Got a community project that needs an infusion of cash, or just a grand plan you can’t bankroll? The San Francisco Chronicle has a line on a local agency that distributes hundreds of thousands of dollars in “Parent Action Grants.” The money comes from a pool of $564 million raised by Proposition 10, which increased taxes on cigarettes by 50 cents a pack. SF gets about $9 million to spend, about $200,000 of which is handed out to average Joes and Janes by First 5 San Francisco, an agency charged with improving the lives of kids aged five and under.
And apparently, says the Chron, which takes a rather chiding tone, First 5 isn’t uptight about the grant programs having some widespread impact. Examples of some of the projects funded by First 5 San Francisco: “‘Multi-Family First Time Camping Experience’ included a camping lesson and overnight trip to Big Sur for six families” and “‘Couples Travel and Learn Together’ included an overnight stay at the Four Points Sheraton in Pleasanton, where couples from Chinatown took marriage workshops. It also included $250 in Target gift cards.”
Nice! The grants aren’t based on income, like many social programs, so just about anyone can get them — a relief for parents like me, who in most other cities would be well-off, but in San Fran are just scraping by. There’s a reason why families have fled our city in droves, and it’s not that we don’t like foggy afternoons and Victorians. As the Chronicle article notes, “Children younger than 18 made up 22 percent of the city’s population in 1970, compared with just under 15 percent in 2006.”
Find out more about First 5 San Francisco funding opportunities at its website, first5sf.org. Hey — maybe this is the way I can get my dreamed-of organic garden started in the blighted patch of city-owned land in my neighborhood!