Help with Federal Grants

This website contains several resources to help you get started in the grant process. If you have additional questions please contact Bill Walker in our Midlands office at 803-939-0041.

Q. Is everyone eligible to receive federal grants?

A. Unfortunately, not everyone is eligible for federal grants. Most federal grants are awarded to:

• non-profits like charities, schools, community and faith-based organizations;
• state & local government agencies;
• public safety agencies like hospitals, police, and fire departments;
• federally-recognized tribes.

Q. Does Congressman Wilson decide who gets awarded a grant?

A. No, Congressman Wilson does not decide who gets a grant and who does not. The federal cabinet department peer reviewer committees make those decisions based on objective criteria.

Q. Can Congressman Wilson's office write and/or review my grant proposal?

A. Unfortunately, Congressman Wilson's office cannot write or review grant proposals. We can help you identify federal grants for which you may be eligible through the tools listed here on this web page. We also may be able to write a letter of support for your proposal to the federal agency.

Q. If we do obtain a federal grant, will it fully cover my funding needs?

A. Federal grants rarely cover all the costs of a project. Many grants are designed to leverage other funding streams. Grants often provide a portion of the funds needed for a given project; many grants even require non-federal matching funds of 10-25 percent, some require more. Granters want to know you'll become self-sufficient once your project gets off the ground and it will be sustainable when your grant period ends.

Q. Is obtaining a grant an easy process?

A. Applying for a grant can be a full time job. Grant writing is not to be taken for granted, it is a lot of work and federal funds have many requirements, such as regular evaluation reports. You will need time to research and develop your project and then to write the proposal. After submitting your proposal, it often takes the granting agency several months to decide which projects will be funded. It is neither quick nor easy, but it is possible and we highly encourage you to utilize my website to begin your search.

Visit Grants.gov to begin your search and application today. Grants.gov is a website that encompasses over 900 grant programs offered by the 26 federal grant-making agencies. It streamlines the process of awarding over $350 billion annually to state and local governments, academia, not-for-profits, and other organizations. We strongly encourage you to utilize this resource.

Grants.gov: This website contains information and application forms for every grant offered by the federal government.

FedBizOpps.gov: This is the single government point-of-entry for Federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000. Government buyers are able to publicize their business opportunities by posting information directly to FedBizOpps via the Internet. Through one portal - FedBizOpps (FBO) - commercial vendors seeking Federal markets for their products and services can search, monitor and retrieve opportunities solicited by the entire Federal contracting community.

Catalog of Domestic Assistance: The online Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance gives you access to a database of all Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally -recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi-public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals. After you find the program you want, contact the office that administers the program  and find out how to apply.

Commerce Business Daily: This website provides notices of proposed government procurement actions, contract awards, sales of government property, and other procurement information.

Congressman Wilson is pleased to announce the following federal grants that have been awarded.

2008:

• $25,000 through the Department of Health and Human Services for Protection and Advancement for People with Disabilities, Inc.
• $571,792 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's HOME awards program for Richland County
• $1,368,119 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant program for Richland County
• $5,752 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's American Dream Downpayment Initiative for Richland County
• $69,814,000 through the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program for Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative, Inc.
• $2,497,947 through the Department of Health and Human Services' Head Start Projects for the Beaufort-Jasper Economic Opportunity Council
• $105,250 through the Department of the Interior's Preserve America Grant program for the Town of Bluffton
• $573,612 through the Department of Education's Predominantly Black Institutions and Schools Program for the Technical College of the Lowcountry
• $75,000 through the Department of Health and Human Services' Community Service Block Grant Training and Technical Assistance Program for the South Carolina Association of Community Action Partners
• $105,250 through the Department of Interior's Preserve America Grant program for the Town of Bluffton
• $165,930 through the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Coalitions Program for the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
• $7,500 through the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women Technical Assistance Program for the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
• $45,000 through the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program for the Town of Allendale
• $250,000 through the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women Technical Assistance Program for the National District Attorney's Association
• $144,515 through the Department of Justice's Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program for the County of Richland
• $1,300,623 through the Department of Justice's Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
• $163,695 through the Department of Justice's SMART Office Support for the Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
• $163,622 through the Department of Justice's Paul Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Improvement Act Formula Grant Program for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $447,174 through the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for A Better Way, Inc.
• $40,000 through the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program for Beaufort-Jasper Economic Opportunity Commission, Inc.
• $178,870 through the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance for the University of South Carolina Research Foundation
• $1,122,000 through the Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice Continuation Awards program for the South Carolina Research Authority
• $268,304 through the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance for the University of South Carolina Research Foundation
• $1,089,928 through the Department of Energy for Jason Associates Corporation
• $895,034 through the Department of Justice's Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Discretionary Program for the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services
• $269,439 through the Department of Health and Human Services' Congressionally-Mandated Health Information Technology Grants program for CommuniCare
• $48,360 through the Department of Justice's Community Prevention Grants program for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $184,703 through the Department of Justice's National Criminal History Improvement Program for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
• $650,280 through the Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Program for Hardeeville Fire/Rescue
• $643,200 through the Department of Justice's Juvenile Accountability Block Grant program for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $591,200 through the Department of Justice's Title II Formula Grants Program for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $200,000 through the Department of Justice's Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking Assistance Program for Sistercare, Inc.
• $160,496 through the Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration for the South Carolina Office of Rural Health
• $201,419 through the Department of Health and Human Services' National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion for the Columbia Urban League, Inc.
• $11,727 through the Department of Justice's Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance (JAG) Grant Program for Aiken County
• $24,476 through the Department of Justice's Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance (JAG) Grant Program for Beaufort County
• $100,000 through the Department of Health and Human Services' Ryan White Title III HIV Capacity Development and Planning Grants program for the Low Country Health Care System, Inc.
• $124,993 through the Office of National Drug Control Policy's Drug Free Communities (DFC) Support Program for the Community Roundtable of Irmo, Dutch Fork & Chapin
• $201,697 through the Department of Justice's Project Safe Neighborhoods for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $350,000 through the Department of Justice's Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Block Grants Program for the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services
• $47,020 through the Department of Justice's Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance (JAG) Grant Program for the City of Columbia
• $18,999 through the Department of Justice's Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance (JAG) Grant Program for Lexington County
• $4,511,000 through the Department of Justice's Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Victim Assistance Formula program for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $1,769,936 through the Department of Justice's STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $2,069,678 through the Department of Justice's Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance (JAG) Grant Program for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $151,058 through the Department of Justice's Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners Program for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $52,870 through the Department of Justice's State Justice Statistics (SJS) Program for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $144,319 through the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program for Clemson University
• $25,100 though the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program for the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation
• $89,995 through the Department of Agriculture's Rural Business Enterprise program for the Technical College of the Lowcountry
• $60,000 through the Department of Agriculture's Rural Business Enterprise program for the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism
• $147,000 through the Department of Health and Human Services for the South Carolina Office of Rural Health
• $3,247,000 through the Department of Justice's Crime Victims Fund for the South Carolina Office of Victim Assistance
• $50,000 through the Department of Health and Human Services for Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc.
• $2,680,761.37 through the Department of Education's Smaller Learning Communities Program for Orangeburg Consolidated School District
• $12,000 through the Department of Agriculture's Rural Business Opportunity program for Allendale County
• $190,000 through the Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Program for the Wolfton Fire Department
• $200,000 through the Department of Homeland Security for the S.C. State Firefighters' Association
• $955,101 through the Department of Education for the School District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties
• $980,465 through the Department of Education for the Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5
• $579,882 through the Department of Health and Human Services for the South Carolina Primary Health Care Association

2007:

• $46,980 through the Department of Homeland Security for the Hampton County Fire-Rescue Department
• $30,935 through the Department of Homeland Security for the Columbia Fire Department
• $3,717 through the Department of Homeland Security for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety
• $11,794 through the Department of Homeland Security for the Hampton County Sheriff's Department
• $641,465 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance program for the Housing Authority of the City of Columbia
• $304,333 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance program for Access Network, Inc.
• $101,813 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance program for Samaritan House of Orangeburg
• $174,041 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance program for Healing Properties, Inc.
• $9,500 through the Department of Homeland Security for the Salley Volunteer Fire Department
• $104,161 through the Department of Homeland Security for the Montmorenci Volunteer Fire Department
• $57,000 through the Department of Homeland Security for the Friendship Community Fire Department
• $31,600 through the U.S. Department of Transportation to the South Carolina Department of Transportation for the development of the Lowcountry Scenic Byways
• $133,190 through the Department of Homeland Security for the Estill Fire Department
• $58,900 through the Department of Homeland Security for the Sheldon Township Fire Department
• $2,461,033 through the Department of Health and Human Services for the Beaufort-Jasper Economic Opportunity Council
• $130,897 through the Department of Veterans Affairs for the Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas
• $357,760 through the Department of Justice for the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles
• $200,000 through the Department of Justice for the South Carolina Office of the Attorney General
• $714,651 through the Department of Education for the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department
• $219,488 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant for the City of Aiken
• $2,670,000 through the Department of Justice for the South Carolina Research Authority
• $600,000 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Program for Benedict College
• $600,000 through the Department of Justice for the South Carolina Research Authority
• $450,000 through the Department of Justice for South Carolina Legal Services
• $166,090 through the Department of Justice for the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence And Sexual Assault
• $255,000 through the Department of Justice's Transitional Housing Grant Program for Sistercare, Inc.
• $55,103 through the Department of Justice for the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office
• $250,000 through the Department of Justice for the South Carolina Research Authority
• $141,179 through the Department of Homeland Security for the North Volunteer Fire Department
• $475,000 through the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration for the South Carolina Budget and Control Board
• $76,239 through the Department of Justice for the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office
• $143,488 through the Department of Justice for the City of Columbia Police Department
• $199,901 through the Department of Justice for A Better Way, Project Go (Gang Out)
• $400,000 through the Department of Health & Human Services for the South Carolina Office of Rural Health
• $525,000 through the Department of Justice for the South Carolina Office of the Attorney General
• $981,015 through the Department of Justice for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
• $203,528 through the Department of Homeland Security for the Sawyerdale Volunteer Fire Department
• $19,043 through the Department of Justice for the City of Beaufort Police Department
• $1,939,882 through the Department of Transportation for the Columbia Owens Downtown Rehabilitation

2006:

• $43,406 through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for Hardeeville Fire & Rescue
• $2,399,000 loan and a grant of $101,000 through the Department of Agriculture for the Allendale County Hospital
• $15,478 through the Department of Homeland Security for the Daufuskie Island Fire Department