Resident Aid Fund of Tigard (RAFT)

The City of Tigard has created the Resident Aid Fund of Tigard (RAFT) to support the provision of services to Tigard residents affected by the COVID-19 public health emergency. This third round of the RAFT program will provide grants totaling $250,000.

Application period opens September 10, 2021 with a deadline to apply by October 18, 2021 by 5PM.

The RAFT application in PDF and a fillable Word doc is available under Application section on this page.

Eligible Organizations

Eligibility for grant funds is limited to three major organizational categories:

• Non-profits
• Faith-based organizations
• Child-care providers*

*Child care providers must be partnered with a non-profit organization to receive funds for business supports, and must offer priority to enrollees from the subsidy program as a condition of funding.

Previous recipients of RAFT grants who successfully completed the terms of their grant agreement are welcomed and encouraged to apply.

All work funded by this program must benefit Tigard residents.

Program Priorities

This round of RAFT funding is focused on supports to help Tigard residents return to work in a safe manner, with an emphasis on providing supports for child care for low-income workers.

Within the broader category of child care supports, the RAFT program is intended to provide flexible aid to meet a variety of community needs during the public health emergency. However, unlike previous rounds of the RAFT program, there are specific program parameters that the city is seeking to meet.

In the event that not all funds are allocated to child care supports, the city will retain the option to fund other priorities covered by previous rounds of the RAFT program. Applicants may submit non-child care related proposals in the event that funds are not fully allocated to this purpose. Those proposals should address a community need that has arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly removing barriers to a safe return to work.

There are two elements to the grant program - the first will provide up to $225,000 to focus on subsidies to families to cover the cost of child care. The second will provide up to $50,000 to focus on business support to expand child care availability within the City of Tigard. Final allocations will be adjusted to meet the overall program limit of $250,000.

Subsidy Program

For child care subsidies, the city is seeking non-profit partners to distribute aid for child care subsidies under the following guidelines:

• Subsidies may be up to 40% of invoice cost per household, with the balance to be provided by the household or through other programs.
• Eligible households earn 80% AMI and below
• Each household should be served with subsidy for a period of at least 6 months.
• All parents or guardians in the household must be actively employed at 30 hours or more, enrolled in a full-time post-secondary, trade school, or apprenticeship program or must be participating in a return-to-work program and seeking full-time (30 hours or more employment.
• Household should be provided with placement assistance by the non-profit partner.
• Subsidy is directly payable to child care provider by the non-profit partner where practicable.
• All state-certified child care providers are eligible for subsidy.
• Subsidy priority should go to households demonstrating a direct impact from COVID, households of color, and other disproportionately impacted populations.

Business Support Program

For the business support program, the city is seeking innovative and impactful initiatives that will expand the availability of child care services within the city. This portion of the program has fewer parameters, but applicants should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the needs of the child care industry locally to propose.

Examples of the types of initiatives that could be funded include:

• Training or certification of new employees.
• Recruitment or retention bonuses.
• Recruitment of employees with culturally-specific skills or language abilities.
• Expansion of services (increased enrollment).

Reporting

Reporting through After Action Reports will be a critical means to provide Council with information on the impact of this funding allocation. As such, each grant requires to mandatory reports – one at 3 months after award and one at program conclusion. Each of these reports is tied to funding disbursement as detailed below.

Mid-point reports will be no more than two pages and will require basic narrative information and estimates of clients served. Given the need for quick disbursement, more detailed information will not be required at program midpoint.

Final reports will require a greater level of detail. In developing report templates, the Tigard team intends to balance the need for accountability with the need to utilize funds efficiently and quickly.

The Tigard team will work with recipients prior to funds disbursement to implement best practices for tracking the application of the funds and clients served. This information will be a required part of the mid-point and final reporting and will form the basis of reports to Council on how the funds were allocated and the estimated number of people and households served.

Method of Funding Disbursement

Grantees must be prepared to expend funds in a timely and efficient manner prior to program end on June 30, 2022.

Funding will be disbursed in two total payments according to the following schedule:

• 90% - at program start
• 10% - at final report submission

History

The Tigard City Council created the Resident Aid Fund of Tigard (RAFT) in April of 2020 to provide grants to non-profits, faith organizations, agencies or service districts to provide immediate and necessary relief to Tigard residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In October of 2020, the Council authorized a second allocation to this fund. In August 2021, the Council authorized a third allocation to this fund.