Government grants available to help pay my bills?

Question

I've heard in various tv and radio ads that there are government grants available that can be used to assist in paying bills if you are unable to pay them. I am a single father that has a very large child support payment, that added to a recent increase in my ARM has led me down a road where I am having a lot of problems in paying everything, and still having enough for food and gas........are these grants really available and how do I gain access??

Answer 1

NO those are scams.

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) 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 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

Best thing to do is to contact your local community college. They have a grant writing program where you / your mom will be able to learn about more in-depth info about it. However, I don't suggest infomercial because 99% of them are scams. They make it look so easy but if that were true everyone in the U.S. would have grants or whatever they were advertising.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, the government grant that you are talking about is for low income individuals. The television commercial leaves out that little bit of information, so people would buy his book. However, HUD can help you with your mortgage problem thanks to something done by President Bush to stop the foreclosure problem. I have included some official federal government resources that should help you. Good luck!

Answer 4

i have seen the same thing on t.v. it in a book with a guy that tells you its a secreat and you need to buy the book but im in the same boat if you find a good one let me know click on my picture and it will take you to my profile sorry cant help dad