Wrangell Cooperative Association members are eligible for a second round of pandemic assistance grants for food and utility expenses, with applications due by Nov. 30.
The assistance payments will be $1,000 per household for groceries and $1,000 for utilities, the same amount as the first round administered by WCA with funds from last year’s federal CARES Act.
Tribal members must fill out a certification form “to verify the tribal household applying needs assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic and there have been no changes to household information since the previous distribution,” Esther Reese, tribal administrator, said in an email last week.
Recipients of the grocery assistance will receive a $500 gift card each for City Market and IGA. “The $1,000 in utility assistance is paid directly to the borough on the tribal citizen’s account,” Reese said.
The assistance is available only for tribal members living in Wrangell, which total 459, she said.
WCA has about 400 tribal citizens who reside outside of Wrangell.
Applications are available on the porch at WCA offices at 1002 Zimovia Highway, or by emailing to request an application from carescoord.wca@gmail.com.
The eight-member elected tribal council last year decided on several programs for spending the federal aid allocated to WCA under the CARES Act, and then this year set up a plan for spending funds from the American Rescue Plan Act signed into law this past spring.
Federal pandemic aid directed to the tribe has totaled about $7.5 million.
The borough and school district have received or been allocated about $6 million in federal aid since last year, with more than $8 million going directly to local businesses through several federal and state programs.
The federal deadline under the American Rescue Plan allows tribes — along with municipalities and states — to use the funds through 2024.
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