Who can apply for ARPA funding?

Nonprofits and businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic can apply for money. Organizations will need to apply to the city with a detailed description of a potential project, how it would address negative COVID-19 impacts and a budget breakdown.

Projects can be broad, from addressing gun violence to tackling affordable housing to providing mental health services, but, for the most part, must address the negative impacts of COVID-19. They cannot be entirely unrelated to the pandemic — for example, an organization could not apply for funding for a standard workforce development program.

Projects will be evaluated on their need, consistency with eligible uses for the money, ability to result in quantifiable outcomes and the staff ’s capacity to take on the project. The application rubric is available on the city’s website.

Though the possibilities for ARPA-funded projects are broad, Tuerk has some specifics in mind. He’s looking for proposals roughly between $100,000 and $1 million, and wants to see projects where the city is not the only entity providing funding, similar to some state or federal grant programs.

“We can’t be the sole funding source for these projects,” Tuerk said. “That’s the sort of project we’re looking for, something that has other money associated with it.”

He wants to see affordable housing projects because of the high demand for housing in the city and soaring rents in the region. The monthly price of a one-bedroom rental in Allentown skyrocketed to $1,837 this year, a 38% jump from this time last year.

ARPA money can be used for rehabilitating buildings or constructing affordable housing units, according to Tuerk.

“We know there’s a housing crisis across the Lehigh Valley and it’s acutely felt in the city of Allentown,” Tuerk said. “Projects that go to serve the needs of our community, particularly our communities most affected by COVID, are the most desirable ones, and those are myriad.”

Tuerk said a proposal from the Allentown Housing Authority is an example of the kind of project the city wants to see. The authority requested $2.7 million in ARPA money in February to help fund a $26 million renovation to the Little Lehigh public housing project, which was built in the early 1970s.

City Council delayed voting on the application because members thought there was not enough of a formal application process in place at the time.

Council also tabled an application from the Lehigh Valley IronPigs for $1.5 million, which would go toward stadium improvements required by major league baseball, for the same reason.

The city is evaluating projects on a rolling basis, Tuerk said. A scoring committee of city employees will evaluate the projects via a rubric, and then pass its recommendation on to City Council, which will have the final vote.

Nonprofits or businesses interested in applying for funding can contact Tuerk’s Executive Secretary Connor Corpora at Connor.Corpora@allentownpa.gov. The city plans to begin advertising the application process on social media, Tuerk said.