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This past year President Bush created centers for Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives in six cabinet
departments-Heath and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, Housing
and Urban Development, Justice, and
Labor-as well as in the Agency for International Development.
Five new competitive grant programs targeted at faith-based and
community-based organizations under Health and
Human Services are:
Compassion Capital Fund. To build on the efforts of
community-based, charitable organizations, the President's Budget
continues funding for social services provided by faith-based and
community organizations with $100 million for the
Compassion Capital Fund. In order to build upon the efforts of
charitable organizations, this initiative provides funds to
public/private partnerships to support charitable organizations in
expanding or emulating model social service programs.
These capacity-building entities are responsible for obtaining private
matching funds as well as assisting the community
and faith-based organizations in seeking private funds. The Compassion
Capital Fund also supports and promotes
research on "best practices" among charitable organizations.
Mentoring Children of Prisoners. The President recognizes that,
as a group, the more than two million children with
parents in prison have more behavioral, health, and educational
challenges than the population at large. Mentoring by
caring adults can brighten the outlook for these children. Therefore,
the budget includes $50 million for competitive
grants for this purpose.
Promoting Responsible Fatherhood and Marriage. With over 25
million children living in homes without fathers, the
Administration seeks to provide $20 million to promote responsible
fatherhood and marriage.
Maternity Group Homes. The Administration proposes $10 million
to increase support to community-based maternity
group homes by providing young, pregnant, and parenting women with
access to community-based coordinated
services.
Vouchers for Drug Treatment Services. The budget also proposes
a $200 million initiative that would provide an
additional 100,000 individuals in need of drug treatment with expanded
options through vouchers for drug treatment
services. This would allow these individuals to determine where they
will be served and would provide broader access
to drug treatment and social service providers, including those that
are faith-based.
All of these programs are open to and participation by faith-based
organizations is encouraged. A good web-site to visit
for Faith Based Funding issues is
http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/ ---- this site is an
excellent source.
If you have not ordered your Directory of Foundations Supporting
Christian Organizations I encourage you to do so.
The directory is a resource of foundations that have a strong history
of supporting evangelical Christian organizations.
The foundations listed have all indicated that they give on a National
scale, this way the directory is relevant to any
Christian organization that purchases it. To view a sample page or to
order the directory go to
www.christiangrants.com.
Raising funds in 2003 will be one of the most difficult years in a
long time. A slowly
recovering economy, a serious threat of war with Iraq, a slumping
stock market, and foundation portfolios decreasing,
will all make this year a very difficult year for Christian
organizations. The Directory of Foundations Supporting Christian
Organizations can help you find the needed funds your ministry needs.
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