

With ESG program funding, communities can engage homeless individuals and families living on the street, improve the number and quality of emergency shelters for homeless individuals/families, support the operation of emergency shelters, provide essential services to shelter residents, rapidly work to rehouse homeless individuals and families and prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless.

Intended beneficiaries

Eligible recipients of the ESG funds generally consist of metropolitan cities, urban counties, territories, and states, as defined in 24 CFR 576.2. The minimum eligibility criteria for ESG beneficiaries are as follows: for essential services related to street outreach, beneficiaries must meet the criteria under paragraph (1) (i) of the "homeless" definition under 576.2. For emergency shelter, beneficiaries must meet the "homeless" definition in 24 CFR 576.2. For essential services related to emergency shelter, beneficiaries must be "homeless" and staying in an emergency shelter (which could include a day shelter). For homelessness prevention assistance, beneficiaries must meet the requirements described in 24 CFR 576.103PAR. For rapid RE-housing assistance, beneficiaries must meet requirements described in 24 CFR 576.104. Further eligibility criteria may be established at the local level in accordance with 24 CFR 576.400(e).

Subrecipient activities

The subrecipient activities are unknown at the time of award.