Write a Successful SAFER Grant for Your Fire Department

Winning a SAFER Grant!

On November 16, 2009, the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant application period will open. This grant, originally opened in 2005 by the United States Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is designed to increase the number of responding firefighters to emergency incidents in the United States. "The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local fire departments' abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by NFPA and OSHA (NFPA 1710 and/or NFPA 1720 and OSHA 1910.134". In addition to paying for the hiring of full-time firefighters, this grant also targets recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. This article will focus on the hiring aspect of the grant. This year's grant has significant changes over prior year's grants, and has been redesigned by the Obama Administration to "Get America back to work." For those of you considering this opportunity, why not "Write a Successful SAFER Grant for Your Fire Department." To help you along with this application, a winning grant narrative from the 2008 SAFER program has been included for ideas.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Each year, many applications are submitted for this program, yet they are not awarded for a variety of reasons. The most common complaint by peer reviewers involved in evaluating the applications is that grant writers do not read the directions. Before doing anything else, it is recommended that you download and print out the grant guidance documents at http://www.firegrantsupport.com/docs/2009SAFERguidance.pdf and the frequently asked questions (FAQS) at http://www.firegrantsupport.com/safer/faq/ . While reading this information, hi-light key points and make notes for future reference. Once the grogram opens, a tutorial will be available at www.firegrantsupport.com.