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By Loren Yadeski
Daycare centers provide a valuable community service and can directly contribute to our economic development by allowing mothers to resume working again as soon as they are able to leave their children at the daycare center. Starting your own daycare center can be a worthwhile endeavor for you both as an entrepreneur and a responsible citizen. The only problem for most is that they lack funds to start their own daycare center. Those who already have an existing daycare center would also want to expand their services but they are also limited by the lack of funds. In both cases, obtaining a grant from state and federal sources is their best option. Grants, unlike loans, are not meant to be repaid as long as the money is spent for the purpose they were originally intended, which means less worry for you so you can concentrate on expanding and offering better child care programs in your daycare center. If you are a US citizen or legal resident alien residing in the US, you may apply and receive federal, state or private organization grants and loans.
There are many government grants both on the state and federal levels that provide funds to daycare centers. While most of these are usually granted to non-profit daycare centers, for-profit ones can still avail of them depending on certain factors. The grants they provide are usually spent for the construction, renovation and repair of daycare centers facilities so they can meet the local and state government’s requirements. The grants can also be spent for developing and expanding child care programs to suit the needs of children under the care of the center.
The Small Business Administration can be your best friend in starting or expanding your daycare center. They can help you not only for the planning and development of your daycare center business but the can also provide you with resources where you can get grants. There are organizations that give grants specifically to women and minorities such as African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans.
You will have more chances of getting financial aid grants from government agencies or business organizations if your daycare center is non-profit. However, if your daycare center is primarily a business for profit, you would have better chances of obtaining a grant from private organizations that give small business grants. If you’re not lucky enough to get one, your next option is to get loans from banks, seek financial assistance from venture capitalists, or get loans or monetary gifts from your close relatives or friends.
Once you have found your potential source of grant, you should contact them and make a request for their application package including their latest guidelines. The guidelines are very important since non-compliance will result to instant rejection. Since you will not be alone in applying for a particular grant, your chances of getting it is small. It would be better if you apply for several grants from several organizations. There are grants that once granted can be reapplied for again after a certain period of time has passed. You can renew them again but you ultimate goal should be to stop relying on grants to prop up your business and be self-sufficient at the soonest possible time.
About the Author: Loren Yadeski, author of this article, is knowledgeable in
child care and daycare grants
. If you live in Georgia, check out
DaycareGrants.org — Georgia
for more detailed information on how you can avail of financial aid grants for daycare facilities in Georgia.
Source:
isnare.com
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