Government Grants for Volunteer Missionary Work

Helping children and families is the focus of many government grants that fund volunteer work

One of the most gratifying uses of our taxpayer money is to help those in need. Government grants are available for such purposes, but not to individual citizens, although individual volunteers may work under the auspices of nonprofit groups which have received government grants to do such work.

The Obama administration has continued to fund faith-based initiatives to support community health and welfare needs, as begun by the Bush administration. In order for volunteer mission groups such as a churches to qualify for government grants, they must have 501 (c) (3) status as a nonprofit organization.

These grants are administered by the Department of Health and Human Services and lend themselves to volunteer missionary work in three areas:

working with at-risk or underprivileged children

assistance to needy or homeless families

seeing to the needs of returning veterans and their families

Grants to Work with At-Risk or Underprivileged Children

A new agency within HHS, the Administration Children and Families, is increasing the opportunities for working with at-risk or underprivileged children, including a National Clearinghouse On Families and Youth. These are just a few of the areas in which volunteers from non-profit mission groups are needed:

Adoption Opportunities
Head Start
Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)
Child Support and Enforcement Grant
Child Welfare Grant

Grants for Mission Work to Needy or Homeless Families

The Obama Administration is expanding the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) in every state, with opportunities for volunteer mission work in the following areas:

Family Violence Prevention
Mentoring Children of Prisoners
Runaway and Homeless Youth
Helping Children Avoid or Escape from Sexual Exploitation
Abstinence Education
Community Food and Nutrition

Grants to Aid Returning Veterans

First Lady Michelle Obama's top priority is seeing that soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have all the support they need to recover from trauma both psychological and physical and find meaningful work to support their families. HHS is expanding programs to give more and more grants to community-based missions that serve the returning vet.

Urban and Rural Community Economic Development (CED)
Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
Substance Abuse Counseling
Traumatic Stress
Suicide Prevention

References

• Examine the many funding areas available to nonprofit groups
• The Center for Faith-Based Community Incentives
• Access to Recovery

Resources

• Read this Article in UK English
• Locate a FYSB Program in Your State
• The National Clearinghouse on Family and Youth
• How to Apply for Grants