PRRD looks to continue grant writing program next year

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – The Peace River Regional District is issuing a request for proposals to renew its grant writing program next year and, in the process, is clarifying the eligibility for the program.

The regional district will also apply for funding for a grant writer from the Northern Development Initiative, which provides up to $8,000 a year for a grant writing position for local governments. 

Grant writing support has been available to non-profit organizations and community groups located in Electoral Areas B, C, D, or E—all primarily rural areas without grant writers of their own. It is also available to groups located within a municipal area in the PRRD but provides services to residents within rural communities—like organizations working with farms or senior citizens. 

Though this eligibility was the case over the course of the last program, the regional district clarified that a rural location of the non-profit itself is not the sole qualifying factor, and organizations that serve people who live in rural areas are also eligible. 

The original contract for the grant writing services was awarded to Clear Course Consulting, which, between March 1st, 2021 and June 30th, 2022, has helped bring in $1.6 million for non-profit groups in the area. 

This contract is up without an option to renew next February.

Grant writers hired through this program have also worked internally with the PRRD staff on requests for funding for public institutions including the Chetwynd Library, Kelly lake Community Center, the Charlie Lake Fire Department, and the Moberly Lake Fire Department.