Archive for November, 2008
My friend’s daughter wants to take guitar lessons but prices are pretty ridiculous - they can’t find anything under $25 an hour. He’s hoping to find a program that provides music grants or scholarships for music lessons to children, preferably something local. I know there’s federal grant money available for similar purposes, but finding a local program might be a bit trickier.
If you’re looking into a new career like nursing, California might be the place to do it. There are special grants for education only available in California in addition to any federal grants you might qualify for. Here’s one resource:
Cal Grants:
www.calgrants.org/
A friend of mine is hoping to open a very classy bistro and has a lot of great ideas, such as dancing waiters and European-style decorations with a winery motif. He’s hoping to find a music grant to partially fund the venture, as so much of it will be music themed. He’s intending to put in all the work, just needs some help with the financial startup.
Most grants are available only to non-profit businesses, but looking for loans or private investors are other options, especially if you have a really great idea.
it would be decorated like a european vinary and all the waiters would be dancers I have incredible ideas need dollars goverment or investors or parter I do the work you put in the money………………….
It is hard to find grants to start a business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for a for-profit business.
Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/mostrequesteditems/CON_FAQ2.html
"The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments."
Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov - these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.
My cousin is a single mother of two and would like to continue her education and go back to college. She’s hoping to find an education grant that not only helps with school expenses, but with living expenses. She works full time but is worried about balancing everything.
She’s considering loans and grants. Looking into FAFSA to find out all of her options is probably the best way to start, though she might only be able to get school expenses covered.
For someone on a limited income, on disability or unemployed, installing efficient energy providers in the home is one way of reducing living costs. Using some kind of grant, like a solar grant to install solar panels, would keep costs down installing and then reduce energy costs. This would work especially well if living in a sunny state like Texas or Florida.
Solar grants and other grants to help install energy efficient devices in the home are hard to find, but more and more states are providing some kind of rebate or tax break to people making their homes more energy efficient. These breaks vary greatly from state to state. Start at a local level to find out how to save money by installing these devices.
This year the APS district got a large chunk of money to help teach kids the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Every district should get some kind of grant for education for this purpose.
I recently spoke with a woman from a very rural area hoping to find some kind of grant, maybe a music grant, to get funding to start an after school program for the local kids. She wants a building and resources to teach music lessons, and also help with school work or information on how to obtain a GED. She wants to go as far as to provide job training.
There might be grants out there specifically for non-profits in rural areas. I told her to check into her local resources first and then check out federal level grants.
My brother-in-law is looking into purchasing a piece of property in Ohio for the sole purpose of studying solar power. He’s hoping to find some kind of federal or state solar grant to help him purchase the land. I think this is a great idea, and there has to be some kind of program out there to help with studies of this sort.
I recently met a woman with two young children, both under the age of four, who don’t qualify for any kind of welfare assistance, as they are just above the poverty level. Unfortunately, the children are falling behind in their speech and she’s hoping to find some kind of grant for education to get them into an early childhood development program so that they don’t fall too far behind before Kindergarten. She’s just hoping for some kind of pre-school age treatment program.
There must be grants out there for families in this situation. I recommended starting at a local level, calling around to local elementary schools where they could probably direct her to the proper program.
