Looking for additional Grants

[MTKROUSH]

Does anyone know of any grants available to Fire service besides Assistance to Firefighters grant program? We are trying to secure funding to build a second station and are open to grants, loans, fund raisers, anything short of knocking off a liquor store.

[dmleblanc]

If you are in a rural area, try a Rural Development grant from USDA. We are pursuing this for our new station.

[Lump532]

If you are in a rural area, try a Rural Development grant from USDA. We are pursuing this for our new station.

I googled them and found a not very helpful website. Can you point me in the right direction to get some more information on this?

Thanks.

[dmleblanc]

I googled them and found a not very helpful website. Can you point me in the right direction to get some more information on this?

Thanks.


I'm not really sure. Most of the legwork of the grant application was done for us by a local engineering firm who has a lot of experience obtaining USDA grants for parish projects. You might check with your local county officials to see if they have any knowledge of this program. Or, if you dig a little on the USDA website you might be able to find some contact info for the regional office that covers your area, and they could probably help you out.

I'd highly recommend getting someone with your county or municipality to assist you with this. The grant application is pretty complex compared to an AFG application and they'll want a lot of detailed data regarding your area's demographics. I know that the guy who helped us had to submit a pretty thick stack of documentation, and they contacted him several times for more info.

[dmleblanc]

Try here for a start...

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/co/

[Lump532]

That site is better than what i found. Thanks a lot for the start!

[Limeforever]

You can also look on Kurts website at Chief Grants and it has a link. We were able to get funding to replace our mini pumper. They funded a majority of it, and the city was able to finance the remaining amount at a pretty low rate.

[Casco18]

MT,

Tax excempt is the way to go. Obtain excempt status for your fire association. Then you will have access to private grant sources. A couple private ones are Dennis Leary foundation, and Stephen and Tabitha King foundation.

Thanks Paul

[Catch22]

You could also look into Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). We're getting ready to put one in to purchase and convert an existing building into a station, and I know of several departments that have utilized CDBG's to build stations.

I found some information here (http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/), but I know ours is going to have to go through the state's Department of Economic Development. The kicker on ours (with us being a district) is that we can't apply ourselves, we have to use either the City or the County as a "host agency" as they limit these grants to cities and counties.

It's pretty paperwork intensive from my understanding (our grant writer happens to be my mother, so she's showing me a lot of the ins and outs). The application alone is 60 pages. That's not including all the agreements with the city and county, building specs, modification quotes, etc. that are going to be added.

If you can find someone who writes them locally that knows their way through them, they seem to be a good way to go.

[neiowa]

If anyone is politically active this would be a great "opportunity" to influence the process. Do some calling/"lobbying".

The Osamabama administration has been actively soliciting the states and COGS for "ready to go" porkbarrel project. Tons of BS being thrown out by the big cities and states. NYC alone apparently has about $4B in building project they claim they could start on within 120days. BS.

Now assume that the FG folks administered a program for new stations for rural/small FD. None of the "Fire Chief" magazine Taj stuff. Say $250-500k for choice of 3 or 4 standard designs. They pay for materials and HVAC equipment for steel frame building, energy efficient bells/whistles, ground source heatpump, backup generator, and erection of building on your lot. FD can finish off as desired as local match. Likely could easily find a valid home for 5000 stations in the US.

Then add $500M/yr for the next 5yr for apparatus to the FG program.

New admin plans to print billions and blow it. Perhaps some could do some good when routed thru a program as effective as FG has been. Call your Senator/Rep.

[WJVaughn]

that is a great idea. I just wish I felt confident that the President-Elect has the needs of the local responders on his list.

[jboczek]

Illinois has "regional planning commissions" that will do paperwork, etc. for CDBGs but like was mentioned, a district can't apply for that. Same goes for rural development, a district isn't eligible for building funds but city and county goverments are. Might take an agreement with them - they build the building, you use it.

[mcfdrichey25]

It's funny that this thread started today seeing as that I just talked with Rural Development in depth yesterday about trying to replace some of our shed's with actual fire stations. Unfortunately, either the median household income is barely too much or where the median household fits for a grant the population is too great!

I had big expectations for this program and they were shot down in a blaze of glory yesterday! Good luck to everyone else with this program!

[neiowa]

If 2000 census "Median Household Income" does not make sense given your knowledge of the local area you can conduct a income survey.

Census only does detailed survey of something like 2% of households. So if, by chance, in your community of 100 households the Census contacted a doctor, a union firefighter, and a village idoit (who's fun for the day was lying on the survey) you may end up with a income of $30100 (10% grant).

Bar on the survey is high. As I recall, need an 80% response which in a survey is very very high (if the local high income households were non- responders that might be good). USDA can give you details on their currect brackets (income vs grant %). May be able to advise you on the survey requirements which you can do.

[sfdvol820]

Census only does detailed survey of something like 2% of households. So if, by chance, in your community of 100 households the Census contacted a doctor, a union firefighter, and a village idoit (who's fun for the day was lying on the survey) you may end up with a income of $30100 (10% grant).

I almost died laughing when I read about the village idiot. That is what we call our Village administrator:D