What Amount Did The U.S. Set Aside For Government Grants In 2008?

Guess.

While you are coming up with that sum, let’s look at the amount set aside this year. Our new president is busy setting the new annual budget for U.S. government grants for 2009.

It is not new for these grants to be given for personal, business, health , research, as well home improvement and some debt repayment programs. What IS new is the dollar amount. The limits imposed on the grant money has been lifted.
Having looked over the Urban Policy posted by the White House, government aid that is coming will surface in several forms.

* The education project that has been underway this fall and winter in Harlem with students who once performed at the lowest percentiles in now testing  in the upper percentiles when given high quality support:

” ..Obama will sign into law his Success in the Middle Act to improve the education of middle school students in low-performing schools. Obama and Biden will also establish a competitive grant process for entities pursuing evidence-based models that have been proven to reduce dropouts…. ”

* programs that, though not grants (more projects and work programs yet funded through the grant budget), are funds that are dog-eared for low income communities;

* communities that are newly underfunded,  their school funding dropping, the President seeks to appropriate adequate funding for the No Child Left Behind program (believe it or not, this IS new).

* some very interesting urban planning ideas, as described here :

” President Obama and Vice President Biden will create a federal program to support “innovation clusters” — regional centers of innovation and next-generation industries. This innovation clusters program will provide $200 million in planning and matching grants for regional business, government, and university leaders to collaborate on leveraging a region’s existing assets — from transportation infrastructure to universities — to enhance long-term regional growth.”

* and an influx of much needed cash  for “Underserved Businesses:

President Obama and Vice President Biden will strengthen Small Business Administration programs that provide capital to women and minority-owned businesses, support outreach programs that help business owners apply for loans, and work to encourage the growth and capacity of these firms.”

OK: as you have been reading, the funding this year has increased. The new plans are broad and far-reaching.

The answer to last year’s grant budget?

In 2008 the total grant budget was over 800 Billion Dollars.  There’s room for you under that sun. Go and get creative. Start. Bring about a change for the better in your life, in your community, in your schools, in your world.