Extreme Weather Grant for Extreme Heat, Cold or Poor Air Quality Shelters

The Extreme Weather Response Grant Program provides financial assistance to political jurisdictions in Washington State to support response activities during extreme weather events. The program aims to reimburse eligible political jurisdictions for costs incurred in responding to community needs for vulnerable populations during periods of extremely hot or cold weather or severe poor air quality from wildfire smoke.

For a detailed outline of Grant Program requirements, please refer to the Grant Program Plan

Funding Overview for State Fiscal Year 2024-2025

  • Grant Funds Available: $1,350,000
    • Shelter Preparedness Funds (Competitive): $1,000,000
    • Response Funds (Non-Competitive): $350,000

Grant Categories

  1. Shelter Preparedness Funds (Competitive):
    • Purpose: Support small-scale projects and pre-staging activities to enhance sheltering capacity prior to an extreme weather event.
    • Eligible Costs Include:
      • Purchasing shelter supplies and equipment (e.g., cots, blankets, hygiene supplies).
      • Retrofitting facilities to become shelters and/or be pet-friendly.
      • Administrative costs related to project management.
    • Application Periods:
      • Pre-Application: June 17, 2024 - July 10, 2024
      • Full Application: July 15, 2024 - August 29, 2024
  2. Response Funds (Non-Competitive):
    • Purpose: Reimburse costs incurred during extreme weather events.
    • Eligible Costs Include:
      • General operating costs for warming and cooling centers.
      • Transportation costs for individuals and pets to shelters.
      • Supplies and equipment needed for shelters.
      • Staffing costs for shelter operations.
    • Application Period: June 17, 2024 - June 1, 2025

Applicant Eligibility

To qualify for this grant, a county, city, town, or federally recognized tribe must:

1. Have shelter location(s) must be in a geographic area where vulnerable populations face combined, multiple environmental harms and health impacts, as determined by the department.

  • Note: The term “shelter" is used to denote a congregate center, space or other public building held open to the public without charge to provide a safe location for people to shelter from extreme weather conditions. The “shelter" is not required to be held open overnight.
  • Must be a public building or contracted/donated space, and open to the public at no cost, and;

2. Have demonstrated a lack of local resources to address community needs serving vulnerable populations; and

3. Have incurred eligible costs as described in the Grant Program Plan for the benefit of vulnerable populations.

*Be an official shelter as recognized by the County/Tribe as listed below:

    1. Public Building or contracted/donated space
    2. Open to the public at no cost.

Application Process

Shelter Preparedness Funds: pre-staging activities prior to an extreme weather event.
1. Pre-Application:

  • Complete the online pre-application form.
  • Review eligibility criteria and receive initial feedback.
  • If selected, you will be invited to submit a full application.


2. Full Application:

  • Submit Agreement Form, EWRG Project Worksheet, and supporting documents.
  • Applications are evaluated based on scoring criteria including social vulnerability and essay responses.

Response Funds Application: incurred shelter costs during a qualifying extreme weather event.

  • Submit Agreement Form and supporting documents through the online application form.
  • If your application is approved, you will receive an official notice that you are eligible to submit reimbursement requests for each qualifying event during the performance period of this grant from July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2024.
  • Approved applicants with signed Agreement Forms must meet the requirements listed below to be eligible for reimbursement. For each reimbursement request submitted, you will receive an official award letter that includes your award amount.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Reimbursement is not guaranteed and is contingent upon the availability of funds. Funding will be provided to all qualifying applicants on a first-come, first-served basis until the allocated funds are exhausted. Reimbursement decisions, including full, partial, or no reimbursement, are at the discretion of EMD and dependent on the remaining funding. An applicant is eligible to submit a reimbursement packet if the following steps are completed:

Meet Extreme Weather Event Criteria – For an event to qualify under this grant, jurisdiction must experience and/or have the following in place:

1. An Extreme Weather Event existed in jurisdiction.

  • Extreme Heat, Extreme Cold and/or unhealthy Air Quality

2. Sheltering is needed to meet health recommendation levels established by the Regional and/or Local/Tribal Public Health or other decision-making officials.

  • Local/Tribal determination of temperature levels for heating and cooling sheltering requirements.
  • Air Quality level for Wildfire smoke shelters.

AND/OR
If no local guidelines are in place, the following criteria will be used:

  • A National Weather Service Advisories level of "Warning" for extreme heat and extreme cold will be used to determine eligibility.
  • “Unhealthy for All” category of AirNow Air Quality Index (or Air Quality Index value of 151 or higher) due to wildfire smoke.

Send notice of shelter periods – Approved applicants must notify EMD Human Services of shelter operating periods for a qualifying Extreme Weather event within 15 days after the shelter closing date by sending an email to humanservicesgrants@mil.wa.gov.

  •  Notice should include the criteria met by the qualifying weather event, along with the start and end date period of the shelter operations and estimated incurred costs if available.
  • You will receive a response letter from EMD that includes information on funding availability, and whether your request will receive full, partial, or no reimbursement for your shelter costs based on your cost estimates.

Incur Costs – Approved applicants must prepare supporting documents to show incurred eligible costs as described in this Grant Program Plan for the benefit of vulnerable populations.

Submit Reimbursement Request – Approved applicant must submit their Reimbursement Request Packet online within 90 days after the end of sheltering operations in response to the qualifying extreme weather event. Packet must include:

  • A19-1A Invoice Voucher.
  • Detailed County/Tribe Accounting/Expenditure Reports showing payments made for shelter costs incurred.
  • Copies of invoice payments or receipts supporting expenditure reports.
  • Any other documentation that supports the legitimacy of the expenditures such as, but not limited to, contracts, credit card statements, internal logs, or spreadsheets.

For detailed information on the application process, please read Grant Program Plan

    Documents and Links

    Contact Information

    The Grant Program Plan has a Frequently Asked Questions Section. For assistance in completing an application or additional questions about the Extreme Weather Response Grant Program, please contact:

    EMD Human Services Grants
    Email: humanservicesgrants@mil.wa.gov
    Phone: (253) 512-7306
    Monday – Thursday 0630-1700


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