Finding grants for your needed home improvements is possible but time consuming. Here are some free tips to get you started.
Have you ever headed to the web and entered a search for "Grants for Home Improvements" or "Government Grants for Home Improvements"? If you have you've noted that the links that are called forth are not U.S. federal government links. Check it out for yourself and see. And there are several states that have state government links directed at this topic. Why is this?
DO YOU QUALIFY?
Generally speaking, the only way to obtain a direct grant from the federal U.S. Government is to be an organization or state agency. That's right, most of the time an individual cannot qualify for a direct federal grant. Now don't back down yet. Agencies and organizations that do qualify do so through state and local channels. Funding in your community happens through a trickle down affect. Here's what happens.
State and local funding sources receive the grant money from the federal government and then distribute it, according to the grant proposal, to the community at large. Of course you must qualify for the grant money. State and local agencies and organizations do not hand out money to just anyone. They are bound to the grant proposal and contract they made with the government in order to receive and distribute what they have been awarded. Their success and ability to document can mean the difference in getting the next round of grant funding. You will be asked for personal information before receiving funding and that information is recorded and used to document statistics for their programs.
ARE YOU A GOOD CANDIDATE?
Knowing what the attributes of a good funding recipient are will be dependent on the grant program you are applying for. Each programs application should list eligibility requirements. Here are some of the requirements that are most often listed. Generally, all requirements must be provable. This means documentation must be supplied and it must be verifiable.
- Low income
- Historic districts/property owners
- Area you live in (rural, historic, under developed)
- Native American descent
- Age and condition of the home
- Single parent family
- Disability
WHERE TO LOOK FOR IMPROVEMENT GRANTS
Perusing the federal government grant site is a good place to start. It will give you an idea of what areas the federal government creates grants in. Most home improvement grants fall under the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Programs also filter through the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, and the Department of the Interior.
Sounds like a bizarre crop of agencies for home improvement grants but we are a diverse country and we live in a wide variety of communities. For instance, the Department of Agriculture assists in Rural Housing Services. The Department of Energy assists in the area of efficiency and renewable energy and the Department of Interior handles the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The next stop on your hunt for home improvement grants would be your state agencies. Start with your state website and locate the housing and community development department. Call the general state information phone number and ask if you cannot locate it on the web. Most state agencies are delighted to assist in any way they can when it comes to delivering needed funds to a community. Often they can help you locate local organizations that have programs you may qualify for. Which leads us to our next stop, your own community.
Local communities often receive money from their state to fund outreach and community resource programs. Their understanding of available money may surprise you but it shouldn't. They are working directly with the citizens and have the need to research all possibilities in order to provide adequate responses to questions posed of them. They also compete for funding so they are well versed in who their competitors for funding are.
TIPS
Preparation can sped this process. Here are some tips to get you started.
1. Find out the details. You may be offered information that has not been verified by a well-meaning person who is simply repeating what they heard.
2. Read requirements carefully. Make sure that you are eligible before spending time filling out applications. It is a pointless endeavor unless you are eligible in the first place.
3. Don't give up hope. Just because there is not a program this year there may be one next. Likewise, just because you didn't receive funding this year does not mean you won't next year.
4. Give only the information you are asked for. Many of us are overly helpful and provide far more than we need to provide. Be succinct in your responses and do not include extraneous documents of information.
5. Know what it is you want to achieve. If you are trolling for cash you will not be successful. On the other hand, if your mother-in-law is handicapped and you will eventually move her to your home and need to build a ramp and refit a bathroom then you may be in luck.
Don't be mislead by what you find on the Internet. Remember, our economic structure is built on free enterprise. Call your state and local agencies directly and ask for information.
