ESG FY 2025-26, June - August 2025

The State ESG Office issued a Request for Applications for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 funding on June 10, 2025. Orange County, through the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness (OCPEH), is eligible to apply for up to $44,187 in total ESG funds in four categories:

• Emergency Response: Street Outreach, Emergency Shelter Operations and Services

  • This category has a funding CAP

  • No more than $26,512 of the $44,187 is available for this activity

• Housing Stability: Rapid Rehousing and Targeted Prevention

  • This category has a funding MINIMUM

  • No less than $17,675 of the $44,187 is available for this activity

• Homeless Management Information Systems database

• Administration for fiscal sponsors and local units of governments

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Please Note: Orange County’s ESG allocation has been reduced from approximately $98k in FY24-25 to $44,187 this year. The office has told us this was due to eliminating a minimum funding requirement that had been in place for several years.

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Links and Documents

• Public Notification (Posted 7/2/25) 

• Fair Share Explainer (Posted on 7/2/25) 

• Orange County local competition info (Posted on 7/2/25)

• Application Information (Posted on 7/2/25)

• NC ESG Project Application- New Applicants | Returning Applicants (Posted on 7/2/25)

• Fiscal Sponsor Application (Posted on 7/2/25) 

• ESG Project Budgets (Posted on 7/2/25) 

• Fillable Scorecard-New Applicant | Returning Applicant (Posted on 7/2/25)

• Competition Timeline and Funding Policy (Posted 7/2/25)  

• Local Applicant Briefing PowerPoint (Posted on 7/1/25)

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Local Timeline

• Tuesday, 6/10

  • Public Notice Release and local competition information sent to service providers and community members

• Monday, 6/16

  • State ESG Office 2025-2026 ESG RFA Instructional Session, 1pm – 3pm https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3942837050444002901

• Wednesday, 6/17

  • State ESG Office 2025-2026 ESG RFA Instructional Session, 10am – 12pm  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1394354914724345184

• Thursday, 6/26

  • Local Applicant Briefing, 3pm - 4:30pm-  Recording posted at https://www.ocpehnc.com/emergency-solutions-grant

• Monday, 7/14

  • Project applications due by close of business, 5:00 p.m.

• Tuesday, 7/15 – Friday, 7/25                     

  • Project Review Committee scores project applications

• Week of 7/28 - 8/1

  • Applicants are notified of PRC decision and given 1 week to appeal.

• Week of August 5th

  • Project Review Committee meeting to formulate recommendation for ESG FY 2025-26 funding for Leadership Team review

• Monday, 8/18

  • OCPEH Leadership Team meeting to determine ESG FY 2025-26 funding recommendation

• Monday, 8/19

  • CoC Lead notifies applicants of ESG FY 2025-26 funding recommendation, submits to State ESG Office via Smartsheet

• Monday, 8/25, 5pm​

  • Final deadline for application submission (Project applications, Regional application, and Funding recommendation) to State ESG Office via Smartsheet​

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Project Review Committee

Community members with a knowledge of homeless programs and community priorities serve on the Project Review Committee (PRC). PRC members work with funding recommendations for Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) and Continuum of Care (CoC) competitions, and monitor program performance throughout the year.

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The Project Review Committee members utilizes a project rating and ranking tool used to score ESG project applications and draft a list of recommended projects for OCPEH Leadership Team review.

Project Review Committee members cannot have ties to agencies applying for CoC or ESG funding and serve July 2024 – June 2026.

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Please email Alex Rubenstein, if you would like to learn more about serving on the Project Review Committee.

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General ESG Info

HUD block grants Emergency Solution Grant (ESG) funds to the State ESG Office, who makes them available for many communities across the state, including Orange County. Several types of homeless programs and services are eligible activities, including:

• Shelter operations

• Street outreach

• Rapid Re-housing

• Prevention

• Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) costs

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