Organizations providing preventative social programming or transportation to seniors and persons with special needs within the county of Grande Prairie can now apply for grant funding. Director Kathleen Turner says Family and Community Support Services is accepting applications for 2021 funding for both the Transportation and FCSS grant programs.
“There isn’t a maximum set on what the grants are; each one will be assessed on its own merits and depending on how many residents it serves and just the nature of what the service is. Each application is looked at individually and assessed on those things.”
Transportation grants help agencies and organizations that provide transportation to seniors and persons with special needs within the county to access medical appointments, shopping and recreation. FCSS grants fund social service programs meant to proactively address social needs.
Turner says the county typically receives between 10 and 12 transportation grant applications and the FCSS currently funds 15 service agencies.In 2019, the County distributed more than $504,000 in FCSS grant funding to social service organizations, as well as nearly $150,000 in transportation grants.
“Because we haven’t received any applications yet, we haven’t decided how much grant money will be available. So the process is applications will come in, they will be reviewed by council prior to the budget process [and] from there we will have an idea on how much we will need to put into the budget,” says Turner.
An estimate of what any potential impacts from the pandemic will look like for grant funding is not yet available. The deadline for both grant program applications is September 1, 2020. Applications are available on the County’s website.