title
Presentation, discussion, and possible action regarding awards from the 2025 HOME American Rescue Plan Nonprofit Capacity Building and Operating Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), as amended
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
recommendation
WHEREAS, the Governing Board approved publication of the 2025 HOME-ARP Nonprofit Capacity Building and Operating (NCO) Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) on January 16, 2025, which made available $750,000 for nonprofit organizations that will subsequently submit a HOME-ARP non-congregate shelter (NCS) application within nine months of their receiving a NCO award;
WHEREAS, eight applications were received for this NOFA, and staff recommends approval of NCO awards for 25707 San Antonio Metropolitan Ministries (SAMMinistries) and 25706 Denton County Friends of the Family along with reservations of NCS funds pending NCS Application submission and approval;
WHEREAS, the 2024 NCS Invitation to Apply (NCS ITA) which was originally released in 2024 will be amended to allow for the latest NCO Applications to apply, including amending criteria to apply, extending the submission due date, as well as administrative changes as needed to make the 2024 NCS ITA consistent with the requirements of the 2025 NCO NOFA; and
WHEREAS, if additional funding becomes available for NCS both the 2025 NCO NOFA and the 2024 NCS ITA will be amended so that the funding can be offered for additional awards of NCS and NCO;
NOW, therefore, it is hereby
RESOLVED, that the awards of HOME-ARP NCO funds and the reservations of the NCS funds listed in this Board Action Request are hereby approved in the form presented at this meeting, subject to conditions as described this Board Action Request;
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board’s approval is conditioned upon satisfaction of all conditions and completion of any other reviews required to assure compliance with applicable rules and requirements and in accordance with the timeframe described further herein; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the revisions to the NCS ITA as described herein are approved.end
BACKGROUND
TDHCA was allocated $133,474,575 of funds from HUD (after a HUD reallocation and adjustments to HUD’s allocation formula) under Section 3205 of the American Rescue Plan Act, which HUD has called the HOME-ARP Program. The Department programmed these funds into several activities including Non-Congregate Shelter (NCS) Development, Rental Housing Development, Nonprofit Capacity Building and Operating Funds (NCO), and Administration/Planning. NCO funds are for reasonable and necessary general operating costs that will result in expansion or improvement of an organization’s ability to successfully expand the ability of the organization to develop a NCS (e.g. new hires, training for new skills, equipment, technical assistance/consultants), and reasonable and necessary general operating costs (e.g., payroll, training, equipment/materials/supplies, operating/overhead) of the nonprofit organization that are not directly assignable to an activity or project.
2024 Non-Congregate Shelter Invitation to Apply (NCS ITA)
The TDHCA HOME-ARP Allocation Plan as amended states that NCS development funds will only be awarded to recipients of the NCO. These funds are tied together to increase the likelihood of successful NCS performance. At the time of receiving the NCO assistance, funds for the NCS activity are also reserved for an applicant. The awardee must then submit a subsequent NCS application. One round of awards for both activities has occurred already -- the first round of funds was non-competitive as provided for in the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan. One award was made in May 2023 that provided NCO and reserved funds for NCS for The Other Ones Foundation. That awardee applied for their NCS application in December 2024. The second round of NCO funds was released competitively, and is the main subject of this Board Action Request. It is important to note that while the process and applications for the NCO and NCS are distinct, the award and consideration of the NCO funds is correlated directly with the amount of funds available for NCS.
The 2024 NCS ITA was released in June 2024 and, as amended, has $64,005,338 available in funding. Applications were accepted starting on July 15, 2024. The only eligible applicants are those which already have NCO funds from the Department. Therefore, TDHCA received one NCS Application for $50,000,000 from The Other Ones Foundation. That application is being recommended for an award as a separate item at this October Board meeting. The remaining $14,005,338 of NCS funds is available and is the amount that could be reserved for the second round of NCO awardees under the 2024 NCS ITA. That amount of funds could possibly increase should The Other Ones Foundation not receive an award in the full amount of their $50 million request.
To make those NCS funds available, revisions are needed to the NCS ITA. Those changes include reducing the size of the shelters that can be awarded from a minimum of 50 units down to a minimum of 25 units; extending the due date to December 31, 2026; and making administrative changes as needed to make the NCS ITA consistent with the requirements of the 2025 NCO NOFA to which applicants applied. In addition, the amount of the 2024 NCS ITA funds available may either increase or decrease.
2025 Nonprofit Capacity Building Operating Notice of Funding Availability
In January 2025, HOME-ARP announced the 2025 Nonprofit Capacity Building and Operating (NCO) Notice of Funding Availability for $750,000. This second release of NCO funds to support NCS shelter development were targeted in areas that met criteria demonstrating need of an NCS. This need was demonstrated by an increase in housing costs (e.g., fair market rent by county for 1-bedroom units increased by 30% or more between 2021 and 2025) and high cost of housing (e.g., the HUD-published one-bedroom fair market rents by county for FY2025 were in the top 20% of counties in the state at about $902 FMR for a one-bedroom).
The 2025 NCO funds are being competitively awarded to organizations that anticipate submitting an Application for a HOME-ARP Non-Congregate Shelter (NCS) project within nine months of the NCO award. The NCO NOFA was amended in May 2025, with Board approval, to expand the geographic areas of the state in which nonprofits were eligible to apply for NCO funding.
Points in the NCO NOFA included experience of the Applicant in rehabilitating or converting buildings for emergency shelters, experience managing an emergency shelter, composition of the governing board with local government officials to show community support, evidence of community engagement, history of successful fundraising, formal collaboration with service partners, monitoring history, site control for the future NCS, and a preference for Bryan, Odessa, and Pasadena. The preference for Bryan, Odessa and Pasadena was because HUD provided TDHCA additional reallocated funds from those areas with an expectation that those areas would receive such a preference.
The NCO NOFA accepted applications through June 6, 2025, with the proviso that if needed a second application period may be used. The Department received eight NCO Applications requesting approximately $5 million in NCO funding.
NCO Award Process/NCS Reservation Process
In each Application for NCO, the Applicant was required to identify how much of the NCS funds they intended to be requesting in the future so that the NCS amounts could be available for those applicants’ future applications . Several of the Applications for NCO requested 100% of the NCO funds ($750,000) and less than the full NCS available to be reserved ($14,005,338). Because NCS funds cannot be reserved without an NCO award, staff adjusted the recommended NCO award amounts by making the NCO awards a proportional share based on the proportion of NCS the Applicants requested. For example, if the top scoring NCO application asked to reserve $7 million in NCS, the Applicant had requested 49.9% of the NCS available. Therefore, 49.9% of the NCO was considered for the NCO award.
In the NCO competition, the highest scoring applicant was SAMMinistries. They are recommended to receive 49.98% of the NCO available, and to have $7 million in NCS reserved, pending submission and processing of the NCS Application. The second highest scoring applicant was Denton County Friends of the Family. Their request for NCS was for $8.2 million, however after the award to SAMMinistries, only $7,005,338 would remain. Therefore, staff is adjusting the reservation of NCS for Denton County Friends and Family down to that amount and recommending them for the remaining 50.02% of the NCO. This action will award all of the 2025 NCO funds available ($750k) and reserve the remaining $14.3 million in NCS funds not currently reserved for The Other Ones Foundation.
If The Other Ones Foundation ultimately is awarded an amount that is less than their original request ($50,000,000), the NCS funds may be made available for another Application within the 2024 NCS ITA. First, the Denton County Friends of the Family NCS reservation would be increased up to their original request of $8,200,000 (an increase of approximately 17.1% of their current NCS reservation) and a proportional increase for NCO would be provided if needed (e.g., up to approximately 17.1%). The 2024 NCS ITA would be amended down from $64,005,338 to $63,941,189, and the 2025 NCO NOFA would be amended up from $750,000 to $814,149, in order to make the Denton County Friends of the Family requested NCS reservation available and a proportional share of NCO funds.
Recommended Awards/Reservations
TDHCA HOME-ARP staff is recommending approval of two HOME-ARP NCO Applications, and the associated reservations of NCS HOME-ARP funds.
|
App. ID |
Score |
Application Name |
Requested HOME-ARP NCO Amount |
Recom-mended HOME-ARP NCO Award |
Requested Reservation of NCS HOME-ARP |
Recommended Reservation of NCS HOME-ARP |
City |
|
25707 |
47 |
San Antonio Metropolitan Ministries (SAMMinistries) |
$750,000 |
$374,857 |
$7,000,000 |
$7,000,000 |
San Antonio |
|
25706 |
45 |
Denton County Friends of the Family |
$450,000 |
$375,143* |
$8,200,000* |
$7,005,338 |
Denton |
*The NCO award for the Denton County Friends of the Family may increase to $439,292 and NCS HOME-ARP reservation may increase up to $8,200,000 if additional funding is available for more applications in the 2024 NCS ITA.
SAMMinistries NCO Award and NCS Reservation
San Antonio Metropolitan Ministry, Inc. (SAMMinistries) was created in 1983 to operate an emergency shelter. They had support of the City of San Antonio with leased space and operating funds for the emergency shelter, and community support from local churches. SAMMinistries continued to provide emergency shelter until Haven for Hope, one of the largest emergency shelter providers in San Antonio, opened its campus in 2010. From 2010 to 2021, SAMMinistries focused efforts on longer-term housing programming by providing Homeless Prevention to prevent eviction and maintain housing stability. However, with the Coronavirus lockdowns and additional funding made available, in 2021 SAMMinistries converted a motel to an NCS which it then operated. SAMMinistries’ current NCS program started with 45 single resident occupancy rooms and grew to 175 in 2023 with an additional location.
SAMMinistries has strong community engagement. They have participated at city council meetings about homelessness. SAMMinistries has formal partnerships with at least three community service partners including, but not limited to, the City of San Antonio Neighborhood and Housing Services Department, San Antonio Christian Dental Clinic, and University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Nursing. SAMMinistries’ revenues are supported through a variety of sources from the Federal Emergency Management Administration, Texas Veterans Commission, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, City of San Antonio, Bexar County and others, as well as several individual philanthropic sources.
SAMMinistries applied for $750,000 in NCO and $7,000,000 in NCS for an NCS of 150 units. The HOME-ARP capacity building will be used for increasing staff competence specific to serving HOME-ARP qualified populations (e.g., homeless or at-risk of homelessness), upgrading information technology, an Asset Manager position for their growing portfolio of NCS operations, and community engagement regarding homelessness. The HOME-ARP operating assistance will be used for leadership and administrative staff.
Because the amount of NCS to be reserved ($7 million) is approximately 49.98% of their NCS available ($14 million), approximately 49.98% of their NCO request is recommended for award, which is $374,857. In addition, $7,000,000 will be reserved for SAMMinistries pending NCS Application and processing.
Due to recent audit findings, the following two conditions will be part of the SAMMinistries’ NCO Contract:
• Certification of Fiscal Control. Department shall not release any disbursements for any costs incurred by Administrator under this Contract until Department has received certification from Administrator that its fiscal control and fund accounting procedures are adequate to assure the proper disbursal of, and accounting for, funds provided under this Contract in accordance with 2 CFR Part 200, and the Federal Accounting Standards Board. Department shall specify the content and form of such certification.
• Special Conditions. TDHCA is requiring at least a quarterly reconciliation of HOME-ARP funds which may include, but not be limited to, submission of certified time sheets, ledger, copy of the invoice (with date and check number or other receipt verification if available), or equivalent documentation.
Staff recommends approval of the NCO award for $374,857 and an NCS reservation for $7,000,000 for SAMMinistries. The reservation of NCS funds is pending an Application submission within nine (9) months of the NCO award, and pending processing of the Application within one year of the NCS Application for an award.
Denton County Friends of the Family NCO Award and NCS Reservation
Denton County Friends of the Family was founded in 1980 to provide services to those impacted by domestic violence and sexual assault while also providing resources and connections for safety, healing, and prevention. Their emergency shelter grew from 900-square feet with $10,000 in funding, to 4,400 square feet with over $1.8 million in funding. They offer a 24-hour crisis line, 32-bed protective residential shelter, counseling programs, community education, violence intervention and others resources.
Denton County Friends of the Family has strong community support. Their Board has a local government official presence, the Police Chief of Argyle Texas. They have participated in City of Denton City Council meetings on homelessness. Denton County Friend of the Family has formal partnerships with at least three North Central Texas Workforce Board, Denton County Mental Health/Mental Retardation Center, and the United Way of Denton County. Denton County Friends of the Family’s revenues are supported by several foundations, including but not limited to Texas Women’s Foundation, Texas Bar Foundation, Flow Foundation; a variety of federal and state funds including but not limited to Federal Emergency Management Agency, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency; as well as several individual philanthropic sources.
Denton County Friends of the Family’s request for NCO funds was $450,000 and NCS funds was $8.2 million for 55 to 75 NCS beds. Their capacity building approach is to support a project manager, staff training and development, technical assistance with experience on non-congregate shelter planning, and technology and equipment. Their operating assistance will support executive leadership, finance and compliance, support staff, equipment and supplies, and rent, utilities and insurance.
After the highest scoring application reserves their requested NCS, the remaining balance is $7,005,338 in NCS that is available for the Denton County Friends of the Family. Because the amount of NCS to be reserved ($7.05 million) is approximately 50.02% of their NCS available ($14 million), approximately 50.02% of their NCO request is recommended for award, which is $375,143. In addition, $7,005,338 will be reserved for Denton County Friends of the Family pending NCS Application and processing.
Staff recommends approval of the NCO award for $375,143 and an NCS reservation for $7,005,338 for the Denton County Friends of the Family. Staff also recommends that the NCS HOME-ARP reservation for the Denton County Friends of the Family may be increased up to $8,200,000 and the NCO award may be increased to $439,292 if additional funding is available. The reservation of NCS funds is pending an Application submission within nine (9) months of the NCO award, and pending processing of the Application within one year of the NCS Application for an award.