To launch an elderly falls-prevention program, Satellite Beach (Fla.) Fire Chief Don Hughes applied for and received a $2,000 grant from the Florida Department of Elder Affairs to create educational materials and, with the help of community partners, to cover the costs of putting on falls-prevention workshops at community centers. The following year, Hughes’ department won a $29,500 grant from the Brevard Board of County Commissioners to expand and continue the program for another two years, including having a paramedic do in-home assessments and offer assistance with repairs such as installing grab bars and better lighting.
“For any organization to be kicking off a new program during recessionary times is very difficult,” Hughes says. “I honestly and truly believe had we not received the grant, we would have only done falls prevention at the most rudimentary level.”
Nearly 2,000 miles away in Dawson, Minn., Ann Jenson, a licensed practical nurse and a volunteer EMT for the Dawson Ambulance Service, has applied for and received grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to cover much of the cost of buying five ambulances over the past 10 years to serve the rural community of about 3,000.
“Our ambulances become high-mileage vehicles quickly because we have to drive 300 miles to Minneapolis to do transfers,” she says. “Those grants are very, very important to us.”
Across the nation, EMS and fire agencies are feeling the pinch from budget cuts and the lingering effects of the recession. Yet the need for training and equipment—as well as the desire to play an expanded role in overall community health—is only increasing.
So how to pay for it all? Grants are one option. “EMS can use grants as a way to expand services, to buy new equipment, to replace old equipment or to get training programs,” says John Cannan, executive director of the Emergency Services Foundation, a Redding, Calif., nonprofit organization that writes grants for some 200 fire and EMS agencies in 11 Northern California counties. “It gives an opportunity to those who will go the extra mile to expand and serve their communities better.”
Just 10 years ago, grants were few and far between for fire and EMS, says Cannan, who is also an instructor for Grant Writing USA, which offers grant writing and grant management seminars around the country. But after 9/11, the federal government and other funding agencies began to pay more attention to gaps in the nation’s ability to respond to major disasters and other public safety issues. That, along with a growing interest in reforming the health care system, has led to a rapid expansion in grants available to EMS and fire.
While the federal government is the biggest source of grants to fire and EMS, other sources include state and local governments and corporate or private foundations, particularly those with a public health or health care focus. “EMS has the potential to seek grants from all three groups—federal, state and foundation/corporate,” Cannan says.
Here’s a primer on the types of grants your organization may be eligible for and how to go about getting them.
Sources of grants
This is just a sampling of different ways you might be able to secure a grant for your department or agency.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
FEMA has four grant programs available to help fire and EMS agencies:
1. Assistance to Firefighters Grants
These can cover equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other programs to protect the public and first responders from fire and related hazards, according to the FEMA website. Nonprofit, non-hospital-based EMS agencies are also eligible, Cannan says.
2. SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Grants
These are open to fire departments and volunteer fire organizations to expand the number of trained firefighters in their communities.
3. Fire Prevention & Safety Grants
These aren’t just for fire departments, but for other organizations involved with fire and injury prevention as well. In 2009, dozens of fire departments and fire protection districts received grants, along with universities, burn centers, housing authorities and other organizations.
4. Assistance to Firefighters Station Construction Grants
These go to fire departments to build new stations or to modify existing ones.
For more info on the FEMA grants, including application instructions and dealings, visit firegrantsupport.com.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
NHTSA is another potential source of grant money. The agency’s priority is programs that promote safety, prevention and quality response on highways and roadways, says Cannan, who has helped more than 60 fire departments apply for NHTSA grants to purchase equipment such as hydraulic extrication kits (Jaws of Life). NHTSA grants can also be used to purchase up to 25 percent of a new ambulance. “Ambulance services are allowed to assume, without having to document it, that 25 percent of calls are related to roadway emergencies, so NHTSA will fund 25 percent of the purchase of a new ambulance,” Cannan says.
He also recalls two paramedics receiving a NHTSA grant to run an education program in high schools to discourage drunk driving.
NHTSA money is often funneled through state offices of highway safety or state departments of transportation, so start your research there.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
EMS and fire agencies that serve rural areas may be eligible for USDA grants. Dawson Ambulance Service, for example, has received $50,000 grants five times over the past decade to buy new ambulances, which cost about $124,000 each, Jenson says. (The remainder of the money came from the city of Dawson, eight townships that are in the service area and the service’s own reserves, including funds from selling retired ambulances.)
To find out if your agency is eligible, start by contacting your local USDA office. To locate it, visit www.rurdev.usda.gov/recd_map.html.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
This federal agency gives grants for a wide range of health-related issues. Cannan once wrote grant applications to buy pediatric airway management kits for fire departments and ambulances in his region. Currently, DHHS is offering the “Rural Access to Emergency Devices Grant,” which will fund the purchase of AEDs by statewide, regional or multi-county “consortiums” of first responders, community health clinics, and other nonprofit or faith-based organizations for placement in rural communities. That’s just one example of many.
Other sources of information about federal grants
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA.gov) is a repository for all of the grants being offered by the federal government. You can do a keyword search for EMS, but also try searching under fire, health, transportation, homeland security, etc., all of which might apply to EMS. The site offers a description of the grant and eligibility requirements, contact information and prior funded projects. Grants.gov is another good source of information about federal grant programs.
State and local governments
Various state government offices may offer grants. Start your research by checking with your state’s EMS office or fire commission. Firegrantshelp.com is also chockfull of information about what’s out there.
Your county or local governments may also have some grant money to give out, as might local charitable or service organizations. Word of mouth is probably your best bet on finding out about local grants.
Private foundation/corporate grants
Finding out about private organizations offering grants is a little more difficult because there is no free, comprehensive listing of available grants, Cannan says. That said, many professional grant writers use foundationcenter.org, a subscription service that maintains a database of information on more than 98,000 foundations, corporate donors and grant-making charities. A basic membership to search the database is $19.95 per month; enhanced services cost more.
Getting the grant
Now that you’ve decided to apply for a grant, how do you go about getting it? Cannan breaks the process into three steps. The first is researching the funder’s priorities. Is it health and social services or disaster planning? Are they looking to give money to a large urban agency or one that serves a rural area? Pay attention to key words such as “collaboration,” “consortium” or “interoperability” and make sure your application reflects that.
Since grantors like to see their money have an impact, bringing in other community partners may increase your chances of being awarded the grant. Grantors may have their interest piqued by applications that promise to share resources throughout a region.
Step 2 is “incorporating the human element,” Cannan says. That means calling up the agency that will be awarding the grant and discussing your proposal. Not only can this help give you valuable information about what the funding organization is looking for, but a personal connection always helps.
Before calling, draft a list of questions you want to ask. “A lot of funders are very much prepared to take those calls,” Cannan says. “Some won’t give you the application guidelines unless they’ve spoken to you.”
Step 3 is writing and packaging the proposal to precisely match the instructions and the needs of the funding agency. Write in clear, concise language; avoid jargon and wordiness. Make sure to state clearly what the grant would mean to your organization and community. While you want to make sure you have all the necessary statistics and technical aspects of your request correct, don’t be afraid to play to the emotions as well. That may mean clearly describing the impact the money will have on people. If you have testimonials or actual examples of why the new equipment or new vehicle is needed, use it.
“Research. Schmooze. Then write and package. All the best grant writers I know do it that way,” Cannan says.
Finally, if you receive the grant, make sure you manage it correctly. Funding agencies don’t typically just hand you a check; you will have to sign a contract that will spell out exactly how the money will be spent. You may need to collect certain data or provide updates about how the program is working and how the money is being spent. You may also be subject to an audit, so keeping proper records is important.
Failure to follow the terms of the contract may mean you’ll have to return the grant money, Cannan says.
Whatever you do, don’t be intimidated by the process. Cannan says he’s seen people who have never written a grant application before who have gotten grants of $300,000 or more. “Funders’ priorities are all over the map. In many cases, a small rural community is exactly what the funder is looking for,” Cannan says. “EMS can be a good fit for a lot of grant programs, if you take the time to educate and approach grantors appropriately. Grantors are commonly interested in areas like education, health and safety, human services and assisting children and seniors—all things that can fall within the EMS sphere.”
