Government Grants?

Question

I was wondering if there is a way I could apply for a government grant to buy a home, buy a car, business, ect... All I really find is people wanting outrageous amounts of money to help.

Answer 1

I would be EXTREMELY WARY of companies that claim you can get grants for whatever purpose you want because that is absolutely false and not how federal grants work. And I would be SCARED all the more that this company wants you to apply for grants through them because there is only ONE site where you can apply for grants legitimately - and that is Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov

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. And yes, grants mean PAPERWORK - lots and lots of it, that is why a cottage industry of grant writers was born.

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 buying cars or simply fattening your wallet.

The Housing and Urban Development in their Grants Available page makes it clear that they do not provide grants to individuals -- hence no grants for a person to buy a home http://www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm

"While HUD does not offer direct grants or loans to individuals, we do work through local governments and non-profit organizations to make financial assistance and counseling available."

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 FREE 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

Answer 2

It's a scam. Think about it, why would the government give you money for those things? There's no free lunch.

You need to just learn to budget and save up money. When you take out loans, be sure you can afford what you are getting. You have to pay them back sometime.