REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
UNITY of Greater New Orleans
Anticipated Funding for
Additional Housing Plus Project Sponsors for Six-Month Program
September 3, 2009
UNITY of Greater New Orleans is seeking three project sponsors who can quickly implement a program to provide short-term rental assistance and limited case management services to individuals/families in need of homelessness prevention or rapid re-housing assistance over the next 6 months. These anticipated funds will be available through a grant from the Louisiana Department of Social Services/Louisiana Recovery Authority provided to UNITY of Greater New Orleans to address homelessness following the devastation resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Selected project sponsors must agree to begin provision of services no later than two weeks after UNITY receives approval from DSS for the project. This is expected to occur no later than mid-October. The anticipated length of the program will be mid-October 2009 to mid-April 2010.
UNITY is seeking three new project sponsors (not present UNITY Housing Plus project sponsors) to provide the following services:
Short-term Rental and Other Financial Assistance
· Short term rental assistance (no more than 3 months) for persons at risk of homelessness within 30 days (eviction notice or utility disconnect notice) or already experiencing homelessness (living on street or in emergency shelter)
· Eligible participants are those at or below 80% Area Median Income for the GNO area:
1 Person 2 Persons 3 Persons 4 Persons 5 Persons 6 Persons
$33,500 $38,500 $43,050 $47,850 $51,700 $55,500
· Average amount to be provided per individual is $2,000
· Assistance can include security deposit, up to 3 months of rental assistance, utility deposit, and rent or utility arrears
· # of persons to be served: 86 (43 between October to December 2009 and 43 between January to March/April 2010)
· Approximate amount available for financial assistance per project sponsor: $172,600
Supportive Services:
· One case manager to provide case management services for clients receiving financial assistance
· Housing search, housing placement, housing inspections, rent reasonableness surveys, housing stabilization and referrals to needed supportive services.
· Approximate amount available per project sponsor: $25,000 for salary/benefits for 6 months
Project Delivery Costs:
· Office supplies, office rental, supplies, travel, equipment, postage/printing and management & general expenses
· Approximate amount available per project sponsor: $20,000
Average Total Grant Per Project Sponsor = $217,600
** Please note that budgets are only estimates at this time and have not yet been approved by DSS.
Your proposal, no more than 5 pages, must address the following:
1. Describe your agency’s experience and past performance in providing housing search, housing placement, direct financial assistance and supportive services to homeless persons or those at risk of homelessness.
2. Describe your agency’s ability to get this program up and running by October 15, 2009.
3. Describe your agency’s capacity and ability to front direct assistance payments to landlords and utility companies (average monthly disbursements to landlords would be approximately $28,500; reimbursement from UNITY/DSS will not likely occur until 3 weeks after your payments)
4. Describe why your agency is interested in serving persons experiencing homelessness.
5. Briefly describe what your case management services will entail and include resumes of key personnel who will be administering the program.
6. Describe what your agency will “bring to the table” to enhance the performance of this program.
7. Non-Profit Status
(a) Attach proof of nonprofit tax-exempt status.
(b) Attach copy of last 2 years of audited financial statements with summary of finding statements.
(c) Attach copy of incorporation and by-laws.
(d) Attach letter of good standing from the State.
Proposals must be received by Valerie Reinhard, Contracts Manager, UNITY of Greater New Orleans, no later than 9:30 a.m. on September 21, 2009. Proposals may be faxed to 504-821-4704 or delivered to the UNITY administrative office at 2475 Canal Street, Suite 300, NOLA 70119. For more information, contact Valerie Reinhard by email at or by calling her at 821-4496, ext. 113.