TRI-CITIES, Wash. – Federal funds from FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program, administered by United Way, have been frozen and are now inaccessible.
Since 2020, United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties has allocated nearly $1.4 million in grants to local nonprofits. These funds support organizations such as Second Harvest, The Salvation Army and local Domestic Violence Services.
However, nearly $150,000 of these funds have been frozen, impacting these critical services. United Way Community Impact Director Asta Bonheyo is calling on the community to take action.
“We’ve put out a call to action for members of our community to let our members of Congress know that we would like the funding for this program to be unfrozen,” Bonheyo said. “These services are really important to people in our area, and it will be really detrimental to us if we don’t have them.”
Last April, Congress allocated $117 million to this FEMA program. Representatives at United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties say they don’t know why the funds were frozen and are unsure when they will return.
