Learn and Serve America Grants
By Jillian Wheeler | February 19, 2012
Happy Presidents Day!
Learn and Serve America, a project of The Corporation for National and Community Service, has issued its Notice of Funds Availability for its 2012 September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance Grants. Grant proposals are due in mid-March. Projects will be funded for a two-year period, and grant awards will average between $50,000 and $150,000 per project.
2012-2013 grants are being offered in six focus areas identified by the SAA:
Disaster Services
Economic Opportunity
Education
Environmental Stewardship
Healthy Futures
Veterans and Military Families
In order to carry out the intent of Congress and to maximize the impact of the investment in national service, CNCS seeks to fund programs that can demonstrate community impact and address community problems through service and volunteering. CNCS also seeks to fund programs that mobilize their communities in service and remembrance to honor those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and those who rose in service as result of that tragedy.
In just a little while, I will give you the link to all the information about these grants.
Since 2002, I have been training students one-on-one in how to find grants like these, and how to write grant-winning proposals. But, as I mentioned in my last post, time constraints are making it necessary for me to change my business model. Consequently, our next Grants Training Class will be the last one in which students will be able to work with me one-on-one.
Twenty slots are being made available for this class, and I am structuring my time so that I can give my full support to these last 20 students. As you can image, spaces in the class are filling up fast.
If you’d like helping writing a proposal for a grant like the one above, here is your last chance to work directly with me:
Meanwhile, to learn more about these grants specifically, go to:
www.learnandserve.gov/for_organizations/funding/nofa_detail.asp?tbl_nofa_id=94#FAQ
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Topics: All Grants Posts, Grants for Individuals, Grants for Organizations, Veterans | No Comments »
Our Last Grants Training Class…
By Jillian Wheeler | February 9, 2012
In 2003, after many years as a consultant to non-profit and business organizations, I moved my business to the Internet. The GrantMeRich website was founded to provide solid, professional information about the world of grants, and it’s been a success from the beginning.
During the past nine years, hundreds of people have participated in my Grants Training Classes, and learned how to Create Your Own Non-Profit. Many more have purchased The New American Land Rush: How to Buy Real Estate with Government Money. Staying in touch with former students, and hearing about the exciting projects they have facilitated, has been one of my chief joys. I’ve also formed wonderful relationships with many of the people on my mailing list, who email me to share their ideas, ask questions, and update me on their own news.
Along the way, I wrote a book with my friend, Joe Vitale, about doing business on the web, Your Internet Cash Machine: The Insiders Guide to Making Big Money, Fast!
Writing has always been a big part of what I do (I’ll share a link to my other blog, below, in case you haven’t visited there). My professional background – the way I became interested in grants originally – was in counseling, and I retain a strong interest in personal growth and the spiritual aspects of our personality. That’s why I am currently writing a new book, Help for Depression, which will be published this year.
As part of this process, I’ve had to make some decisions about exactly where I want to go in my life, and I’ve decided that it’s time to pull back from some of the more intense aspects of my work. So I’m going to be making some changes in my business.
As I make these changes, I will definitely be keeping you informed.
Your interest in my work, and in many cases, your interest in purchasing my products and participating in my classes, has meant more to me than I can say. I am so grateful to you for our professional connection, and for the friendship so many readers have shown me.
So here is Change #1: I am about to offer the last ever Grants Training Class. These classes have always included the component of my working one-on-one with each student, with lots of hands-on mentoring and feedback. Even though I keep the size of the classes small, they have required a great deal of my personal time and attention. I have decided to pull back from that level of personal mentoring.
I know many of my readers have planned to take the Grants Training Class at some point in the future. So I am opening this class up one more time. Generally, I limit the number of students in these classes to fifteen, but in this case I am raising the number to twenty to allow as many people as possible to participate. I have set aside some of my other pending work so that I can give my full, undivided attention – one last time – to each student.
This last class will begin on February 27, and I expect it will fill quickly.
These are email classes. Each week for 9 weeks, you will receive a lesson from me, and will return homework to me. We’ll communicate by email about your ideas and your projects. If you are interested in becoming a Grants Consultant yourself, I’ll give you lots of guidance and ideas about how to do that. If you have an idea for a community project, or an interest in getting grants for a business project, we’ll discuss that in detail.
I’m looking forward to working with you, one last time…
And here’s the link to my other blog:
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Grants for 2012
By Jillian Wheeler | January 5, 2012
It’s a New Year, and a good time to go out on a limb with some cosmic observations about grants for 2012.
Even if you haven’t been affected personally, as so many people have, you know the economy has been in trouble the last three years. Interest rates have been down, and in the world of grants, that means foundations have been earning less money to give away. Conversely, the need for grants has increased, which has stimulated many creative new funding programs, both public and private.
What does this mean for you, if you are interested in finding and obtaining grant funding?
It means you need to obtain the best information possible to find the grants, and to write winning proposals. And of course, that is just what we have always provided in our Grants Training Classes. We’re here to show you where to locate all the current grants, how to determine which are a fit for your project, how to interact with the funders, and most importantly, how to ask for the money in a way that will get positive results.
On a personal level, I will be taking my business in some new directions this year. I will continue to do some training and consulting, but on a more limited basis. Most of my time will be set aside to complete my newest book, Holistic Help for Depression, as well as more writing and teaching in the area of personal development (you may know I have a background in counseling, and it was in working for non-profit agencies that I developed my grants writing expertise).
2012 will also see some big changes in the way we deliver our Grants Training, beginning this Spring. I’ll be telling you more about these changes over the next several weeks.
What you need to know now, however, is that next month I will offer our current Grants Training Classes for the last time ever in their current format, and that class will begin February 2012.
This is the last time I will be offering the intense, one-on-one personal guidance that has been the hallmark of these 9-week email classes. I think you’re going to like the new format, when we roll it out, but if you want to work with me personally, please stayed tuned to learn about next month’s class.
Topics: All Grants Posts, Education, Personal Thoughts | No Comments »
Grants for Women’s Projects
By Jillian Wheeler | November 29, 2011
If you have a project in the area of women’s culture and feminism, you may be interested in grants available from the Women’s Review Trust. These are international grants, available for projects anywhere in the world. I’ll include a link to the website below.
And if you’d like to learn how to find more grants, and to write and get grants for your own projects and interests, a special opportunity has opened up. One space is available in our ongoing class. Don’t be concerned about the holidays; I have designed these classes to be very flexible and accommodating of your schedule. Learn more here:
www.GrantMeRich.com/classes.htm
Be sure and contact me at once if you’re interested. There is only one opening, unfortunately. You can reach me at:
and of course I’ll be happy to answer your questions.
Meanwhile, here’s the link to the Feminist Review Trust: www.feminist-review-trust.com/guidelines.htm
Topics: All Grants Posts, Grants for Individuals, Grants for Organizations, Resources | No Comments »
Real Estate Grants are Rebuilding New Orleans
By Jillian Wheeler | September 18, 2011
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina damaged or destroyed approximately 800,000 homes in New Orleans. Some were destroyed by the force of the wind, but most were flooded when the levees failed. During my tour of the city, I saw tens of thousands of buildings on which the water line is still plainly visible, and the majority of these houses are so damaged by mold they can never again be occupied. For the most part, insurance companies covered losses attributable to wind, but almost no one had flood insurance. So, in reality, few people received money to rebuild.
New Orleans’ population has fallen by almost two hundred thousand, and many of these were homeowners who simply walked away from their properties, never to return. FEMA funded the razing of some of the houses, and this year the city received FEMA funding to tear down an additional 900 homes. Federal Community Block Grant funds have been used to demolish others. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has stated a goal of tearing down 10,000 more uninhabitable structures by 2014. Some local sources, however, estimate another 40,000 are still in need of complete demolition.
As you can imagine, this situation has caused an acute housing shortage. Housing developers are working hard to fill the gap, taking advantage of government, foundation, and corporate grants to create affordable housing. In my last post, I wrote about the work of Brad Pitt’s Make It Right foundation, and Rebuilding Together New Orleans (RTNO). Another noteworthy project is Musicians’ Village, the brainstorm of New Orleans musicians and childhood friends, Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis. Working with Habitat for Humanity, they secured eight acres in the Upper Ninth Ward to create a multi-generational community for the city’s musicians. To date, 72 houses have been built, and work is underway on completing a performance and teaching center.
Another program located nearby is Baptist Crossroads Project, a planned 100 houses funded with the assistance of Habitat for Humanity and a $1.5 million grant from Baptist Community Ministries.
The groups working in New Orleans are accessing the same type of funding that is available in communities all over the United States. These grants and low-cost loans are available not just to non-profit organizations, but also to individual investors and developers. One of the most important aspect of the work I do is getting out the word about grants for real estate, and The New American Land Rush: How to Buy Real Estate with Government Money provides complete information on federal, state and local real estate grants and low-cost loans.
You can access much more information at:
Topics: All Grants Posts, Grants for Organizations, Real Estate | 2 Comments »
Brad Pitt Uses Real Estate Grants in the Crescent City
By Jillian Wheeler | September 16, 2011
Last fall, I visited New Orleans and toured some of the new housing that’s been constructed since Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005. Here’s a link to that earlier post:
grantmerich.com/blog/rebuilding-in-new-orleans/
I had planned to put up some of the pictures I’d taken on the trip, but as it happened, I had trouble uploading them from my phone’s camera and I didn’t return to the subject of New Orleans. I did eventually retrieve them, and yesterday I came across an article that I wanted to share with you (more on that in a moment).
It’s almost impossible to describe the impact of Katrina on New Orleans, in words or in pictures. Driving through the city, I was astounded at the condition of housing, even five years after the storm. Most of the houses that were in danger of collapsing have been razed, leaving thousands of bare lots interspersed among the thousands of other houses that are uninhabitable because of mold and water damage.
A great deal is being accomplished, however, by non-profit organizations utilizing grants from government agencies, foundations and corporations. One of the most prominent activists in rebuilding New Orleans has been the actor and philanthropist, Brad Pitt. In a recent interview in Parade Magazine, Pitt explained the work of his Make It Right foundation, which is building energy-efficient, “green” houses in the devastated 9th Ward:
“What we’re building has changed the game, it’s revolutionary. It shows that there’s no excuse for building the old way. Dollar for dollar, per square foot, what we’ve built works. People in our new housing, who were used to dealing with $300 electric bills, are now paying $30, sometimes nothing. We’ve had a few months this summer where every house but two had something like a $7 electric bill, and that was for processing fees.
“You build it tight, sealing it; you build in the direction of the sun and the wind; and you use solar and water collection. It’s not that hard to do. But I’m still surprised it hasn’t caught on. There’s no excuse to build any other way if you’re building from the ground up. We have about 90 houses now that are completed or in process of completion. HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Development] has been very supportive.”
Each of the Make It Right houses is architect-designed, and incorporates many innovative building ideas. Here is one of the houses I saw (next to it is a house that, while still standing, is uninhabitable):
Rebuilding Together New Orleans (RTNO), a local non-profit, is another group still working to replace houses in the 80% of the city that was affected by the storm. The new house, below, is an example:
Grants for housing are not just available for disaster areas. In fact, government grants to buy, build, or rehab affordable housing are available all over the country. And they’re available not just to non-profit organizations, but also to individual investors and developers. One of the most important aspect of the work I do is getting out the word about grants for real estate, and The New American Land Rush: How to Buy Real Estate with Government Money provides complete information on federal, state and local real estate grants and low-cost loans.
You can access much more information at:
Topics: All Grants Posts, Grants for Organizations, Real Estate | No Comments »
Happy Independence Day! (and News About Special Programs for our Veterans)
By Jillian Wheeler | July 4, 2011
Happy Independence Day!
Today I’m grateful to be living in a country founded on a belief in individual freedoms, and still committed to providing her citizens with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I am also grateful to all the men and women of the armed services, and to their families, for the sacrifice of their precious time, their safety, their health and sometimes even their lives, in their dedication to duty.
If you’re in the military, or know someone who is, I’d like to be sure you’re aware of a special program offered by the Small Business Administration. It’s called Patriot Express, and it provides a fast track for to a small business loan for vets, service disabled veterans, active duty military members who are participating in the Department of Defense Transition Assistance Program, all reservists, the National Guard members, spouses of all of the foregoing and widowed spouses of a service member who died in service or died of a service-connected disability after discharge. These loans may be up to $500,000, and can be used for starting up a new business, or for infusing cash into an existing small business.
How is Patriot Express different from other SBA loan programs? It differs in two ways. First, usual SBA loan programs guarantee 50% of the loan value to the financial institution making the loan. That means the institution itself assumes 50% of the risk should the loan go bad for any reason, and that naturally makes banks very careful in their underwriting requirements and sometimes less willing to make large numbers of SBA loans. Patriot Express loans are guaranteed at 75% to 85%. Second, the timeline for approval of the loan is expedited, providing a quicker approval and delivery time for loan funding.
There are almost 7,000 financial institutions around the country that make small business loans. Most of these are banks, but they also include savings and loans, microlenders, credit unions and local development corporations. You can find out more through one of the 5 Veterans Business Outreach Centers, located in Texas, New York, California, Florida and Pennsylvania, or through one of the 1500 local Small Business Development Centers funded by SBA. And of course, there is much more information online at:
SBA also provides management advice and information about government contracting programs to sell products and services here and overseas.
A remarkable 14% of American veterans are successfully operating their own small businesses, supporting not just themselves and their families, but also providing jobs for millions of other Americans.
Our hats are off to each of you!
Topics: All Grants Posts, Grants for Individuals, Veterans | No Comments »
Grants for Individuals
By Jillian Wheeler | June 2, 2011
One of the questions I’m often asked is whether grants are available for individuals. The answer is a resounding “Yes!” These grants can be for many purposes, from medical and financial needs to educational or professional. For example, there are grants for creative projects, fellowships, putting on public programs, or traveling abroad for a specific purpose.
Grants for individuals are offered by governments, by corporations, by non-profit organizations, and by foundations. Because of the nature of the tax laws that govern grants, foundations give only a small percentage of their funding to individuals, while most is directed to 501(c)3 non-profit organizations. For that reason, individuals sometimes seek funding under the fiscal sponsorship of a community group, which is eligible receive grants and tax-deductible contributions. Any individual can work with a fiscal sponsor, under the umbrella of an organization with tax-exempt status.
If you want to learn more about how to find grants, and how to get them for yourself or for a community project, our Grants Training Classes are your best resource. A new class starts June 6th, and right now we are offering a deep discount on tuition, as well as a monthly payment plan. For more information, visit:
www.GrantMeRich.com/classes.htm
Topics: All Grants Posts, Grants for Individuals, Resources | 2 Comments »
New Grants to Help Homeless Teens
By Jillian Wheeler | June 1, 2011
Every day, teenagers run away from or are forced out of their homes, often due to abuse, alcohol or drug problems in the family. Many of these kids eventually end up on the street. New government grants are now available to organizations interested in working with homeless teens. The aim of the funding is to “increase young people’s safety, well-being, and self-sufficiency, and to help them build permanent connections with caring adults, with the goal of getting them off the streets.”
Approximately 107 grants will be awarded, in amounts up to $200,000, and non-profit organizations all over the country are eligible to apply. The funding is from Health and Human Services, under the Street Outreach Program established in 1996. (Link below)
I have successfully applied for similar funding, and I’d like to encourage you consider it. Sometimes community groups are hesitant to apply for federal funds, in the mistaken belief that those grants are somehow out of their reach. Often organizations and the people who work in them simply don’t have the knowledge of how to write those grants.
That’s where we come in. For years, I have been training grant writers through my Grants Training Classes. A new class begins next Monday, June 6th, and I’d love to have you join us.
The classes are delivered via email, and I work one-on-one with each student. They are flexible, and we can easily arrange them around your travel, work and family obligations. In fact, the classes are designed for working adults, and I developed the information to be thorough and comprehensive but easily available to everyone.
And if you don’t yet have a non-profit organization, but you have an idea of how you’d like to provide a service to your community or to the world, our Grants Training Classes include information on setting up your own non-profit, 501(c)3 organization.
Right now we are offering the lowest enrollment price in our history, because we recognize that many people are dealing with new financial realities as a result of the recession. Please take a look, and decide if the Grants Training Classes are right for you:
www.GrantMeRich.com/classes.htm
I’d love to work with you in making your dreams come true.
And here’s the link to that funding opportunity:
www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/view/HHS-2011-ACF-ACYF-YO-0168/html
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A Grateful Nation Honors Our Veterans
By Jillian Wheeler | May 30, 2011
Today is the day we set aside to recognize the sacrifices made by our veterans. Our World War II veterans came home to build the world we all enjoy today, and our Vietnam vets continue to serve our country as citizens. In this young century, thousands of Americans have already given their lives in two wars, and tens of thousands still bear the wounds, visible and not so easily visible.
While we attend ceremonies in their honor, and while we enjoy our backyard barbeques or go to the beach, our service members are working in extreme weather conditions, frequently frightened as well as uncomfortable, called upon to kill or be killed, and always lonely for home.
In addition to the vets themselves, their family members make sacrifices that go largely unseen. Every day, wives and husbands of an absent spouse manage their households and parent their children alone, often enduring financial as well as practical and emotional hardships. Parents, spouses, and sweethearts go to sleep at night praying for the safety of their loved ones. Children take their first steps, start school, play sports, and go off to bed without one of their parents to tuck them in and read a bedtime story.
There is no question services for returning veterans, and services for our military in general, need to be improved. As is often the case, our understanding of the need and our ability to meet the need, are not happening as fast as we all know they should.
But we all can be aware of the many opportunities that do exist, and particularly in the area of grants for veterans and their families. There are grants for housing, educational grants, and grants for training and employment programs, among others. If you know a veteran, or have a veteran in your family, do some research and get the facts.
And if you work with veterans, or would like to establish a program to help veterans in your area, check into our Grants Training Classes:
These classes begin June 6th, and are filling up quickly. We limit the number of students to 15, to be sure everyone has a high level of personal support and assistance.
To those of you who are veterans, I offer my personal and heartfelt appreciation.
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