Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program in the United States

Deadline: 8-Feb-22

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) are requesting for applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Farm and Food Workers Relief (FFWR) Grant Program to provide financial support to eligible entities (i.e., State agencies, Tribal entities, and non-profit organizations) to deliver relief in the form of $600 flat-rate payments to eligible farmworkers, meatpacking workers, and grocery store workers who incurred expenses preparing for preventing exposure to, and responding to, the COVID-19 pandemic.

This relief is intended to defray costs for reasonable and necessary personal, family, or living expenses such as, but not limited to: costs for personal protective equipment (PPE), expenses associated with quarantines and testing, and dependent care.

Priority Areas

AMS will prioritize applications that:

• Demonstrate the capability to create and disseminate culturally-appropriate communication tools and resources.
• Coordinate with other local, regional, State, Tribal, or national farm and food worker relief efforts.
• Demonstrate multiple partnerships in one or more geographic regions.
• Exhibit financial management systems sufficient to distribute a high volume of payments to eligible beneficiaries with robust fiscal controls.

Project Types

FFWR offers two project types:

• Farmworkers and/or Meatpacking Workers
• Grocery Store Workers

Funding Information

• Not including AMS administrative expenses, it is anticipated that approximately $665,000,000 will be available to fund applications to FFWR in FY2022. AMS will set aside up to a total of $20,000,000 of this amount for one or more grant agreements to benefit grocery store workers.
• Enactment of additional continuing resolutions or an appropriations act may affect the availability or level of funding for this program. There is no commitment by USDA to fund any application or to make a specific number of awards
• FFWR projects are awarded for a period of 24 months (2 years), although it is acceptable to complete a project before the scheduled performance period end date.
• Award Floor: $5,000,000

Beneficiaries

For the purpose of this RFA, eligible beneficiaries as hired workers in farming activities, meatpacking, and grocery store work:

• Farmworkers and/or Meatpacking Workers Projects: Hired workers are defined by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) as anyone, other than an agricultural service worker, who was paid for at least one hour of agricultural work on a farm or ranch, or in a meat processing facility.
  • Worker type is determined by what the employee was primarily hired to do, not necessarily what work was done during the pandemic. Types of workers include:
    • Field Workers
    • Livestock Workers
    • Meatpacking Workers
• Grocery Store Workers Projects: Individuals employed in front line service or first line supervisory roles in retail grocery establishments including cashiers, butchers and meat cutters, food preparation occupations, stocking grocery floors, and other food related activities. Further delineation of these occupations through SOC codes is not available, therefore eligible entities should rely on the NAICS code to make eligibility determinations.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible entities are State agencies, Tribal entities, or nonprofits with State or IRS 501 (c) status, where no part of the organization’s or institution’s net earnings inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, that have experience in providing support or relief services to farmworkers, meatpacking workers, or grocery store workers.
• Eligible entities must be domestic entities owned, operated, and located within the geographic area of the United States, including the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
• All eligible entities must demonstrate that they have experience in providing support or relief services to farmworkers, meatpacking workers, or grocery store workers. Examples include, but are not limited to:
  • Providing personal protective equipment such as masks to such workers,
  • Hosting a COVID-19 vaccine clinic or outreach campaign, or
  • Providing financial support to such workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=336495