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If you are interested in our grant writing services...

YOU'RE ALSO IN THE RIGHT PLACE

Kreines & Kreines, Inc. has been asked to write grant applications for some of our  city and county clients, and so far, we're batting 1000. So, we're writing grant applications as well as helping control wireless from the public sector perspective. Here's how we can help you...

Two Grants for Land Connecting Children with Nature

Kreines & Kreines, Inc. recently prepared two grant proposals for a large city.  All we were told was:

·       Land was needed for park acquisition.

·       The properties where the desired acquisition is needed.

·       Ultimate use was for at-risk youth.

What defines a child at-risk? We weren’t really sure, but it’s probably a child who likes to climb a fence when the sign says: Danger!  Keep Out!  Maybe it’s a child who likes to vandalize things, like base stations found at cell sites.  They aren’t really bad kids, just looking for something that’s edgy, challenging and totally exhilarating.  Kreines & Kreines, Inc. came up with an idea … an idea for all kids, really.

Kreines & Kreines, Inc. got into the grant writing business by helping the City of Los Angeles win a $1.6 million grant for placing WiFi on a 19-mile light rail line.  (If you missed that issue, let us know and we will send it to you.)  But now, even though Kreines & Kreines, Inc. has two city planners specializing in wireless deployment and regulation, we were being asked to envision two parks for at-risk youth.  This was a challenge.  One of the parcels was over 200 acres, characterized by:

·       Total lack of development except for a fire road.

·       Steep slopes with very little potential for expensive housing.

·       Totally within the limits of a large city.

·       19 minutes from Downtown.

Here’s what Kreines & Kreines, Inc. proposed: a “wilderness experience” where at-risk youth would build the trails, sleep in tents and prepare their own food from trucked-in natural ingredients.  There would be no plumbing, no roads, no parking lots and no attractions to the urban environment.

Readers may wonder what this has to do with wireless.  Increasingly, experts believe that kids are connecting to their cell phones and video games more and connecting to the natural environment less.  Many of kids’ current distractions are delivered wirelessly, and soon television will be generally available on cell phones.

Some experts are conjecturing that ADHD, obesity and depression are in part the result of weaning kids away from nature.  Richard Louv, in his recent book, “Last Child in the Woods,” has coined the phrase “Nature Deficit Disorder.”  Schools are concerned about it, health experts are concerned about it and now, it’s up to the park and recreation people in local governments to address it, even though budgets are so strapped that some local governments are leasing land for cell sites in parks.

This is Not Camp

Kreines & Kreines, Inc. proposed that what is needed is a true wilderness experience.  Nature trails are fine, petting zoos are great, but learning to live outdoors without electrical outlets and running water is what we had in mind.  Millions of families travel hundreds of miles each year to find nature in the mountains or by the water.  In this time of climate change, Kreines & Kreines, Inc. thought it made sense to bring the wilderness to the metro area.

Any city or county can do this.  All it takes is money, and there are grants being made available.  If a town is so small it can’t tackle the job, it can partner with another community.  It makes more sense than leasing land for cell sites in parks.

Grant Writing as a Way of Life

Kreines & Kreines, Inc. was surprised to learn that more than $300 billion a year is made available to local governments through the grant process.  Grants account for anywhere from 7% to 18% of a local government’s budget.  More and more of these grants are becoming competitive, that is:

·       The local government needs to make a case for the money.

·       Use of data (e.g., numbers) is almost obligatory.

·       The local government needs to demonstrate sustainability, e.g., that the project will become self-sufficient and even revenue enhancing.

·       The project should help to reverse the current trends leading to climate change, e.g., the consumption of fossil fuel.

A Few Hints on Grant Writing, 2007

Kreines & Kreines, Inc. has found the following to help their grant application efforts.  If you can use them, please feel free:

·            Climate change – whatever you do, tie your idea to the need to change our way of thinking about global warming.  Our tie-in to getting children back to nature was to design a recreation activity where cars are not necessary to get there, are not allowed in there and fun doesn’t involve the burning of fossil fuels.

·            Sustainability – try not to equate sustainability with environmental quality.  Sustainability should mean “how long can the grant project be kept going after the grant money has been spent?”  Any grant project should demonstrate that it has “life after the grant.”

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Kreines & Kreines, Inc.
58 Paseo Mirasol, Tiburon, CA 94920
Phone: (415) 435-9214
Fax: (415) 435-1522
e-mail: mail@planwireless.com