FAQ’S

The Oregon Cares Fund is a sub-grant from the U.S. Treasury’s disbursement of Coronavirus Relief Funds received by the State of Oregon under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Please complete the Application Help form, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we are able.

Please complete the Application Help form, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we are able.

Applications will not be complete without Profit and Loss reports. If you do not have these reports, the application provides a template to download and complete to satisfy this requirement. Please note that all information provided in the report is liable for legal review.

Applying does not guarantee that you, your household, or your organization will receive a distribution from The Oregon Cares Fund.

The Contingent staff are working diligently to create responsive strategies in collaboration with partners across Oregon. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to respond to all questions about funding or accept requests for individual meetings at this time. Please submit an application that best describes your current situation and The Contingent staff will reach out for more information, as needed.

Grants will vary in size for individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofits, depending on the information submitted in the application. Individuals and families may be eligible to receive grants of $1,000, $2,000, or $3,000, depending on financial impacts of COVID-19 and family size. Businesses or nonprofits with employees will receive grants based off of the amount of lost revenue due to COVID-19 and additional COVID-19-related expenses.

No. We anticipate a significant number of applications for this program. Please submit only one application for you, your household, or for your organization.

We are reviewing applications in three application periods. Due to the high number of applications under review, funding notifications will take time. Once your application is submitted, it is our goal to have all decisions made and funds distributed within two to three weeks of the respective period closing.

Grant funds that are awarded with be deposited directly into the applicant’s bank account. That information will be gathered after grant decisions are made by the Council of Trust.

The Oregon Cares Fund has received thousands of applications. We are reviewing applications as quickly as possible and will be in touch via the email you used to apply when a decision is made. It will take several weeks for that process to be completed. Once it is, it is the applicant’s responsibility to enter bank account information into our secure portal, and then it takes several more weeks to deposit funds directly into your account. Please be patient.

All grant decisions about The Oregon Cares Fund are made by an 11-person Council of Trust. Made up of 11 trusted Black leaders from across Oregon, the Council of Trust works with The Contingent to assure equitable administration of the Fund. Every grant will be reviewed and awarded by the Council of Trust.

Grant disbursements will all be processed via ACH direct deposit to any eligible account owned by the grant recipient. To be eligible for direct deposit, accounts need to have a routing and account number. This can be obtained by your bank or financial institution. Grant recipients can establish accounts through a bank or financial institution of their choice. A few options are below.

• Heritage Bank
• Umpqua Bank
• US Bank
• Bank of America
• OnPoint Credit Union
• Chime Bank

Accounts can be opened online, or in-person. Due to COVID-19, banks are currently requiring appointments which can be made online. Please note two forms of unexpired identification will be required for account opening both online and in-person. This can include a State ID or Driver’s License, US Passport, utility bill from last 30-days, cell phone bill from last 30-days, social security card, etc. Additionally, an opening deposit may be required.

• For grants to individuals and families, grants from The Oregon Cares Fund generally would not be federal taxable income, provided that the Internal Revenue Service recognizes the grants as qualified disaster relief payments paid as a result of a COVID-19 for reasonable and necessary personal, family, living, or funeral expenses arising from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to the extent the grants are used as intended pursuant to the application,
• For businesses, the grants would generally be federal taxable income and not excluded from the business’s gross income under the Internal Revenue Code and therefore is taxable.
• For nonprofits, if the nonprofit is a tax exempt organization described in Section 501(c) of the Internally Revenue Code, the nonprofit should ‎generally be exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. Nonetheless, ‎a payment received by a tax-exempt nonprofit from the Oregon Cares Fund may be subject to tax under Section 511 of the Internal Revenue Code if the payment reimburses the ‎nonprofit for expenses or lost revenue attributable to an unrelated trade or business ‎as defined in Section 513 of the Internal Revenue Code.
• There may be exceptions to the general rules discussed above based on an individual, family, or organization’s specific situation and additional guidance from the Internal Revenue Service.

Grantees of the Oregon Cares Fund may be audited to ensure funds are expended in compliance with the CARES Act and may be required to submit reports or other documentation on how the funds were spent, upon request.