Each of us is just one person, and sometimes we can feel powerless against giant institutions, especially bodies of government. After all, they’re notorious for being bureaucratic and staffed by uncaring workers who take pleasure in thwarting citizens, right? The politicians are no better, promising everything to get elected, then forgetting about us little people once they’re in.

Grants are often designated for specific groups of people, and one group that receives many different types of funding are the older members of our society. One of the most basic needs for a senior is having a safe, secure energy-efficient home. Government grants for real estate (also called government grants for properties in some places).

If you’re involved with a non-profit or charity, then you should be aware of Google Grants, an in-kind grant worth up to $10,000 USD monthly. An in-kind grant is a good or service that is donated, that you would otherwise have to pay money to get. Although it is not cash, it is still a free grant of something that is valuable to your organization.

Prosper Canada has announced that 16 community organizations have been awarded a total of $1.1 million through the concluding round of its TD Financial Literacy Grant Fund.

The TD Financial Literacy Grant Fund is administered by Prosper Canada and supports organizations that deliver financial literacy programming to people living in low income and economically disadvantaged circumstances across the country. This is the final granting round of the Fund which will end, as scheduled, in December 2015.

COMMUNITY groups have benefited from a £13,000 cash windfall that was generated by renewable energy installations. Low Carbon Ladock is a local community energy co-operative set up to help reduce locals’ electricity bills. They use renewable energy sources that generate power, which is fed into the National Grid. They got their start with seed money from a government grant.

Autism Speaks, the world’s leading autism advocacy and science organization, today announced that it has awarded $450,000 in grants for two projects focused on developing independent functioning and increased participation in community life for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Forty teams of graduate and undergraduate students from across the country are each receiving a $15,000 government grant for research proposals that develop solutions to real-world water and environmental challenges. The government grant funding, provided through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Phase I grants, was recently announced by the Agency.

“The P3 program offers a unique opportunity for students to develop and showcase innovative designs for environmental solutions,” said Lek Kadeli, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “As we enter the 10th year of the government grant program, the ingenuity and passion of the students continue to provide solutions that protect health and the environment while spurring economic development.”

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s system of cash grants for children in poor households shows that a little money goes a long way, resulting in bigger, healthier kids who do better in school.

But it’s not all positive. The system, one of the most extensive of its kind in the developing world, now covers 11 million recipients – which means that more than half of South Africa’s children qualify because their parents’ annual income does not exceed 74,400 rand ($7,000) and they live in extreme poverty.

Youth in Canada will now have more opportunity thanks to a new private sector alliance between a group of independent Canadian business owners and Pomeroy Equitable Solutions LLC (PES), a US-based company that created the youth funding movement Swipe4TheKids.

Swipe4TheKids is a sustainable funding source for youth enrichment programs. Made possible by partnerships between businesses, their customers, and merchant services partner Eclypse Solutions, Swipe4TheKids allows vital programs to flourish and provides long-term benefits.

It’s unquestionably a huge disappointment to work hard on your grant proposal, only to have it not be chosen. At this point you can either become discouraged and give up, or you can use the rejection as a learning experience. Most proposals are rejected. Given the large numbers of proposals that are submitted, that is a reality of the process. However, you can try to pinpoint the reason in several ways:

Special Olympics BC – Ridge Meadows athletes will benefit from a $21,000 community gaming grant, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA Doug Bing announced Wednesday.

SOBC Ridge Meadows is a non-profit sport organization providing individuals living with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to enhance their lives and celebrate personal achievement through positive sport experiences.

Do you know what happens to areas where there’s an economic decline? One bleak scenario is that without money, it starts to become dilapidated and possibly crime-ridden, so that just accelerates the pace of businesses and residents leaving the area. Revenues decline further because of the shrinking tax base, and the downward spiral continues. One way to prevent this is with an infusion of outside funding. One way a town or neighborhood can get a boost is with money from the federal government. One of the longest-running and most successful federal grant programs is the Community Development Block Grant. Here’s how it works. A sum of money in the form of a federal grant is provided

A $45 million government grant called the Ontario Music Fund has been allocated to help out the music industry in the province. As reported in the Toronto Star, the three-year government grant plan will help support the production, promotion, and distribution of Ontario-made music across the country and around the world. The proposal also aims to focus on promoting performance in the province. The project carries the slogan Music Makes Jobs.

Vehicle manufacturers and the motor insurance industry are appealing to the Government to introduce measures to increase the take-up of autonomous emergency braking systems (AEBs) in cars.

Insurance research body Thatcham has lobbied the Government to introduce a cash incentive, similar to the existing electric vehicle grant, to anyone who specifies the system (that automatically applies the brakes when an oncoming collision is identified) when buying a new vehicle.

One type of government grant that local government like to make available are community grants. They are awarded to neighbourhood organizations for the purpose of making the local community safer, cleaner, and more pleasant. Sometimes, neighborhoods will compete for limited funds by describing how they plan to use the grant money to make an impact on the livability of their area.

Native Americans historically have had lower rates of home ownership and business ownership than the overall population of the United States. Finding the funding to buy a house or start a business can be tough, especially in times of tighter lending standards. In response to this, the federal government has made government money available through various programs. To address the issue of low rates of home ownerships,

There’s been some severe weather in the United States in the past couple of months, and billions of dollars of damage has been one result. Even if you’re not in one of the hard-hit areas, it’s worthwhile for you to be prepared with the resources that you’ll need if a natural disaster happens close to home.

For many of us, our smartphones and tablets are enjoyable diversions and even an integral part of our work and leisure lives. But they’re even more than that to some persons with disabilities. They’ve helped take the place of other forms of assistive technology. In case you’re not familiar with assistive technology, it consists of devices