Grants from the Street Up
New to grants? Start here.
This course is for human-services staff who want to understand how grant money connects to real work. You do not need grant-writing experience.
Your first 15 minutes
- Choose your role and pathBegin with the person or begin with the money.
- Read one topicStart at The gist, then answer one Check yourself question.
- Put it to workTry one action and note one question to verify with your agreement, funder or supervisor.
Next, choose where to begin. You can switch paths at any time.
Grants Month
The whole grants world, from getting money to what to do when things go wrong
Follow the dollar
Someone pays for every step out of homelessness. Watch the coin.
What the coin colors mean
Each coin has a color and a letter that mean the same thing: where the money comes from. "Who pays" shows what is typical in the Valley; each program differs. Facts come from the Maricopa CoC Coordinated Entry Policies (June 2026), 24 CFR 576 and 578, and Maricopa County and DES plans. People are made up. Training, not advice.
The toolkit
Grant money comes with a clock and a set of rules.
Start with the course below: seventeen topics, from the front door of a shelter to the federal budget, each with a simpler-or-deeper dial. Further down: the grant life cycle by role, calculators, a money map, an encyclopedia of every Valley funding stream, and practice.
The one habit that saves grants: pace
The life of a grant
Ten stages, one grant, four jobs
Choose a stage, then the job you want to see it through.
Where the money comes from
Most dollars pass through three or four hands
Each hand adds forms, deadlines, and definitions. When money is stuck, ask who the next link up is.
Valley Grant Encyclopedia
Every funding stream, the same seven questions
Who funds it, what it pays for, who can get it, when, where it flows in the Valley, why it exists, and its history here. Facts carry sources; items marked "verify" were not fully confirmed.
Calculators
Do the math before the meeting
Sample numbers are made up. Type your own. All ten calculators, for anyone.
Spreadsheets to keep
Excel workbooks with live formulas and a Start Here tab. They also open in Google Sheets.
Practice
Situations you will actually face
Read the situation, decide what you would do, then open the strong answer.
Emails you can adapt
Fill in the [brackets]. Copy, then edit in your own email.
Quick quiz
Glossary
The words funders use
2026 watch list