The purpose of the Community Reinvestment Fund is to provide support to non-profits who serve those in need.  

Applicants must be:

• Allentown non-profits with 80% of the clients served being city of Allentown residents or be willing to target these funds specifically to Allentown city residents
• All non-profits must be in good standing with the City of Allentown and Lehigh County
• Additional consideration given to non-profits serving minority populations and the under-served. 

Please email completed applications to: CommunityReinvestment@Allentownpa.gov

The deadline to apply to the CRF is Monday, July 15, 2024.

Awards will be announced in mid to late August 2024.

Funding will be awarded in the following categories:

1. Eviction Prevention and Emergency Response – the City is seeking proposals to fund legal representation to prevent eviction as well as a service provider to assist those displaced by  unsafe structure situations or catastrophic circumstances. ($400,000 Available)
2. Community Well-being – providers of training for professional staff and/or citizens in the areas of mental health awareness and response, violence prevention, de-escalation, CPR, first aid, safety or substance use disorder awareness OR providers in need of similar training for staff. ($100,000 Available)
3. Technology Enhancements- The City is seeking providers to engage shelters and food distribution centers to participate in tracking software to enhance data collection on unsheltered individuals and food-insecure individuals. Applicants must have computer training skills and an awareness of local systems/providers. ($100,000 Available)
4. Essential Not For-Profit Operational Support – applicants may apply for funding to be used to offset costs as long as agency is an essential non-profit meeting a critical unduplicated service need. ($200,000 Available)

Background: 

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan of 2021, for funding to counties, municipalities, and metropolitan cities. This plan provides for federal funding for eligible expenditures through December 31, 2026. The allocation for the fund must be completed by December 31, 2024. Revenue Replacement is an approved ARPA expenditure. Allentown City Council approved a bill that amends the ARPA Fund to provide for $1.2 million as a Revenue Replacement category of the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) award. $800,000 of these funds have been appropriated to this newly created Community Reinvestment program within the City’s Community & Economic Development Department. $400,000 has been earmarked towards addressing the results of the City’s Housing Study.