Grants for Woman Head of Households

by: Michael Saunders

Grants are not Benefits or Entitlements. A Federal Grant is an award of financial assistance from a Federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States.

Since 2002, the federal government has been developing and implementing Grants.gov as a collaborative cross-government program focused on streamlining grants management for the Federal grant community.

Being a single mom these days can be so tedious, generally statistics say that single moms are one of the most disadvantaged parties in the United States.

Believe it or not, single female parents:

* are rarely awarded spousal support, in it only occurs in 15% of divorce cases.

* who are actually awarded spousal support doesn’t get the support anyway. Statistics say that only 36% of the 15% of total women awarded with spousal support actually get this support.

* who are given spousal support rarely getting the whole amount; it’s usually less than half actually.

* suffer from a fall in their standard of living, after divorce, while a male’s standard of living actually increases by 15%.

And because of the recurring social stature of women, most single female parents are those that used to be homemakers, meaning they are jobless and have no experience as a worker whatsoever. This is a problem because they are dependent on their husbands for income, and once that income goes away, they are left with nothing.

There is one way to recover from such a blow, some women already have a start on tertiary education, and only need the money to finish it. Fortunately, the government offers various grants that target single moms who want to finish their education.

What is a grant?

A grant is usually a form of financial support that the federal government offers to certain eligible people. The government offers over 900 grants and out of these nine hundred there are a few grants targeted towards single mothers. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) has a complete list of all the grants that may be applied for and this can be found at their website at www.cfda.gov.

If you’re one of the mothers who want to pursue higher education, it is best however to go to the financial aid office of your respective college or university. Usually, grants, especially scholarship funds have faculty representatives for each school who can assist students who are applying for grants.

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Did you know?

Applying at Grants.gov can reduce your costs and the time required to find government grant opportunities and process your application. The site provides access to multiple grantors and reduces paperwork.  (continued...)

Grants for Woman Head of Households
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About The Author Michael Saunders has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He edits a site on Government Grants for Women Owned Businesses and also edits HandsNet - A Human Services News Website.

Additional Resources

category - Grants for Individuals

National Science Foundation: Broadening Participation Research Initiation Grants in Engineering (BRIGE)
The BRIGE program hopes to increase the participation of novice investigators who are just starting their professional career in all fields of engineering research.

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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: Centers for Oceans and Human Health
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has recently established a funding opportunity entitled Centers for Oceans and Human Health which provide linkages between members of ocean sciences and biomedical communities in the hopes of supporting interdisciplinary studies in areas where thorough understanding of marine processes and ecosystems harbor the potential to reduce public health risks.

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National Institutes of Health: Expanding the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements in Human and Model Organisms
The National Institutes of Health, in cooperation with the National Human Genome Research Institute, has established a funding opportunity to support the Expanding the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements in Human and Model Organisms project.

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9th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet
The National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet program revolves around the notion of seeking applications and proposals that aim to conduct research studies, develop and design strategies that would address real world challenges throughout the overall sustainability of human society.

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