Grant for Capital Improvement to Shelter Projects that Support Women and Their Families

The Franklin Square House Foundation offers grants for capital improvements to shelters supporting women and their families. Since its inception in 2008, the Foundation has awarded over $13 million. Eligible organizations must be 501(C)3 nonprofits located in specific Massachusetts counties. Projects should enhance safety and capacity, demonstrating readiness for funding and matching contributions. Notably, the Foundation does not fund operating costs or projects already in progress. Interested applicants must contact the Executive Director prior to submission.

NOTE: Prospective grant applicants must contact the Executive Director of the Foundation prior to submitting a grant application. No grant applications will be considered without the previous explicit consent of the Executive Director of the Foundation.
Franklin Square House Foundation
The Foundation, started in 2008, traditionally provides bricks and mortar grants for capital improvements to shelter projects that support women and women and their children, as well as capital improvement grants for economically and racially integrated childcare centers. Since becoming a foundation in 2008, FSHF has made grants totaling $13.2 million.
Capital improvement Grant - Shelter Projects that support Women and their Families
Evaluating and Ranking Criteria
Creation of new units, rooms or bedsPreservation of existing units, rooms or beds through capital improvements that rectify security, life safety, or building code issuesAdministrative capacity of the organizationTrack record of the organizationPast standing of the grantee with the FoundationAlignment of the organization and the project with the mission and goals of the FoundationThe presence and status of matching funds (if required)Completeness and coherence of the grant applicationReadiness to proceed with the project. All projects must be ready to start within 90 days of the date on the grant award letter and be completed within six months of the grant awardThe responsiveness of the grantee to requests for supplemental information regarding the grant proposalThe results of the Foundation site visit

Eligibility

All grant applicants must be 501(C)3 nonprofit organizations.Organizations applying for a grant must be within Barnstable County, Bristol County, Dukes County, Nantucket County, Essex County, Middlesex County, Plymouth County, Norfolk County, Suffolk County and those parts of Worcester County that are east of (or bisected by) routes 395, 290, 190 and including a line extending from the northern limit of the end of route 195 to the New Hampshire border. This includes the communities of Leominster, Fitchburg and Gardner.Grants must target projects that support women and women and their children. Grant applications must include a contractor level bid for the work to be done (only one is required), and/or vendor pricing for furniture, fixtures, and equipment. Estimates of these numbers are not acceptable. Ignoring this requirement will result in immediate rejection of your application.For grant applications over $50,000 you must show that you have obtained (or applied for) additional funding for the project that will match dollar for dollar any funds requested greater than the initial $50,000. The application must show documentation of all efforts to obtain the matching funds.If your organization is applying for other grants as matching funds, it is required to provide a matrix listing grants applied for (or planning to apply for), how much the grant is expected to receive, timing of the submission and award, and status of the applications (it is acceptable to say your organization “will be” applying for grant funding if you can identify the source and the timing still works within our guidelines).Grantees must own the facility they are proposing to improve, or have a minimum of 10 years left on the lease. In the instance of a lease, you will be asked to provide the lease.All grant improvements made with grant funds and all purchases of FF&E are considered to have a ten-year useful life. If a grantee sells a facility (or terminates the lease at the facility) upon which a grant has been made before the end of the ten-year useful life of that grant’s uses, the Franklin Square House Foundation reserves the right to recapture the prorated share of the grant based on the unelapsed time left on the grant’s life. Any consideration of grantee action in this regard, must be brought to the immediate attention of the Foundation.All potential grantees must be in good standing with the Foundation.Existing shelter grantees of the Foundation may only apply to the Foundation once every rolling two-year period. You may only apply in successive years if your last application was not funded.

Ineligibility

Projects that have developer's fees
Grants into capital campaigns for larger projectNo applications will be accepted if the potential grantee has an outstanding grant that has not been expended or has not filed all required closeout reports on previous grants.The Foundation will not fund work that is already in progress or completed.