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Grants office outlines role managing ARPA, FEMA and other funding; offers district support
Summary
Chelsea Sadler, director of Grants and Opportunities, told council her five‑person office helps departments find, apply for and manage grants, manages $38.6 million in ARPA funds, and can serve as a fiscal agent or point of contact for council referrals.
Chelsea Sadler, director of grants and opportunities, told council the office was created in 2022 to support departments through the full grants lifecycle and to manage pandemic and recovery funds.
Sadler said the team of five supports opportunity identification, application pre‑award work, grants accounting and post‑award monitoring. She told council the office manages $38,600,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and also handles FEMA COVID‑19 and disaster projects. She described staff roles as a grants accountant, two grants coordinators assigned across departments and a pre‑award specialist focused on applications.
Sadler said the office can help council members and departments pursue funding opportunities and sometimes acts as fiscal agent where the city is the only eligible applicant and dollars must pass through a municipal entity. She advised council members to use grants@chattanooga.gov for cross‑team inquiries; the address reaches the full grants team.
Why this matters: council members repeatedly asked where to send district‑specific grant ideas and whether the grants team would act as fiscal agent. Sadler answered that the office will accept referrals, will coordinate with departments on eligibility and will recommend fiscal‑agent arrangements when appropriate.
Ending: the grants office offered to work with council on opportunities and said it will continue to brief members as federal and state grant priorities evolve.
