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   Part L. Generating, Managing and Sustaining Financial Res... >
      Chapter 44. Investing in Community Resources >
         Section 2. Establishing Micro-grant Programs >
             Examples - Real world situational examples. >

Establishing Micro-grant Programs

  

Examples

 Contributed by Eric Wadud Edited by Bill Berkowitz and Jerry Schultz

Example 1: Implementing a Mini-Grant Program for Self-Help Initiatives


After conducting a health concerns survey and forming a local health concerns coalition, The United Way of Douglas County was awarded $10,000 from the Kansas Health Foundation to administer a mini-grants program and disperse the funds.

This mini-grants program awarded grants to both informal and formal organizations addressing stated community health concerns, in the areas of health promotion and disease prevention particularly in the areas of cardiovascular disease, cancer, substance abuse, and maternal/infant care.

Special attention was given to those applications proposing self-help projects, those with significant involvement by community members experiencing the health problem (e.g., an adolescent pregnancy program led by Teen-age mothers), and projects that encouraged collaboration between community members and organizations.

For example, one mini grant was awarded to a program called "1st Step Nutrition" which was a nutrition program for women recovering from drug abuse. Another mini-grant was awarded to a group developing a "Youth Yellow Pages" which was book of resources for youth in the community. A third mini-grant was awarded to a group developing a video for breast cancer prevention.

These programs then went on to implement their projects, and, eventually, reported the results of their projects to the Douglas county United Way mini-grant program staff.