Comments on: Where do I go for Grant money for home improvements?

By: imisidro

imisidro — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:04:05 +0000

You heard wrong that “you can get a grant from the government for almost anything” — that’s a lie perpetuated by scammers targeting the gullible who will believe the government gives money for about anything.

True, there are home improvement grants and this is the complete list — but most of them are in the form of loans and not really grants. Plus, it is not available to just about anyone but to only those very low income people or Indians living in reservations.

No. The government is NOT in the business of giving away free money for the sake of giving away money. There are no grants for paying bills, no grants for paying off credit cards, no grants for getting out of debt and no grants for simply fattening your wallet.

Grants are free, but it means OBLIGATION. You will be obligated to do as the grant sets out to do. Grants have objectives, and your purpose must fit the objective of the grant.

For one, you have to write the grant application and the grant application is not a simple document – you have to explain how your purpose for applying for the grant fits well with the objectives set out by the grant.

There is a stringent review process through a committee. You will compete with other applicants for the grant money, and this grant review committee will evaluate the merits of each proposal. Only those that they feel exemplifies the objective of the grant will be approved.

You can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) and 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 your purposes.

Even if you buy books on “how to get grants” or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently.

Note though that these grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments. Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program. Individuals especially for personal purposes are not eligible for federal grants.

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs

By: Donald D

Donald D — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:03:58 +0000

internet and locallibrary has boooks concerning free gov grants

By: friends 06

friends 06 — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:47:06 +0000

Don’t know, but if you find out pass the it along. Friends 06

By: silverside

silverside — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:39:14 +0000

Check with your county or city to see if they have any programs for owner-occupied rehabilitation. Sometimes there are non-profit housing groups that do rehab too. Usually, the funding is very tight, and there is a waiting list. Sometimes there is also a preference for the elderly. Income restrictions are also tight in many cases.

Don’t bother trying to go through the state or federal government. They give grants to organizations to serve certain areas, not individuals, which would be a monitoring nightmare.

By: Kumari V

Kumari V — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:57:19 +0000

You have bought a house is a great achievement. There is no grand given for improvements for the house. You can approach some bank for loans keeping your house as collateral security. But again you are mentioning about your financial problems. Since you have asked, I advise you not to go for any such commitments till you become financially sound. You can wait for the improvements.

By: D B

D B — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:03:04 +0000

The idea of “free government money” is really just that.. an idea. While there ARE programs out there they are VERY hard to get money from and most, if not all, require that you are a minority of some kind and even then there are NO guarantees…

HOWEVER, there is some good news…

Look to you city instead of the fed for help. Most cities have a rejuvenation or renovating project that you can get money from for renovations, upgrades, etc…

The best place to start is by checking out your cities municipal website and searching for “grant” or “home improvement”.

If that doesn’t get you anything then call the mayors office or the office of the city council and just ask.

The last 2 cities I have lived in had such programs so I have to figure they aren’t that rare. There may be requirements like you have to live in the house for the next 10 years (but even then you would only have to pay back the money IF you were to move and well, with renovations you could get a LOT more money so it generally works out.

Good luck to you both!