CARES Act Funding for COVID-19 Relief

Emergency Food Distribution Events for City of Bowie Residents

As part of the City’s CDBG-CV-funded relief programs, the City of Bowie will be distributing emergency food aid to city residents at selected locations across the City. The City’s Office of Grant Development and Administration (OGDA) will administer five food distribution events across the City, which will take place at the following dates and locations:

Food will be distributed from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. (or until all food is gone.) All food will be non-perishable and include ingredients for a selection of meals. Volunteers, wearing masks and gloves, will load food into vehicles and staff will gather information from residents in their cars; residents will not exit their vehicles.

Only City of Bowie residents are eligible for this program. Residents will be required to provide identification and a piece of mail with a Bowie address on it to qualify for assistance. Please check to make sure your address is within City of Bowie limits at this check residency link. 

For more information, or if you wish to volunteer, please contact Program Coordinator Kay Starr at 301-809-3009 or email cobcares@cityofbowie.org

If you are in need of food assistance but are not a resident of the City of Bowie, please contact the Bowie Interfaith Food Pantry or United Communities Against Poverty.

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Previous Activities

Landlord Survey

The City of Bowie invited landlords of multifamily buildings complete the following survey by Monday, August 3, 2020: https://www.cityofbowie.org/landlordsurvey 

Public Hearings

In accordance with the federal regulations relative to citizen participation for Community Planning and Development Programs and applicable waivers made available to those requirements through the CARES Act as set forth in the memorandum from U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), dated April 9, 2020, the City of Bowie has made available to the public for review and comment an amendment to the 2019 Annual Action Plan. Also pursuant to waivers provided by HUD, the City of Bowie amended its Citizen Participation Plan by revising the public comment period for amendments in response to state and national emergencies from 30 calendar days to 5 calendar days. 

The Public Hearing, a virtual/online public meeting, was held on Monday, June 1, 2020, at 8 p.m. This virtual/online meeting could be accessed/viewed live at: www.cityofbowie.org/viewmeetings. The virtual/online meeting was consistent with federal, state, and local emergency declarations regarding the COVID-19 crisis. This was an amendment to enable the City of Bowie to receive and administer $116,863 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding from HUD made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The funding will be used to facilitate assistance to persons and entities impacted by COVID-19. Eligible CDBG activities will include assisting low- and moderate-income households with rental assistance, increasing access to food through local nonprofit service providers, and acquisition of PPE and other supplies for homeless and housing outreach services and assistance.

The draft amendment regarding the plans for the grant funding can be viewed here. This Action Plan amendment was available for a 5-day public review and comment period from May 25, 2020 to May 29, 2020. All comments received were included in the Final Plan Amendment sent to HUD along with the City’s responses.

Comments submitted as testimony to be read at the virtual City Council public hearing on June 1 were submitted to cityclerk@cityofbowie.org by 7 p.m. on June 1. All comments received were included in the Final Plan Amendment sent to HUD