The Board of Selectmen (BOS) has announced plans to partner with The Guilford Foundation (TGF) to disperse $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. According to officials, the town entered into a subrecipient agreement with TGF, empowering the Foundation to distribute the federal funding.

ARPA funds are the realization of 2020 legislation that is providing billions of dollars to communities across the country as part of pandemic relief efforts. The funding is intended to "address the negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency," according to documents distributed to municipalities by the federal government.

TGF, a philanthropic organization with the goal of enabling donors to contribute to projects and community initiatives, is optimistic about its partnership with the town, according to the Foundation's Executive Director, Liz Petra.

Petra said the agreement will allow funding, some of it long-term, to be distributed to a number of local nonprofits to provide critical resources to Guilford residents.

“The Guilford Foundation is incredibly honored to partner with the town to distribute these funds,” Petra said. “It makes a lot of sense because one of our key goals is to support local nonprofits and build relationships with them. We really pride ourselves on those relationships, so this opportunity to receive this significant influx of funding is really exciting.”

First Selectman Matt Hoey said that the Foundation’s reputation made the partnership an easy decision for the Board.

“The trickle-down effect will come down to those many folks who are in need," Hoey said. "This could give a significant boost to some operational needs for the nonprofits themselves, in hopes that possibly they could put some type of sustaining funding that they could draw down in the coming years,” Hoey said.

According to Hoey, there are direct benefits for taxpayers in delegating the funds to an outside organization.

“It takes the administration of the program off the back of our staff, which includes design of the criteria for qualifications, the applications, reviews of the applications, that saves man-hours. And in my mind’s eye, The Guilford Foundation is one of the most trusted organizations of this type on the shoreline. Their reputation is impeccable and they have significant experience in assessing the needs of the non-profits serving Guilford,” Hoey said.

Hoey said the BOS was in full agreement that TGF had the necessary experience and connections to best facilitate the distribution of this particular portion of the Town’s ARPA funds.

“While it’s taking us a little time to get this going, I believe that Guilford is the first Connecticut community to use a Foundation like The Guilford Foundation to assess and distribute ARPA funds in the community. I think it’s a great way to proceed in terms of effectiveness and to effectively disperse these funds.”

Petra said the money will not alter how it has traditionally funded entities and distributed monies.

“We want the process will be very similar to our existing competitive grant-making process, which is very transparent,” said Petra. “But this is also a truly unique opportunity for us and our partners.”

According to Petra, any organization can contact her directly for more information about potential grants and application questions. Petra said the organization’s goal is to have a mechanism in place by next spring to begin distributing the grants.

“We want to be sure that any organizations have an understanding of what they can apply for. I think one of the things we can do is to bring together some of the organizations together in the spring and talk it through…to really lay out what we’re looking for and what the process is. Because at the end of the day this is something no one was expecting, and it’s a significant amount,” Petra said. “We’re talking about $500,000 and that is about twice what the Foundation gives away in a year.”

Petra added that though there will be a focus on assisting existing partners, they also hope that other nonprofits will seek out TGF and apply as well. Organizations do not have to be based in Guilford, but they must be a certified 501c3 nonprofit and serve the Guilford community in some manner to qualify for any funding.

For more information about applying for ARPA funds, visit guilfordfoundation.org or call 203-640-4049.