Momma Knows Money » Minnesota

Utility Bill Assistance in Minneapolis

admin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:00:14 +0000

Community Action of Minneapolis has money available to help residents pay their utility bills through their Energy Services Program.

Energy Services include:

Financial aid to pay a portion of heating costs.
Crisis intervention for threat of or no heat
situations.
Energy Related Repair for home heating system
repair or replacement.
Referral to Weatherization and other social service
providers.

Eligibility for Energy Services is calculated by looking at gross income (your income before taxes and other deductions) for the previous three-month period.

You can see the guidelines and eligibility information here.

They also have other programs available, so if you need a hand, take a look around their website.

Emergency Assistance in Minnesota

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:56:25 +0000

The Wilkin County Family Service Agency has emergency assistance funds available to help families, couples without children and single individuals in Wilkin County Minnesota.

Thanks to an Otto Bremer foundation grant received last year, the Family Service Agency still has $9,039 available for resident utility shutoffs and eviction notices.

Contact them for help

Public Art Grants Available

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:06:47 +0000

Forecast Public Art, a nonprofit public arts organization based out of the Twin Cities, recently announced a partnership with the East Central Arts Council to offer Public Art Planning grants in the amount of $2,000 to the artists of Chicago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, and Pine counties.

The application deadline is February 6, 2010.

Go to guidelines and application

Child Care Licensing Grants

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:59:21 +0000

Child Care & Nutrition, Inc. (CCNI) has announced a grant for daycare providers who apply for licensing for the first time in most areas of Minnesota. The grant, up to $160, will help pay for background checks, licensing fees and equipment required to run a licensed family child care home.

Once licensed, a provider is eligible for other benefits, including participation in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). The CACFP is funded through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Providers participating in the program meet USDA guidelines for serving nutritious snacks and meals and receive a monthly payment for the food served.

In order to qualify for the grant program through CCNI, a provider must be in the process of licensing for the first time, meet income eligibility requirements and join CCNI’s Child and Adult Care Food Program sponsorship.

Learn more

Visual Artist Grants

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:45:16 +0000

Forecast Public Arts annual grant program supports emerging, visual artists and interdisciplinary teams led by visual artists residing in the state of Minnesota.
These grants provide artists the chance to develop and create projects for a public audience anywhere in the state, receive increased recognition, and advance their artistic careers.

Funding Categories

• Category 1: Research & Development – $2,000

• Category 2: Public Project – $7,000

• Category 3: East Central Arts Council Public Art Planning Grant – $2,000

• Category 4: Central MN Arts Board Public Art Planning Grant – $2,000

• Category 5: SW MN Arts & Humanities Council Public Art Planning Grant – $2,000

The application deadline is February 6, 2010.

Learn more

Grants to Help After Foreclosure

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:35:14 +0000

If you are a homeowner in the City of Saint Paul or Dakota or Washington Counties that needs to move because of
foreclosure, you may qualify for a Re-Housing Grant to help you cover the cost of moving to alternative housing. The
location of the alternative housing does NOT have to be in these east metro areas. The maximum Re-Housing Grant
amount is $2,500.
Re-Housing Grants can be used to pay for:
· Moving expenses
· Security deposit
· Utilities (gas, electric, water)
· Up to half of the monthly rent for the first 3 months

These grants are first come, first serve so if you need assistance, don’t wait!

Go to the website for application information

Individual Artist Grants

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:19:35 +0000

The Southwest Minnesota Arts & Humanities Council is accepting applications for their Individual Artist Development and Career Grant Programs.

The Individual Artist Development Grant program awards up to $1,000 and is designed to assist emerging artists who are at the early stage of their career development. The grant may be used for projects that will help an artist advance his or her career.

The Individual Artist Career Grant program maximum award has been increased to $2,500 and is designed to assist professional artists who have a significant performance, publishing or exhibition record. The grant may be used for a variety of purposes, for artists of all disciplines.

The application deadline is December 1, 2009.

Go to their website for more information

Home Repair Grant

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:47:12 +0000

The City of Hutchinson has been awarded funding for homeowners interested in improving their homes from the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development, Small Cities Development Program (SCDP).

This assistance to Homeowners is in the form of a 0% Interest, Deferred Loan forgiven after 10 years. If the property is sold, title is transferred, or the Borrower no longer lives in the home before the 10-year forgiveness date, 10% will be forgiven each full year in the home.

The SCDP Loan amount is 60% of the repair costs. 40% of project cost is an Owner Match. Match funds can be obtained from other products available through the Hutchinson HRA.

The maximum SCDP Loan amount available is $24,999, per property. Any costs exceeding this amount will be the responsibility of the Homeowner.

The Main Purpose of the Program is to address Health & Safety Issues, along with other improvements such as Repair or Replacement of the following:

- Defective plumbing, heating or electric systems
- Roofing, windows and doors
- Exterior carpentry such as rotting siding, porches and steps, etc.
- Interior carpentry such as walls and floors
- Handicap Accessibility Issues

Minnesota licensed general contractor that is on file at the HRA office will have to do the rehab work and depending if your home has lead-based paint, a Lead-Certified Contractor may be needed.

Go to the website to learn more about the qualifying requirements

Financial Assistance for Housing and Necessary Expenses

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:43:19 +0000

PRISM’s emergency financial assistance provides 0% interest loans to qualifying families and individuals to cover housing costs and/or other necessary expenses in times of financial crisis.

Eligibility Requirements
PRISM is the Hennepin County-designated provider of financial assistance for the primary service area of Golden Valley, Crystal, New Hope, or Robbinsdale, East of 494 in Plymouth (unless referred by a church). To be eligible for services, families and individuals must:

Have been denied assistance by Hennepin County and,
Be requesting assistance for one of the expenses:
- Rent to avoid eviction
- Deposits for mandatory relocations
- Foreclosure assistance in conjunction with other resources
- Car repairs with estimates from PRISM mechanics
- Car insurance, car payments, other job and education related expenses are assessed on a case by case basis

Get more information

Livestock Investment Grant

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:05:25 +0000

The Minnesota Department of agriculture offers the Livestock Investment Grant. This program is a grant, to a person or entity who raises livestock in Minnesota, for the purposes of improving or expanding livestock production in Minnesota. It will award 10% of a project with a minimum expense of $4,000 and a maximum expense of $500,000.

Minnesota residents are eligible. All livestock species are eligible. $1 million is available for the program operations and grants.

The grant covers:

The acquisition, construction, or improvement of buildings or facilities for the production of livestock or livestock products;
The acquisition of equipment for livestock housing, confinement, feeding, and waste management;
The development of pasture for use by livestock.

Except for qualifying pasture development expenditures, qualifying expenditures only include amounts that are allowed to be capitalized and deducted under federal income tax rules (section 167 or 179 of the Internal Revenue Code). Qualified expenditures do not include an amount paid to refinance existing debt or for livestock animals.

Grant applications must be postmarked no later than November 30, 2009.

Go to website for application