in response to PrettyAbby...Although I have seen a few programs that call themselves "grant" programs I don't consider them grant programs because you have to pay a fee for them. If you want to be sure about who it is that you are dealing with then you should check them out online. I have investigated quite a few bad companies all because they appeared in the headlines and I wanted to find out more about them.
As far as government grant programs are concerned you don't have to pay for them.
in response to hempstead51...Number 1 - if you are looking for grant programs to help you start your own business then the best place to go would be your nearest large library. You have to remember that government grant programs have to be made freely and publicly accessible to the public (since these grant programs are paid for with taxpayer money). So that means that information about their grant programs are provided free of charge in both printed form and online access. Have you been to the official government grant website yet? They do not charge you there for the information about their grant programs. If you don't know the website address just do a quick Google search and you should find it easily.
in response to Eliyahna333...What I don't understand is the kind of dental service you are getting? My mother who was on SS got ALL of her dental work paid by her SS benefits.
in response to twiztid...Have you tried your local social services / welfare office. They would best know of any grant-related programs and / or financial assistance programs that would be able to help you.
There are dental-related programs for those who are in the armed forces and I see from my own blog that there have been dental-related programs that pay for dental work being provided to people who have been the victims of emergencies like floods.
So there are these kind of programs out there - you just have to do the work to find them.
Many people are unaware of the services in their own home town. The ones that do know about it think it's only for helping handicapped citizens. Wrong. This program is in a position to help with free surgery, dental work and much, much more.
If you are employed, but a health problem may prevent you from continuing to work, your local office can help. Especially convenient for those who need a major operation, but have no insurance, This organization will pay for the doctors' visits, medication, actual surgery, recuperative equipment and physical therapy, as well as major dental work, too.
Please look in your area to see if you are eligible to apply for this program!
So you see there are programs that exist that you may be eligible for BUT you are going to have to do the work and find the information so that you will be able to see if you are eligible to apply. Either find the information yourself or find someone who will help you find the information on your terms. It is just as simple as that.
As someone that does grant research for a living I have to tell you that you have to start doing the work and start to research this information in order to find it. That is why other sites charge you for this information because they have already done the work for you.
Realize that information about government grants has to be made accessible to the public because it is taxpayer money which is paying / funding these grants - what this means is that you should be able to find the information about the government grants online or at a public library.
Also realize too that not all grant programs are by the government. There are other grant programs available to individuals from non-government entities as well.
Either you do the work yourself or find someone who will be able to help you find the information on your terms. In the beginning there is a lot of hard work involved in finding these grant programs but it gets easier the longer you do it.
But when you see the Oprah blog post and all the comments that people have sent then you should clearly see that this is not Oprah's blog but just my own blog post about people asking Oprah for money.
in response to Clare...Actually you could look online for that information and you would be able to find out what kinds of pictures / images are popular right now.
in response to Hopeful.....This just seems to be a common misconception here. This is a blog post that I wrote about people asking Oprah for money. I'm not Oprah Winfrey and I just did a blog post about people asking her for money. It really is an ironic thing because I have a client who is looking for more grant money for her son's boarding school and did you know that there are actual sites online where you can ask for money?
Just do a little searching online and you should be able to find this information for yourself.
in response to Rieley...One of the things that you can do is check and see if there are any dentists who have grant or financial programs that you may be able to qualify for.
There are also some organizations that provide for dental / medical care things so I really think that you should check some of them out as well.
See the problem that I have with your post is that you want grant money/monies to start building everything from scratch. Do you have a building / site in mind or do you want to build one from the beginning?
Basically myself as a grantwriter I would ask you to tell your grantwriter to check her database of information - something which grantwriters have that they keep for their records.
in response to 2180...Have you had a chance to look for grantwriters in your area. Have you searched online, looked in your local yellow pages or asked around?
in response to HOUSEAVAILABLEFORFREE...Getting grants for repairs needed in one's home is going to depend on what kinds of repairs you will need. I have a client now who will be getting some minor repairs done all because of a program that her local utility company has.
Why don't you look at your current utility company and see what programs they have available. There should also be a list of financial resources for those who are considered seniors. I have such literature for PA and there are a lot of resources there for seniors both financially and otherwise.
Well this is a very interesting and well-deserved post. I have been reading online about how the people that do qualify for food stamps can't even get in touch with the offices! And I still do have this "pet-peeve" about the President giving monies to the big industries and not to the people. He wouldn't even improve a moratorium to stop foreclosures. Although in my own area - Phila - it was found that the sheriff office was so corrupt that they stopped all of the foreclosures!
It's terrible when people can't even afford to buy their own medicine
in response to ann55...You should start at your nearest social services offices. There will be programs like food stamps that will at least help pay for your food. For bills such as heating, if you are considered low-incomed enough then you may be able to get a grant to help you with that.
As far as grants go for paying credit card debts, personally I have not yet found a grant program that deals specifically with providing grant money to help pay off credit card debt(s).
in response to BECKE...If you are looking for a grant to start a childcare facility then one of the place that you should first check would be your own state's website. They should have a list ing of available grant and funding programs. There are also some private organizations that have grant programs relating to this so you should do some checking online for them. If you are a minority then you have yet MORE funding programs available that you may be eligible to apply for.
As far as buying a home you might want to check with some realtors because since they get a commission then I think that they would be a good source of information regarding grants and funding programs for first-time buyers.
One of my most popular blog posts is "Are You Praying For A Financial Miracle" Basically what it says is that you just can't wait around for something to happen - You have to DO something - don't wait for opportunities to come to you - you go out and get them. If you can't find a job then MAKE one!
in response to dreamer45...First of all I am learning to believe that almost everyone has a talent, skill or passion and I believe that you are no exception. If you have health problems then find some sort of work that you would be able to do from home.
If you can be classified as low-incomed then you should go to your closest welfare office and see if there are grant programs that you may be eligible to apply for - including food stamps.
I just can't say enough about having the opportunity to be able to be online and being able to have access to the Internet because so many people have been able to earn an income because of it. I was just talking to a neighbor yesterday who was telling me about a newstory about single mothers who work at home - a lot of them have started blogs and have started to earn an income from that.
I really do believe that you have more options available to you than you know!
in response to Starshine...I honestly believe that I think that the reason that I got this cat was because I was always thinking about having one. I still had my previous cat's toys still scattered about and every time I looked at them I thought to myself that I would leave them there so that my next cat would have something to play with - so the thought was always there - so if you really want to have another cat just keep thinking about it and one might just show up for you.
If you qualify for financial aid from the welfare office they may have a program for you that will help you with your dental problem. Here is a quote from my blog:
Many people are unaware of the services in their own home town. The ones that do know about it think it's only for helping handicapped citizens. Wrong. This program is in a position to help with free surgery, dental work and much, much more.
If you are employed, but a health problem may prevent you from continuing to work, your local office can help. Especially convenient for those who need a major operation, but have no insurance, This organization will pay for the doctors' visits, medication, actual surgery, recuperative equipment and physical therapy, as well as major dental work, too.
There are also some nonprofit organizations that get grants and they use that grant money to help provide people - especially children with medical care which includes dental.
So please contact your nearest social services agency to see if they have a program that you can qualify for.
in response to Starshine...Actually I don't know where he got the sore from but he's always getting in to things and he might have got it from the basement since it's so junky. He is very precious and very naughty because he's always trying to tear things up. This will probably make you smile because of the cold weather he likes to take one of my mittens and hide them - LOL! He still sleeps with me when he's not out destroying the house.
He is an inside kitty and I don't use the flea collars because I have heard so many bad things about them. It's just better if I take him to the vet to get a flea shot.
Well the weather here is acting quite unusual because today it's 49 degrees and quite nice but it's supposed to be in the 60's in the next few days and then next week we are back to the 40's and back to the winter weather.
It's really just something because I was thinking about how much I wanted to have another cat after my last one died and then a neighbor offered me this one and he is very great company (when he's not being so bad - LOL!
in response to Starshine...That's right I haven't been here for a while! The weather in my area has been a winter mess but its been getting milder. Plus I have been getting more work because people and groups are wanting to apply for grant programs more ealier in the year so that has meant more work for me.
Oh my little gray powder puff has been just adorable! He scared me a few weeks back when he got this big sore on his neck but it has been healing nicely.
He still sleeps with me and its just so cute - when I wake up - he wakes up. He'll almost be a year old soon - LOL!
in response to 2180...Grantwriters, just like other professionals can be even found in the phonebook but you also have the added advantage of being online so that you can search for them online as well.
Being a grantwriter myself I am usually the first person that I recommend but I do have contact with and have a contact list of other grantwriters as well.
in response to dreamer45...I don't know what it is that you want me to tell you. I will say that one of the reasons that I decided to work from home was because I just couldn't stand working for someone else.
If you really are in a financial emergency then you might want to do some looking around online and find some of the websites where you can ask them for money.
You might also want to think of starting your own business. Also check social services and the welfare office to see what kind of grant programs, food stamp programs that you might be eligible for.
It's good that you have a home because so many people seem to be losing theirs so at least count your blessings there.
in response to mandy111...If you are talking about dental programs where you can get financial help for dental work then the first place to start would be at your local social services offices because they would best know of dental-related grant programs that can help you.
Others here have mentioned finding dental schools where you can get your dental work for free or at a much lower cost because the dental students need to work on people to help them develop their skills.
and lastly you can check with the dentists themselves because they would also be the best to know if there are any grant programs around relating to this.
It may take some work on your part but I can definitely tell you that there are financial programs out there for these kinds of things - but it will require work on your part to find them.
Unfortunately when you read my post you were mistaken when you thought it was actually a site from Oprah where you can ask for money. My post was ABOUT people asking Oprah for mony and that there was some kind of contest / competition type of thing that people could enter where they could ask Oprah for money. It was from my blog post. you can see the original post on my Aidpage by clicking here
in response to anotherlevel30...You might want to think about putting up a website or blog. There are many free-hosting sites out there and then you will be able to put up a donation button of some sort so that you can get donations and let others know more about your venture.
I have created a Grant Basics 101 Podcast! It is fairly new and has a bit of information on it and I hope to update it soon.
So far I have a caller who is asking about grant programs for his for-pro... see full post
