USDA to provide $1 million in grants for rural home health care co-ops - Newsline

Rural Cooperatives, Jan-Feb, 2004 by Patrick Duffey

USDA is providing $1 million in grants to promote the establishment of rural home health care cooperatives. Deadline for applying for the grants, provided under the Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI), is Feb. 13, 2004. The grants are to be used for pre-development work or revolving loans.

"Creating a strong network of rural health care services is critical to improving the quality of life of families living in rural areas," says Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman. "These grants will support community-based efforts to establish home-based health care cooperatives that will help meet local health care needs."

Pre-development grants to assist cooperatives with providing outreach to home-based health mare providers, assessing local-level human service provider needs and assisting with the organizing and implementation of a successful cooperative structure are available to qualified public bodies or nonprofit-based community development organizations.

Grants to assist in the funding and administering of a revolving loan program to provide start-up and operating funds to newly created home-based health care cooperatives are available to qualified public or nonprofit intermediary organizations (including tribal organizations).

For revolving loan fund grants, recipients are required to obtain matching funds equal to the amount of the USDA grant. Eligible applicants must be located in rural areas with populations of 50,000 or less. Funding of selected applicants will be contingent upon meeting the conditions of the grant agreement.

Detailed information about grant requirements and information on how to apply is available in the Federal Register or by visiting USDA Rural Development's Website at: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/redi/