Grant Details

The Emergency Solutions Grant is a federal program designed to provide financial assistance to facilities and programs within North Dakota to identify sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons, as well as those at risk of homelessness, and provide the services necessary to help those persons quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness. 

Eligible ESG activities include: 

• Street Outreach - Funds may be used for costs of providing essential services to reach out to unsheltered homeless; connect them with emergency shelter, housing, or critical services; and provide urgent non-facility-based care to unsheltered homeless who are unwilling or unable to access emergency shelter, housing or an appropriate health facility
• Shelter Activities - Funds may be used for costs of providing essential services to individuals and families in shelters, renovating buildings to be used as emergency shelters, and operating emergency shelters.
• Homelessness Prevention - Funds may be used to provide relocation and stabilization assistance and rental assistance to prevent an individual or household from becoming homeless
• Rapid Re-housing Assistance - Funds may be used to provide relocation and stabilization assistance and rental assistance to help a homeless individual or household move as quickly as possible into permanent housing and achieve stability in that housing. Rapid Re-Housing Assistance may be provided to individuals and households lacking a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence or any individual or family who is fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, assault or other life threatening conditions that relate to violence.
• Homeless Management Information System - Funds may be used to pay the costs of participating in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). Costs include: hardware, software licenses or equipment; obtaining technical support; staff time for completing data entry and analysis; monitoring and reviewing data quality; HUD approved training; reporting; and coordinating and integrating the system. 

The Division of Community Services currently awards grant funds directly to emergency/homeless shelters and agencies throughout the state to provide for activities such as operational expenses (utilities, insurances, furnishings/appliances, etc.) and essential services (case management, medical, laundry, transportation, etc.), homeless prevention, rapid re-housing and HMIS (Homeless Management Information System).