Brownfield Grant Writing Tip #20 - Poor-mouthing vs. Pride

One of the Criteria for the Brownfield Grant is "Community Need."  While most of us like to take pride in our community, for this criterion.... it's time to poor mouth your community.  Here is where you talk about obesity, diabetes, poverty and all the other areas that demonstrate the NEED for the grant.  Don't let your Chamber of Commerce do the writing for this one.  Ministers, social workers, community groups, and health care providers can probably help you with this one.  Also, while the overall picture for your city/county may be good, you should really focus your efforts on the neighborhood level to draw some clear distinctions regarding the need for work.  You know the areas of town that need the most help.  Here is the Community Need Criterion again:

1. Community Need
Under this criterion, proposals will be evaluated based on the quality and extent of the applicant’s description of the health, welfare, environmental, and financial needs of the targeted community as it is affected by the presence of brownfields. Responses should clearly identify the sources of information used in this section. [20 Points]
a. Health, Welfare, and Environment [10 Points]
i) Describe the effect brownfields currently have on your targeted community by providing information on the number and size of the brownfields and the health, welfare, and environmental impacts of these sites. Provide information describing the health and welfare of sensitive populations such as minorities, children, and women of child-bearing age in the targeted community. Provide any information or data showing that residents of the targeted community are disproportionately impacted by environmental problems.
b. Financial Need [10 Points]
i) Describe the economic impact of brownfields on the targeted community. Provide information about that community such as rates of poverty, household income, unemployment rates, or other widely available demographic information that demonstrates the economic needs of the targeted community’s residents. Describe factors such as fiscal condition or population size that limit your ability to draw on other sources of funding for assessment of brownfield sites. If you already have a brownfields grant(s) from EPA, describe why you need additional funding.

Good Luck!