ACCESSING THE UNACCESSIBLE (The Failure of Rural America to Access the Grant Process)

At first glance it could be perceived that the opportunities for Rural America to receive grants are many and varied.  From healthcare to housing to education to childcare to infrastructure to livestock to farm aide, you name it and it can not only be found but found in abundance.  But the truth is that very few of these grants, in proportion to those that are offered, are accessed by Rural America.  There are a lot of well held beliefs for this apathetic behavior toward free aide by Rural America.  Some of them are that Rural America is distrustful of strangers; that they distrust the federal government; they like the way that they live and; they are resistant to change.  For the record, I was born in Rural America in a share croppers’ shanty.  Most of my family and friends live in Rural America and I can say with out a doubt that these are not the beliefs of poor Rural America.  But it certainly can be and on most occasions are the beliefs of large property owners, local politicians and upper middle class and above residents in Rural America.  Those who are fine with things just the way they are.  This population, although relatively small in numbers, represent most of the almost insurmountable resistance to the aide that Rural America so direly need.  The rest of the resistance is caused by systemic measures that appear to be fair and reasonable to those who accept their advantages and opportunities as the norm for all.

There are four major obstacles to Rural America accessing grants and other opportunities available to them: (1) lack of knowledge; (2) lack of resources; (3) Inability to access resources and; (4) the lack of support from local politicians, agencies, banks and power brokers:

·         Lack of Knowledge – Federal Agencies are quick to tell you that any grants and other opportunities that they have can be found on their web site.  This is what they call freedom of information.  But most people in Rural America do not have a computer and those that have one have limited skills in its application.  There are no radio or television programs informing the community of what grants and/or opportunities are available for them, even though this would be the best way to get information to the Rural Community.

·         Lack of Resources – Even if someone gains the information about a grant and/or opportunity available to their community, there is still the question of who will research and write the proposal. Rural America is not a haven for grant writers and/or program consultants.

·         Inability to Access Resources - Grant writers in Rural America are generally employed by the Educational Systems, Healthcare Systems, County/Town and local Agencies.  Seldom if ever will one of these entities donate the use of these persons for the general use of the community and if you seek their assistance outside their employment, they request their money in advance.  The problem with this is that if the community had the money, they would not be seeking a grant.

·         Lack of Support from Local Politicians, Agencies, Banks and Power Brokers - the refusal of local politicians, agencies, banks and power brokers to support something that they did not initiate, can not benefit from and/or control is the single greatest reason for the inability of Rural Communities to apply for and/or successfully complete Federally funded grants and other opportunities.  If Rural America is fortunate enough to obtain a grant it is not unusual for them to either be unable to fulfill the requirements of the grant opportunity and/or fail to sustain it for more than three years.  The unspoken rule is what the powers that be can not control they will destroy.