Apply for a Grant
Eligible Projects
Grants will be made to non-profit organizations (not individuals) that serve the needs of the homeless and very low-income people within the boundaries of the North Georgia Conference. Such organizations, if not United Methodist Churches, must be recognized by the IRS as non-profit. This support will include, but not be limited to renovation, construction, or equipment purchase for shelters, transitional housing, single-room occupancy rental units, and operational costs for ministries or non-profits meeting our criteria. We require a relationship with a United Methodist Church.
Ineligible Projects
The Housing and Homeless Council does not fund preschool, after school, or summer camp programs unless they are specifically for children who are experiencing homelessness.
Frequency of Grants
Beginning with the 2022 cycle, an organization can generally receive funding only once during a 24-month period. The only exceptions to this are when an organization receives an emergency grant, it may apply during the next grant cycle, but the amount of the emergency grant will be deducted from the grant. We accept one application per organization. If you are denied funding, you may apply in the next available cycle, the 24-month rule applies to receipt of funding only.
Types of Grants
The Housing and Homeless Council provides funding for capital grants and operating grants.
1. Operational Grant: These grants are awarded for operating expenses for an on-going program providing services to homeless or very low-income persons. These awards are limited to $2,500.
Operational grants will be awarded in the FALL 2024 cycle only.
2. Capital Grant: These grants are for expenses including construction, renovation, providing fixtures/appliances for housing or permanent facilities for homeless or very low-income persons. These awards are limited to $10,000.
Capital grants will be awarded in the SPRING 2024 cycle only.
Special Types of Capital Grants (these are capital grants with lower funding limits):
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Habitat Grant: A grant for a Habitat for Humanity house. These are limited to $5,000. An application for a Habitat house must come from a United Methodist church or a group in which United Methodist churches are involved. Only one application per build site will be accepted.
Habitat grants will be included in the SPRING 2024 cycle.
3. Emergency Grants
An emergency grant may be for either capital expenses, as for unexpected overrun in construction costs or for project completion in the event of unpredictable capital shortage, or for operating expenses, to ease temporary cash-flow problems. Council by-laws limit these grants to $1,000. These grants are not awarded between March 1 and mid-May or between September 1 and mid-November. Contact our office for more information.
Other Restrictions
Only one application per organization is permitted at a time. Capital requests require estimates/bids for the work being proposed. If a specific capital project is awarded a grant one year, another grant will not be awarded in future years for that same renovation or project. If the applicant is a United Methodist Church, we require that the church participates in the Homeless Offering. Please contact Stacey Rushing for questions regarding the offering.
Application Deadlines
Application deadlines for receipt of applications are March 1 and September 1 (or the working day that follows if this date falls on a weekend or holiday). Announcement and distribution of grants are made by June 1 and December 1.
Reporting Requirement
If you have received a grant in either 2021, 2022, or 2023, please complete the Expenditure Report form and return it to Stacey Rushing. Please include any relevant documentation. New awards will not be made without the completion of the Expenditure Report.
Application Instructions
Our Application process for has changed! Please read all instructions below. You are eligible for funding once in a 24-month period. If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact Stacey Rushing.
Application :
The grant application should be completed electronically through this website. We do not accept paper applications.
Before you apply, be sure that you understand the type of grant that fits your application purpose. Do not ask for more than the maximum for the appropriate category. Please remember that Operational Grants (Fall 2024 only) are limited to $2,500 and Capital Grants (Spring 2024 only) are limited to $10,000.
For an application to be considered complete, you will need to completely fill out the online form, including uploading your budget and leadership, along with bids if you are making a capital request. Additionally, you will need to ask your Endorsing Church to complete an online form as well. If you are a UMC making the request, you may fill out the Endorsing Church form yourself.
Endorsing Church Form:
All completed applications must contain an Endorsing Church form. No application will be accepted without an Endorsing Church. If a United Methodist Church is applying, the applicant church should fill out this form as the endorsing church.
District Superintendent:
The North Georgia conference has recently realigned its districts. There are now 8 districts, each with a District Superintendent, in the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church. Please contact (email or phone) the District Superintendent of your area (the district of your endorsing church) and confer with him/her regarding this application since he/she will be asked to evaluate your grant request. If you do not know the name of the district or the DS, please check with your endorsing church, and they will provide the information. If you have not talked with the District Superintendent about this specific grant request, your application will not be considered for funding.
The following must be included for an application to be complete-click on the links or buttons below:
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Expenditure Report Form (if you have received funds within the past 12-24 months and have not yet submitted this)
Please note: For Habitat builds (and similar), only one application per build site will be accepted. For example, if Main St UMC is building a Habitat House with the Anytown County Habitat affiliate, either the church or the Habitat affiliate may apply for a grant for that particular build, but not both.
The deadline for submission for the Spring Capital Grant Cycle is March 1, 2024.
If you have any questions or any trouble with the online forms, please contact Stacey Rushing at 404-436-2258 or director@nghhc.org.