Grantees, which are state governments, large cities, urban counties and U.S. territories, receive ESG grants and make these funds available to eligible recipients, which can be either local government agencies or private nonprofit organizations. The recipient agencies and organizations who run the homeless assistance projects, apply to the governmental grantee for ESG funds.

Grantees, except for state governments, must match ESG grant funds dollar for dollar with their own locally generated amounts. These local amounts can come from:

• The grantee or recipient agency or organization
• Other federal, state and local grants
• In-kind contributions such as the value of a donated building, supplies and equipment, new staff services and volunteer time