NorCalPCA’s Grants Program provides funds for community development projects all around our planet. Money for grants is raised through a special Grants Fund separate from NorCalPCA’s general donations and memberships, as well as through the sale of International Calendars. While there is no minimum-maximum size, most grants average from $1000-$5000 depending on the amount requested and funds available.
The deadline for 2023 grant applications is August 31, 2023.
Grants Criteria
NorCalPCA looks for varied international and domestic project opportunities benefiting different groups of people, in keeping with the spirit and idea of Peace Corps. The persons requesting funds must demonstrate commitment to the project by providing community labor, monetary contributions, local resources and/or training.
We encourage projects submitted by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and current Peace Corps Volunteers from Northern California.
NorCalPCa looks for opportunities to:
- Provide total project costs
- Fund start-up project costs
- Expand or replicate a successful project.
SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT FUNDING: Funding will be provided for proposed project needs. Financial support is not intended for individual scholarships or general operating expenses of the applicant organization.
Project funding does not guarantee availability of future funds.
Selection Criteria
The prospective project will be evaluated for its potential to meet as many of the following as possible:
- Be technically and economically feasible.
- Improve the general welfare of the community.
- Ensure that all those actively involved in the project will benefit from the results.
- Address community needs.
- Facilitate the transfer of technology, skills and knowledge to others.
- Foster self-sufficiency.
- Demonstrate environmental sensitivity
- Promote social and gender equity
Application Process
Application Process:
Interested parties must submit a proposal which contains the following information:
- Name and contact information of the organization. Name and United States contact information if organization is overseas.
- Contact information for NorCal PCA member who sponsors the organization and project.
- General description of the organization, including goals, purpose, a brief history of previous and current work, and sources of funding.
- Organization budget.
- Project title and detailed description.
- How project meets Selection Criteria (outlined above).
- Project timeline: how project will phase out or become self-sufficient.
- Key personnel and their responsibilities for the project.
- Project budget in detail, including community contribution.
- Amount and purpose of funding requested from NorCal.
- How funds will be transmitted to project via a bank or financial service.
Applications are limited to 10 pages. Submit application by e-mail to [email protected].
Projects Funded in 2022
Read about all of the projects we have funded since 2010 or take a look at just a few of the projects that we have recently contributed to around the world!
Nigeria: $5890 to Bishop McGettrick Girls Secondary School in the Afikpo North Local Government Area for equipment and lighting for their computer lab and library, including funding for solar electrity due to erratic power supply in the area. Bishop McGettrick Girls Secondary School serves 176 girls of various religious backgrounds in a secure boarding school setting in an area where educational opportunities for girls are few, public education has collapsed, poverty is on the rise, and security is difficult.
Ukraine: $4865 to Golden Key Kindergarten in Kalush, Western Ukraine for the purchase of beds and mattresses for 60 internally displaced people (IDPs) currently residing in the school’s nursery-Kindergarten facility. When the war began in Ukraine, Golden Key was compelled to redirect its program and mission to support IDPs and convert two of its school buildings into living facilities for families who have lost their homes and/or who cannot return home due to ongoing hostilities. As winter approaches, beds are their most urgently needed item for these 60 families who are currently sleeping on the floor of the building.
Jamaica: $3500 to The Jamaican Conservation and Development Trust for backpacking and safety equipment for the Blue Mountains Jamaica trail project in Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park. By promoting eco-tourism, the goal of the overall project is to foster development of poor, isolated Maroon communities adjacent to the park. “Maroons” are the descendants of escaped slaves and anti-colonial fighters from the 1600s and 1700s, the culture of whom is a large part of the rationale behind the park’s UNESCO World Heritage Site status (in addition to its natural cloud and rain forests).
Honduras: $2,500 to Berkshire Amistad to fund maritime shipping expenses for medical equipment such as wheelchairs, crutches, and walkers from the U.S. to Honduras.
Mozambique: $5000 to Associação Moyo Utsitsi (ASMU) to complete an unfinished community center (including doors, windows, electrical wiring, and finishing of walls and floors) and restart a microloan program. ASMU’s mission is to serve, advocate, and promote the well-being of orphans and vulnerable children and their families impacted by poverty and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. They operate a 10-hectare plot of land in Vanduzi that is used for agriculture, horticulture, fish farms, sharecropping programs, and community gatherings for over 900 members and 1500 individuals living in the vicinity. When completed, the community center will have three small offices and a large community space for education, meetings, and health programs. This grant will also provide seed money to restart a microloan program that originally began in 2017 to teach basic finance and income-making skills to 30 women.
Philippines: $2850 to Glory Reborn in Cebu to support Taking Care of Mom: Maternal Mental Health for Marginalized Women in the Philippines, a project that seeks to prevent, screen, and treat maternal mental health disorders in patients at Glory Reborn’s maternity clinic. Glory Reborn is an NGO that serves marginalized mothers and their babies in Cebu with a vision to build community through care, education, and relationships with each individual, client, and employee. This grant will cover expenses for the project’s social media program and other materials, including six mental health informational videos.
Grants Contact
Nancy Beam: Grants Chair