Towns seek grant writers and administrators to help with improvements

Many small towns are at a crossroads of what to do when they need additional funding, but cannot raise taxes. Monies are often needed for community improvements, fire and police supplies, water and sewer needs or to protect waterways.

Large towns and cities have staff people to pull together projects and apply for grants. Small towns don't. Many have no money to send their elected officials, and staff, to training to learn how to do their jobs. This situation occurs just about everywhere.

So when park playgrounds get weary and need to be revived, sometimes small town leaders don't know how - or don't have the knowledge or time - to know how to go about doing that.

It may be that there are housing needs, water and sewer needs, or even fire department and police needs which go unmet, because of the lack of time required to find necessary funding.

The first thing any community needs to do is to identify the need and find a solution with a budget. Then, a grant can be written and submitted.

Many grants take months to be approved. Competition is stiff, as other towns are in the same shape.

Once the grant is secured, work can begin. Reports have to be written and submitted to the granting agency and the money has to be fully accounted for. That is the administration. Some small towns don't have the staff to handle that, either.

Greta Lint is our municipal grant writer. She is working on three grants in Jonesville and Candor, North Carolina, with a growing list of other towns seeking her help.