Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program

The Federal Emergency Management Agency makes grants under the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program (CFDA 97.024) to fund emergency food, shelter, and supportive services for individuals and families in severe economic crisis, with the most recent award of $234 million disbursed on October 1, 2025.

The program does not accept unsolicited proposals; the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board is the sole eligible applicant to FEMA, and the National Board then sub-awards funds to approximately 10,000 to 12,000 local recipient organizations across more than 2,500 local jurisdictions. Local Boards and State Set-Aside Committees determine which local nonprofit and governmental social service agencies receive awards within their jurisdictions. The National Board, chaired by FEMA with membership from six national nonprofit organizations named in statute (American Red Cross, Catholic Charities USA, The Jewish Federations of North America, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, The Salvation Army, and United Way Worldwide), sets program policies, allocates funding to communities based on need, and determines eligible uses of funds.

Over 73 grant awards totaling $3.88 billion have been disbursed since 2002. Awards are predominantly Formula Grants (64 percent of awards) with a significant share of Project Grants (36 percent). FEMA Headquarters Financial Assistance Awards account for $2.57 billion across 16 awards, while FEMA accounts for $1.31 billion across 57 awards. Recent awards have clustered in the $130 million to $317 million range per funding tranche, with a Project Grant for $234 million obligated in October 2025, another for $317.2 million in March 2023, and a $260 million award in January 2023. The award cadence has remained steady at one to three awards per year over the past five years.

The most recent grant opportunity (DHS-25-DAD-024-00-99) posted August 1, 2025, with a due date of August 15, 2025. The program solicits applications annually, typically in spring and occasionally with supplemental opportunities tied to legislative appropriations for humanitarian relief or emergency response.