A Call For Help!

Anonymous said...

Hey Rose! :) I saw your post on Aidepage. I was wondering if you happen to know of any grants to help women of Domestic violence, who are trying to get a home, and help getting back on their feet? I'm originally from Pa, moved to TN and found myself trapped. About a year and a half ago I tried to get out and the shelter wasn't able to get the funds to help, and my family was useless. Due to depression and the girls I just gave up and came back. The past year has been a nightmare and he is taking it out mentally on the 14 year old and I don't know how much more I can take before I end up being one of those women on the tv show SNAPPED. I am desperately in need of help. Any info you can give me would be great. Thank you much hun, have a great day!

There are a lot of Domestic groups out there that may be able to help you. What you should do is take some time out and go to your local library to find out more information.

I will have to check my files to see if there are any groups/grant programs that may be able to help you.

"How Can I Apply For A Government Grant?"

"
How Can I Apply For A Government Grant?"



"How Can I Apply For A Daycare Grant?"


I have seen this question asked a lot and I think that I may even have answered this question before on this blog but here is the answer again.



It depends on the type of government grant you are looking for - and please bear in mind that it is not only the government that has grant programs.!



If you are looking for only official government grant programs then you can visit the government's official website! There you will find a current list of the official government grant programs.



If you are looking for a government grant program to help you pay your bills, it becomes a bit more difficult!

If You Are Looking For Scholarships.............

If you are looking for free scholarships why don't you start your search online? The internet would be the very best place to start looking for scholarships. The only place that is more better for looking for scholarships is the financial aid offices of the schools that you want to apply for.

Got to a bookstore or your local library to find free books that list scholarship and grant information programs.

The very best warning signal as to whether it is a scam or not is if you are promised the scholarship (or grant). The normal process involves you having to apply for the scholarship or grant and your application has to be reviewed and hopefully approved!

Still Need Help Paying Your Bills?

"I'm making payment arrangements with my utility company but I am still having problems paying my bill(s)......."

If you are making payment arrangements but are still having problems with paying your bill(s) then I suggest that you go online, do a little research and find the sites that let you request money. Some of them will require documentation on your part but I know of at least one site where you can request money but don't have to submit anything besides your request, how much you are requesting and what you need the money for. As far as this one site goes you can request up to $1000 but requests of higher amounts will be considered if your reason for needing the money is compelling enough.

Another source of money is unclaimed money. You (or a family member or spouse) may be on the list for unclaimed money and not even know it! To find out more information about what "unclaimed" money is just visit my blog, The Unclaimed Money Blog.

About Government Grants - An Excerpt!

Here is an excerpt from an online article:

"
No matter what type of business you are interested in establishing, how big or small, who you are, where it is located,there is a business grant, or several, to support your ventures........

You may be able to acquire a small business grant to finance a modest online business run from your home, to minority grant to open an ethnic heritage center in a culturally rich neighborhood, to several generous grants for real estate to establish your own realty company.....

Thousands of stay at home mothers are acquiring day care grants and single mothers grants to start their own day care centers, and make money on day care, while saving on day care and spending more time with their children.....

The generosity on the government's part towards the small business owner is really quite amazing, and the eligibility requirements to receive free government financial aid are really quite few......................"

Subject: Grant Research - Can You Help Me? I am interested in acquiring a government grant to start a business. Are you available for consultation? Thanks! Very Truly Yours C. T. Thank you for your email. It really all depends on what type of consultation that you are needing. Here are some questions that I require all of my clients to fill out before I start researching grant programs that they may be eligible for. Questions To Be Answered For Grant Basics 101 Please go to the link above, answer the questions and that will give me a better idea as to what grant programs you may be eligible for. Unfortunately you have only mentioned that you want to start a business but you haven't mentioned what type of business it is that you want to start?

$25 Million To Spend!

One organization has $25 Million Dollars to spend to help encourage innovative ideas to help advance journalism using the digital medium!

This year a project to build and maintain a crowd-sourced database of primary source material for use by investigative reporters was awarded a grant of $719,000! The grant recipient(s) included a pairing of a well-known newspaper and a non-profit news organization. The project was an initiative that sought to break the habits of reporters who threw stories and documents away after the story faded - whereas those documents were never going to be used again. The four-member team "aims to provide an online database of documents contributed by a consortium of news organizations, watchdog groups and bloggers, and shared with the public at large. Users will be able to search by topic, agency or location. Reporters will benefit from the wisdom of the crowd, which will be able to collaboratively examine large document sets.”

This grant program is open to the public! This means that individuals and even for-profit businesses can apply!

Other grant recipients include:

• A $300,000 was awarded to a website to post mistakes by journalists! The idea is to have those that comment to engage the journalist and discuss whether a correction or additional reporting is warranted. This will be used to help show errors that news organizations make and show which news organizations are responsible to public questions and comments.
  
  
• Another individual received a $200,000 grant to create a downloadable production tool for various mobile phone platforms. The toolkit will include applications for video and audio recording, a distribution tool for mobile content to social media sites and detailed how-to information that outlines what users can do with the phones they have.
  
  
• Another grant recipient received a grant of $250,000 to expand their state's council coverage by a local newspaper and allow them to create a wiki devoted to local legislators.

Publishing files on the Web that were originally created for print publications has always been a challenge, especially for small community newspapers. News organizations have typically solved the problem by creating proprietary publishing systems for their sole benefit. This grant will create new and easy ways to use tools that will allow news organizations to essentially drag and drop articles onto an online news site. The process will save news organizations, particularly small community newspapers, significant time, money and manpower, allowing them to direct their resources to bring their community the news and information it needs.

What I Do........................................

I am a teacher with 14 year experience, I have triple degress- 3-5 years of age, regular education K-5 grade, and special education Multiple disabilities K-12, and I have my masters in Ele Guidance. I would like to open an "educare" center in my county. Can you help me find grants for doing this? Do you have a book you are selling or do you actually help secure the grants and how much do you charge- thank you g~

What I do quite simply is find the grant programs that clients are eligible for. I send them all the information about the grant programs and then they can decide whether or not they want to apply for the funding on their own or whether they want someone to help them whether it be me or someone else. You can find more information on both my Grant Basics 101 page and my contact information pages.

One thing that you will have to understand about the grant process is that it is a process. You have to submit your application and it has to be reviewed before any grant award decision is made. Applying for a grant does not automatically guarantee that you will get the grant.

"How Do I Get Grant Information Without Paying For It?"

The most simplest way to get grant program information is to do the research yourself.

As far as the government grant programs are concerned you have to understand that since government grants are funded by taxpayers, the government has to make information about their grant programs freely accessible to the public.

They have done that with both having a website devoted to the government grant programs that are out there and they also provide printed publications that you should be able to find at your local library. Even if you aren't able to find the information you can always ask the librarian about it.

Not all grant programs are provided by the government. There are other entities that have grant programs as well and they include non-profit organizations, clubs, associations and even some businesses.

In fact you may be able to find out about grant programs for free if you go to your local social service agency. You should know that these agencies have been established by the government to help people (and sometimes they even get grants theirselves!) and who would know better about government grant programs than them?

Many times I will get people who want me to provide them with information about grant programs and I guess they just don't realize how much work is involved when finding grant programs that one is eligible to apply for.

Everytime I get a new client (or when I get an old client looking for more information about new or other grant programs), they must first fill out a questionaire that I have set up on one of my pages. Filling this out lets me know a lot of information and helps me to pinpoint the kind of searching that I will have to do when looking for specific types of grant programs.

However finding these grant programs is really no secret at all. You just got to keep on searching until you find the information - sort of comparable to finding a needle in a haystack - the needle is there but you just have to find it.

Over 90% of the information that I have found about grant programs has been online. If you have access to a computer you should be able to find this kind of information as well.

After you have been doing this for a while (like I have) you will start to get the information about grant programs mailed to you which helps to make your research more easier.

But to put it simply - to get information about grant programs without having to pay for it the solution is to simply find the information yourself. It is available online and as far as the government grants are concerned information about them is also provide in printed form and you should be able to find them at your library.

Thinking About Grantwriting As A Career?

I came across your Working From Home blog while searching for information on grant writing. I recently left a counseling job after being in social services/non-profit industry for around 10 years. I am looking for a more family-friendly career change, or at least a new slant on what I can do with my experience in social services, and have been thinking of looking into grantwriting. However, I have no idea how to get started or where to find more information on typical requirements to become a grantwriter or prospects for employment. If you have any basic advice or can point me to some good websites or contacts I would really appreciate it! Congratulations on all you have accomplished, it looks like you are juggling a lot of different roles in your professional life!

~M

Well since grantwriting is going to involve a LOT of research I can think of no better way to get yourself acquainted with research than by going to your local library and finding out as much as you can about the subject of grantwriting.

Even online you can get a lot of research done as well!

Also too I have notices that there have been grantwriting courses being made available by very legitimate learning places - so you may want to check and see if there are any available in your area.

Prospects for employment? If you are able to find grant funding for a program that will help to grow your reputation and judging by the amount of email I get prospects in this career area are very good.

Personally though I would advise you to work on a freelance basis.

Grant Funding For Churches?

Dear Rose,

I am currently looking for funding for my church. Do you know of any possible grants that help with church or religious organizations? I have had a hard time looking for one and would like to finally get some results or help.

Thanks, A. H.

I took the liberty of checking my Grant Basics 101 page just to see what kind of information I had about grant programs for churches. Here is an excerpt from my page:

"Church Related Grant Programs

-Rural Methodist Churches may be eligible to apply for a grant program that awards grant amounts between $15,000 and $50,000 to help fund after-school programs for children.

added 10/14/07

- Repair and Restoration Grants - Provide much-needed capital improvement dollars for church buildings. The Fund recognizes that a church's greatest and most urgent need often can be to maintain and repair the buildings that provide the place for ministry to happen. Under this program, churches can receive up to $50,000 from the Fund to renovate or repair their buildings. All dollars raised by the church will be matched on a 2:1 basis by the Fund. In 2004, nine organizations received Repair and Restoration Grants totaling $400,764.

~added 12/12/05

"



Mind you that this is just the "tip of the iceberg" but it should show you that there are indeed grant programs out there for churches and religious organizations.



I get information about grant programs emailed to me all the time so I know that there are grant programs out there for churches and religious organizations.

Are There Any Grant Programs To Buy Into A Franchise?

Hi Rose, I am a "single" mother and I am extremely interested in starting my own business. My aunt in New Jersey is a very knowledgable grant writer in New Jersey, but unfortunately only has the knowledge of non-profit grant programs. I have put together a small business plan at this time, and I am looking at doing a two-in-one type of business. Originally I started out inquiring about a program which offers a birthday (or other celebration ) set up with inflatable toys, bouncers, and slides, that is affordable to many family classifications. I was interested in doing this for my daughter, but found that there is no such business operating in any area even remotely close to me. So I inquired about operating one of their franchizes. There is a small start up cost of $3,000 as well as 3-day training course that must be taken in New Orleans before being accepted. They also offer a trailer purchase at $4,000, to transport the equipment, and I think this type of business would be extremely successful. We would be leasing the equipment from this company, with a 40% to us from the sales. I then did further research to see about starting up our own indoor playground for children and youth that would be extremely affordable and at a reasonable location for easy access to a diverse population of people. I have looked into building leases (cost) equipment purcahse prices, operating costs, business set-up, marketing ideas, and concessions. With the proceeds we make, I would love to set up a "free fun day" for children and youth to come and experience the fun that has never been offered in or around our city, which would also help in our marketing. I would like to operate the birthday party set-up as an additional option for families, so that we can bring the party to them, wherever they may want to celebrate! I have done lots of research the past few weeks on attempting to find grants that would assist in my business start-up, as my credit situation is not that good. My fiance is an African-American, and he would also be co-opearating this business with me. He doesn't have bad credit, just the unfortunate problem of having NO CREDIT! Any information you can provide would be extremely helpful, I have found the CAFE site, and its great...but I am looking for any additional grant information you might be able to help with, or inform me more of the grant services you provide. Thank you so much...I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience!

Best Wishes
J~

....there is quite a difference between starting one's own business vs buying into a franchise - at least the grant process sees it that way.

There seem to be quite a few loan programs to help people buy into a franchise but so far I have not seen any grant programs for this sort of thing. So if you really want to go the route of the franchise-thing you may have trouble finding grant programs for it but may be able to find some loan programs for it.

However if you are still considering grants then I would look into the possibility of taking the concept of the franchise that you want to buy into and turnig it into a business that would qualify for grant funding such as daycare or a business relating to children.

As I have noted on my grants pages and blogs there are still grant programs out there for those that want to start a business of their own (as opposed to buying into a franchise). In fact I just recently answered a question similar to your email from another woman who wanted to buy into a franchise with a government grant. My answer to her appears here

then in a later email................

Hi Ms. Rose...you have read my mind, I actually have decided against the franchise idea, I have decided to run my own business doing the same thing without having to give away over half my commission/profits back to the company themselves. It makes much more sense to start my own similar company, as we have very little competition for this. I am debating two options for my start-up business, and I am torn between the two, but both have to do with providing fun and professional service to children. I was wondering if you could maybe give me your opinion on which may be easier in obtaining a grant, and where I might find grants for this type of business. The first is an inflatable bouncer rental business for children's birthday parties, carnivals (schools/daycares), or other celebration events where kids may participate, the start-up costs would be about 20-25,000 and we would be able to keep our jobs and start this over the weekends without too much effort. (2-3 competitors in my particular city, with more within 60 mile radius). The other is an indoor play center for children and toddlers, possibly with both concessions and a cafe sitting area, with inflatable bouncers/slides, interactive games/obstacle courses, arcade games, gym court for basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, as well as a smaller toddler area wth age appropriate toys and fun things to do and learn with. (only one competitor..no cafe and we would like to have a larger variety of equipment than the competitor) The start up costs for this would be much higher and my fiance would quit his job to run this (he only makes about 1200/month). However, our profits would probably be much larger in this business as would our beginning debts....unless we would be able to obtain some larger grants? If you have time and are interested in responding, I would be much obliged. We will soon be adding another addition to our family in the next 2 months, Im wanting to have as much time with my family as I can. My credit is not good right now as we were a couple that got into those ARM mortgages and our payments have been late for the past 4-5 months (we are currently trying to short sale our home..) and my fiance doesnt have bad credit, he just has NO credit..and when I say NONE..he has NONE....so if you have any ideas how to start with our financing and maybe the best decision on what might be easier for us to apply for grant assistance or any funding asstance...thank you so much for responding to my previous email...that was extremely thoughtful of you...I appreciate your opinions and knowledge! :)

thanks so much! :)
J~

It is my opinion that you should combine your idea(s). The more that you have to offer the more potential money your business will make.

Grants do not depend on someone's credit rating.

It is also my opinion that you find a way to make your business a combination non-profit and for-profit because that tactic is now a growing trend. It also (will) give you the "best of both worlds".

If you are looking for getting the most grant financing possible then you are going to have to adapt your business plan to those grant programs that relate to the types of services that you will be providing.

There are grant programs for those that want to start their own business as well as there being grant programs related to childrens' services. You should research and go through these grant programs - read what their requirements and qualifications are as far as eligibilty is concerned and see if you can adapt your business to qualify for eligibility for as many of them as you can find. The majority of grant programs being offered allow for one to apply for other grant programs in addition to their own so you can apply for as many as you are eligible for.

Over 90% of all the information that I have found about grant programs for clients has been online so there would be a good place for you to start looking for these kinds of grant programs.

"Am I Eligible To Receive A Grant To Open A Daycare In My Home?

Am I eligible to receive a grant to open a day care center in my home? / Am I eligible to receive a grant to open a day care center in my home?

You might be eligible to receive funds from a grant program that is operated through your state's program. Almost all States provide funds for child care through this grant program. States and/or local agencies (i.e., county, city, regional offices) may provide services directly or purchase them from qualified providers. Child care is also funded through other grant programs at the state and local level.

You can check out more information about this grant program including the names of your state official and the state program contact information by going to the grant program's website.

---

Where do I go to get funds to start or improve my child care program?

Does my state help child care providers? centers? family child care homes? day cares?

How do I contact my state to get help with starting my child care program?

Where can my families find child care funds?

The state agency responsible for subsidizing child care programs can tell you if funds are available to help you start a new child care program or expand your existing program, and they will let you know how to apply. Information about these state agencies can be found online.

The agency can also tell you how the families you will be serving would apply to receive subsidies to help them pay for child care.

* - You can also find out more information about daycare-related grants on my Daycare Grant Basics 101 page.

Grants For School Teachers' Housing?

I am wondering where to look to find grants for school teachers housing in rural school districts and information for student loans. If you could let me know it would be very helpful. My email is g~@~.net.

Thanks for your help.

One of the very first places that you should start to look for housing grants is the state's website of where the school districts are located. There are many rural-related grants but you will first have to find out if the area is considered "rural" by government grant standards. If you can not find the information on the state website then you should check the government website for any of the rural-type grants that you mentioned. It could be a case of the government website having the information before the state does and if that is the case then you should consider yourself lucky because you will be one of the first to know about their programs and you will be able to apply for them (if you are eligible) before others know about the program.

As far as grant programs for student loans I suggest that you take a look at my "Grants-Related" website at:

http://grantbasics101.bravehost.com/grelated.htm

where I have put information about different grant programs for teachers regarding their student loans and information about grant programs relating to student loans in general. There are more than a few of these types of financial programs out there and all you have to do is see if you are qualified to apply for them.

"Is There Any Start Money To Start A Business In Georgia?"

In a message dated 1/14/2008, d~@~.com writes:

Subject: Grant related


Hi Rose My name is D~ and I would like to start a buisness, but need start money Is their any funding avavilable here in georgia? And what about the personal needs grants I keep hereing (hearing) so much about do they really exist? I am not talking about personal needs grants such as ssi, medicaded (medicaid), or welfare I am talking about the ones they claim to give you to pay bills. Everything I ever received about funding of grants was always in another state. but not in georgia. Please e-mail me at your earliest convience with this information. Thank you in advance.

D~

As you can see from my grants, grants related and this blogthere are many grant programs out there of all kinds - and that includes the state of Georgia. (I don't know why you would think that there aren't any grant programs in Georgia because all states have at least one or two grant programs at the very least! And this does not even count the number of federal grant programs that are provided by the federal government to individual states!).

I must also point out that you should not be so quick to put down the services and benefits of ssi, etc because they provide much needed support to people that need it.

I also see that you are not on my client listing so unfortunately you will have to find the grant information yourself.

PS - I should also point out that you should not be looking for grants that are classified as "Georgia" grants. There are also many, many grant programs on a federal and national level as well.

Here is an excerpt from your state's website:

"U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Program offers loan and grant programs to small and emerging businesses to create and retain jobs and provide technical assistance to communities.

Another problem here is that you don't mention what type of business that it is you want to start. Knowing that will help limit the number of resources and grant programs that you should be looking for.

Unfortunately I went to your state's website and found a lot of information about the various programs that they have in your state so I suggest that you go and take a look at your state's website. Here is another excerpt from the site:

The Program provides funding to assist a wide range of eligible activities, including housing improvement projects, public facilities such as water and sewer lines, buildings such as local health centers or, providing eligible daycare services and economic development projects. All projects must substantially benefit low and moderate income persons.

The total funding level is approximately $43 million with approximately $36 million available for the annual competition. The maximum amount available per applicant is $500,000 for Single-Activity during regular competition and $800,000 for Multi-Activity during regular competition."

Also included information:

"If you do need individual assistance then you should consider searching locally for assistance first to see what resources are available before launching a full internet search.

To help you find the answers you need we would recommend you complete this free anonymous questionnaire so you will be able to obtain the most accurate list of benefit programs for which you may be eligible. Click here to start!"

If you are seeking to start a childcare / daycare program here is yet another excerpt:

"Child Care Funds......In general, these funds pay for: 1) program improvements, 2) programs for children with disabilities for early childhood and school-age children, 3) technical assistance and/or training, and 4) the operation of child care resource and referral agencies. These funds are not awarded to buy land or buildings. These funds are awarded through an annual “Request for Application” or a “Request for Proposal” process. Applications can be downloaded from the your state's website and postcards are mailed to notify child care learning centers and others that the application period is open! (So if you're looking to start a daycare / childcare program then you should definitely get on their mailing list!

• Grants are available to programs providing services to preschool children with disabilities. Yearly funding levels are dependent on voluntary contributions from Georgia State Income Tax filings.
  
  
• a voluntary program to enhance the quality of child care in
  Georgia by addressing brain research and appropriate learning activities for children ages birth to five. Child care centers may apply for a grant to be used to purchase materials to meet standards in the infant, toddler and preschool classrooms.
  
  
• Child care providers in the metro-Atlanta area can apply for grants to create high-quality outdoor play spaces.
  
  
• There is a scholarship and grant program that offers forgivable loans and grants for tuition and other educational expenses for students to attend college and technical schools. Contact the admissions office at the college or technical school that you are interested in attending.
  
  
• Georgia has a network of child care resource and referral agencies that help individuals start child care programs. Each Child Care Resource and Referral Agency offers mini-grants to family day care home and group day care home providers.

All the above information from the state of Georgia!

So please do not tell me that there are no grant programs in Georgia!

"I Need Start-Up Funds For Starting A Licensed Child Care Business"

Here is a copy of a recent email I received:

"Thanks Rose. I saw this link, the only problem I had was that I am unable to access the websites. The section that instructions you to click on a particular website does not work. How can I find this information myself (websites)?

I am a woman starting a licensed child care business and need start-up funds."

Thanks,
J~

Access to the website(s) are prohibitive.

But the bulk of grant information that I have found has been online.

The "ten pages of grant programs information that I sent to the client concerning grants that her licensed daycare center" are eligible to apply for were mostly provided by her own state of residence so a good start for you would be to start checking your state's own website to see what grant programs that they may have.

Need A Grant To Start An Adult Daycare?

Is it possible to get a grant to start an adult daycare service or business?

The answer is yes.

For example in one city, a grant was used to provide start-up money for its area adult day care program. So when more funding money was needed it made sense to look to this grant program again for monies to construct a new facility to provide day treatment for victims in the middle to advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease with a new adult daycare unit. The Adult Day Care division of the City's Department of Senior Services had come to the realization that treatment of middle to advanced Alzheimer' s victims could not take place in a standard geriatric day care setting.

Statistics had shown an alarming escalation of clients afflicted with Alzheimer's disease -- a direct correlation with the national data on this. At present, there are an estimated four million Americans suffering from Alzheimer's. In Rhode Island alone, there are approximately 25,000 Alzheimer's patients. It is estimated that by 2050, 14 million people over the age of 65 will suffer from this disease -- over 75,000 of them in Rhode Island.

The present Adult Day Care facility, which provides services to 55 physically and/or cognitively impaired participants, was not equipped to meet the unique needs of the middle to advanced stage Alzheimer's victim. Therefore, it was necessary to expand our Adult Day Care and construct a satellite unit that would provide services and programs only to participants in the middle to advanced stages of Dementia/Alzheimer's disease.

While the Mayor supported such a facility, he made it clear that the city's financial situation made it impossible for the municipal government to undertake financial support for the construction of the building from such traditional sources as general obligation bonds.

After some discussion about other options, including state supported revenue bonds, the city decided that the most feasible way to build such a facility would be to devote funds from one of its annual entitlement programs. Public facilities are eligible and the use for a limited population -- that is, persons who are handicapped by illness and are over 65 -- enhanced the eligibility. Thus, the city made $600,000 available in two of their funding programs years to create a $1,200,000 pool for the building. Costs were kept down when the state donated a site for the facility. The building was completed in late 1994 on budget and accepted its first clients four months later.

In another innovation, the city assisted in the creation of a private, non-profit company to operate the facility. Through this new facility, comprehensive services and a continuum of care is available to our elder population. This continuum of care will keep individuals with middle to advanced stages of Alzheimer's in the community longer through participation in specialized programming, thus avoiding the high cost and often unnecessary hospitalization or premature nursing home placement.

For more information you can contact the Mayor's office

Although there is not enough adequate funding streams for these programs there is some funding that does currently exist. Presently some of these funding programs cover the cost of the programs if the participant is eligible. However, if they are not covered by these programs then the cost for the individual is about $70 for a 6 hour day. Many families need more than 6 hours of respite care. Many of the 'gap' families find this exorbitant. Then there is the issue of transportation. If the program is covered transportation is usually provided - but not always. Transport is an added expense. Some grants are available but usually only for a limited number of hours.

There are numerous resources available to the community to assist people in searching out assistance. However, these agencies have limited budgets so they are unable to reach the general public through advertising. Hospital social workers and discharge planners usually offer a sheet of resources to discharged patients but too often, the family caregiver is so overwhelmed with their care-giving duties that they never follow up on applying for services. I have on numerous occasions met with families who have stated that they have no idea where to start looking for help. I would dearly like to see a series of articles in local newspapers devoted to listing - free of charge- the services of for profit and non-profit agencies so that families may be more aware. I also think that doctors and their staff need to be more pro-active in advising their patients of services available in the community. Churches and senior social centers could also be more involved in ACTIVELY making these services known.

I do feel that too many people are not aware of what is available because they do not take the time to be aware. For example, I once headed a large non profit organization that provided services to seniors. We advertised in local church bulletins on a weekly basis and yet, there were still people who were regular church goers who would remark that they had no idea we even existed!

I wish you luck on this project. You are providing a much needed service!

Daycare Grants - Questions And Answers

Am I eligible to receive a grant to open a day care center in my home?

You might be eligible to receive funds through your States program. Almost all States provide funds for child care. States and/or local agencies (i.e., county, city, regional offices) may provide services directly or purchase them from qualified providers. Child care is also funded through other grant programs at the state and local level. You can check the web site to find more information about these grants, including the names of your state official and state program contact information for this grant program.

Are there special programs to assist child care programs in rural areas?

I live in a rural area. Can I get a grant to start a child care program? center? family child care home? day care?

The government has programs that offer loans to develop community facilities, which may include child care centers. Public entities (such as counties and cities) and non-profit organizations (under certain conditions) may be eligible for the loans. For details, consult government's web site.

Are there funds available for providing meals in child care?

I heard that the government provides funds for meals. How do I find out who to contact to get these funds? Who should I contact to get funding for serving food at child care? How do I get funds for serving food at my child care center? Are nutrition funds available for child care programs? centers? homes?

Your local state office can provide subsidies for meals and snacks for children enrolled in child care programs. You can obtain information on this subject by consulting their web site.

Where do I go to get funds to start or improve my child care program?

Does my state help child care providers? centers? family child care homes? day cares?

How do I contact my state to get help with starting my child care program?

Where can my families find child care funds?

The state agency responsible for subsidizing child care programs can tell you if funds are available to help you start a new child care program or expand your existing program, and they will let you know how to apply.

What other types of funding programs are available?

Does your program provide funds for youth programs?

What funds are available for youth programs? programs that serve youth?

Funding is also provided to local communities to support young people, particularly runaway and homeless youth, and their families through three grant programs authorized by the government. More information about these funding programs is available via a .pdf download from the government website. (To view the information, you must first download and install the free Acrobat Reader if you have not previously done so.

For more information about the basics of this program you can visit the website.

Grant funding is also provided for research, evaluation, and demonstration programs designed to explore specific issues, evaluate programs, and test new theories. To date the government has funded more than 150 demonstration projects and is currently funding 13 State Youth Development Collaboration projects designed to promote the youth development approach. For more information, you can visit their website also.

Are There Any Grant Programs For A For-Profit Daycare?

Of course the answer is

YES!

I personally know this for a fact because I have found these daycare related grant programs for others. For one of my most latest clients I was able to find 10 pages worth of information about grant programs for their daycare center that they were eligible to apply for. Some of these daycare-related grant programs were in their own state - another reason why I tell people who are looking for grant money to start looking at their own state's website first.

10 pages worth of grant program information is nothing to sneeze at especially when there are people out there that have said that no such grant programs exist. I have even been to sites that had to do with daycare and they themselves say that there are no such grant programs for for-profit daycares. So that leads me to ask the question of if there are no such grant programs for a for-profit daycare why was I able to find 10 pages worth of grant program information that had to do with grant programs for for-profit daycares to apply for? Make no mistake, these grant programs aren't for all for-profit daycares but you won't know if you are eligible to apply unless you have the information about the eligibility requirements that you have to meet to know whether or not your (for-profit) daycare is eligible to apply for.

I know that there can be a lot of frustration in finding such grant programs for a for-profit daycare but the fact of the matter is - just because you can't find these grant programs doesn't mean that they don't exist. It just means that you haven't found the information yet.

As a matter of fact some of these grant programs for for-profit daycares have expressed a need for more for-profit daycares. These programs have websites and telephone numbers and mailing addresses (as well as email addresses). Some of these program sites even have a mailing list that you can join so that when new information about their grant program comes up they will email you because you are on their email list.

So if you are looking to see if there are any grant programs available for your for-profit daycare to apply for rest assured that there are some out there. I should know because I have seen and researched them so I know that they are out there. You just have to do the work to find them.

Seed Money / Emergency Finances?

hi Im r~. I have a judgement debt form a car that got reposeesed of $2,200 debt I was wondering if I get a get seed money from various c(h)arit(a)ble foundations just to help me with assistence. Not nessesarily the whole amoount but some. Please e-mail me back. I need help.

__________________________________________________

There is a little bit of confusion here. "Seed Money" is generally provided as money to help someone start a business or other project.

But if you are talking about providing financial assistance to an individual / assistance to those that need the money for "emergency needs" then there are many organizations that do this. But again you have to apply for these funds. They are not "automatically" given.

You have to state what you need the financial assistance for specifically.

Phone Tag???!!!

I really don't like playing the phone "tag" game with people. People will leave me messages on my answering machine and they will usually leave a number for me to call them but I have no idea what time zone they are in or what is a good time to call them thus turning into a phone tag kind of thing. What makes it worse is that they won't leave much information on what type of grant information that they are looking for.

That is why I prefer email instead of playing the phone tag game. When I get an email that leaves a permanent record of the person sending me the email and with email you can send it anytime and the person can reply at anytime.

So if you would like to contact me just go to my Contact Information page where you will see all of my contact information.

As you probably can guess I get all types of inquiries. Some of them are good and some of them are not too good. I state on my Contact Information page that if you are not serious about wanting to find grant information for your project, organization or business then you are wasting your time trying to contact me. My page also states that if you are not a client then any requests that you send for grant information will be returned to you.

I realize that finding grant information can seem quite frustrating but if you are not a client then you will have to find the information for yourself.

Re: Daycare Grants - Can A Government Grant Be Used To Build A Playground?

"Can the government funds be used to build a playground that is more accessible to children with special needs?"

If an applicant can demonstrate that the materials/activities would contribute to long lasting program quality and enhance children’s learning environments, then such a funding request will be considered.