The value of human service programs is evident in communities suffering from the impact of poverty or the dearth of government services. The people who worked hard to deliver human service programs to their community are people gifted with a noble character.
Nevertheless, even those who were passionate enough to serve the less fortunate oftentimes find themselves discouraged by the inadequacy of resources at their disposal Patti, 2009). However, there is a way to narrow the gap through the utilization of grants. It has to be made clear, however, that due to present economic conditions, the use of grants to support human service programs is not an easy task.
There are two major challenges when it comes to granting funding. First, managers of human service programs cannot use conventional business strategies to acquire grant funding. It is not practical to utilize traditional business strategies to enable the infusion of cash into an organization in exchange for future profits. Human service programs are implemented without considering any form of return on investments.
The second problematic aspect of grant funding, in the context of human service programs, is the inherent challenges that were the end result of poor economic conditions. The financial crisis in 2007 made it more difficult to acquire funding from traditional sources. The solution to this problem is to transform human service organizations in order to develop service providers that are nimble, creative, flexible, and culturally competent (Lewis & Packard, 2012).
The first step is to determine the type of organization that is seeking funding through grants. In addition, human service organizations must learn the skill of acquiring funding through grants. Non-profit organizations must have a 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Services.
The second step is to search for available grants that are appropriate for the said non-profit organization. It must be made clear that the grant should be compatible with the group’s mission statement. For example, a non-profit group that was geared towards helping homeless people will look for grants that were created to help homeless individuals.
A search through the U.S. Grants.gov database revealed the existence of a grant for homeless people. The grant was called the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program. A detailed description of the said grant stated that the end goal is to help homeless veterans. This is the link to the said grant (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 2014).
An organization that specializes in helping homeless people will have to make adjustments when it comes to the target group that is supposed to be the beneficiaries of a particular human service program. In this particular case, the funds are only applicable to homeless veterans. In other words, only homeless veterans are eligible to use the resources that are available through this particular grant.
Conclusion
The first important insight that one can acquire from the study securing grant funding is the realization that it is a challenging task. There are several non-profit organizations competing over finite resources. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that funding sources are available. Another critical realization is the fact that organizations serving people through human service programs must be flexible and nimble to make adjustments based on changing circumstances.
In this particular case, funds are only accessible if the group can present an implementation strategy that aims to help homeless veterans. Aside from knowing the end goals, it is imperative to know the detailed requirements to successfully secure funding through grants in order to expedite the process.
References
Lewis, J. & Packard, T. (2012). Management of human service programs. CA: Cengage Learning.
Patti, R. (2009). The handbook of human services management. CA: Sage Publications.
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (2014). Homeless veterans: Grants and per diem programs. Web.