The Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG)

ESG PROGRAM

The Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program enables City of Chattanooga's Homeless Services Division to provide various programming and shelter to persons who are homeless or are at-risk for becoming homeless. The City of Chattanooga is receiving approximately $150,000 in ESG funds annually from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA).

The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (HEARTH Act) amended the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, revising the Emergency Shelter Grants Program in significant ways and renaming it the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program. The change in the program’s name, from Emergency Shelter Grants to Emergency Solutions Grants, reflects the change in the program’s focus from addressing the needs of homeless people in emergency or transitional shelters to assisting people to quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness.

 The ESG program provides funding to:

• Engage homeless individuals and families living on the street;
• Improve the number and quality of emergency shelters for homeless individuals and families;
• Help operate these shelters;
• Provide essential services to shelter residents;
• Rapidly re-house homeless individuals and families; and
• Prevent families and individuals from becoming homeless.

ESG funds may be used for five program components: street outreach, emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing assistance, and HMIS; as well as administrative activities (up to 7.5% of a recipient’s allocation can be used for administrative activities).

Through its Homeless Services Division, in coordination with other local efforts, the City will use ESG for eligible activities to address strategies to combat and end homelessness outlined in the 2018 Chattanooga Community Action Plan.

The City participates in the local coordinated entry system and collaborates with the area’s Continuum of Care (CoC) lead agency and other local agencies that are committed to the goal of ending homelessness in Chattanooga and surrounding areas.