Dear [firstname],
I hope this message finds you well as you work to plan and look forward for funding activities this year. As we head into March, I want to share a brief update on federal grant opportunities that may be helpful for our communities, local governments, nonprofits, and small businesses.
This past year, our district was awarded over $164 million in federal grant funding. These resources have helped improve our community by funding projects around infrastructure, childcare, scientific research, health care, housing, and more. If you are interested in how federal funding from 2025 is being directed to projects in your community, you can view a new interactive map of grant awards in Colorado’s District 7 on my website here.
I know the Trump Administration’s attempts to freeze federal funding continue to cause us all difficulty and confusion as litigation unfolds in the courts. Please know that I am working hard every day to fight back and continue delivering for our constituents.
Due to the ongoing lack of clarity from the Trump Administration on many federal programs, I highly recommend you follow relevant agency newsletters and the grants.gov webpage for your grants of interest in case they have been canceled, paused, or may have changed eligibility criteria. If any of these changes have affected you or your organization, please feel free to share your perspective with my office here.
There have been many changes to grants.gov recently, so I recommend you follow @grantsdotgov on X (formerly Twitter) to help you navigate the federal grant application process. The grants.gov team also sends a regular newsletter designed to help you access grants, which you can find here.
Nonetheless, I remain excited to share upcoming grants and federal funding opportunities for local governments, universities, community organizations, businesses, and individuals.
You can find up-to-date information on open federal grants here. This spreadsheet will be updated throughout the month and includes a wide variety of grants related to agriculture, community development, disaster prevention and relief, food and nutrition, transportation, and much more. The grants can be easily sorted and filtered by category to help find grants related to specific needs.
Additionally, you can find an extensive list of funding opportunities for local governments updated regularly by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs here. This user-friendly dashboard features federal and state funding opportunities, which can be filtered by category, program, award type, awarding agency, and eligible applicants.
In addition to a list of open federal grants below, you can find a section on technical assistance resources for grant applicants, information on grants expected to open in the future, and a tip of the month for grant applicants.
Upcoming Grants:
This month, major federal grants are open for projects related to health care, seniors, the arts and humanities, rural support, housing, and more. Below are some available federal funding opportunities, listed by category and deadline. The following grants are currently open and accepting applications at the time of this newsletter's publication.
Public, Behavioral, and Mental Health:
The Environmental Protection Agency has a Wildfire Smoke Preparedness in Community Buildings Grant Program, which supports efforts by public pre-schools, local educational agencies, and non-profit organizations to prevent and abate wildfire smoke health hazards in public buildings. Interested applicants should apply by April 15, 2026.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has opened their Children’s Mental Health Initiative, which provides funding for local governments to provide community mental health services to young people. Applications are due on April 20, 2026.
SAMHSA has also announced the opening of their Implementing Zero Suicide in Health Systems program, which provides funding for health care providers, emergency departments, and public health agencies to implement suicide prevention programs. Additionally, SAMHSA has also opened the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program, which provides funding to local governments to implement Assisted Outpatient Treatment programs for adults with serious mental illnesses. Applications for both programs are also due on April 20, 2026.
The Centers for Disease Control have a Drug Free Communities Support Program, which works to prevent and reduce the use of opioids and methamphetamines and the misuse of prescription drugs by young people. Eligible nonprofits in communities with documented rates of higher community drug misuse should apply by April 28, 2026.
Arts and Humanities:
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is accepting nominations for the 2027 NEA National Heritage Fellowships, with two rounds of application materials due by May 11, 2026 and May 22, 2026. This program provides funding and support for artists within folk and traditional art forms.
Housing:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has opened their fund for Capital Improvements for At-Risk, Receivership, Substandard, Troubled Public Housing Authorities. This program provides funding for improvement projects undertaken by Public Housing Authorities. Interested applicants should apply by April 28, 2026.
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs has $45k in incentive funding available through the Local Planning Capacity grant program to eligible local governments that adopt or implement an expedited review or Fast Track process for affordable housing by June 30, 2026.
Public Safety:
The Department of Justice has opened the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program for local governments and special districts to carry out programs that provide services for victims of crime and address public safety challenges such as the opioid crisis. Interested applicants should apply by April 21, 2026.
Education:
The National Science Foundation has opened its Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program to universities, colleges, and nonprofit organizations to support programs that recruit, train, and retain K-12 STEM teachers. The application deadline is August 25, 2026.
Energy:
The Department of Energy is partnering with ENERGYWERX through the Hydropower Testing Network (HyTN) Program to provide voucher funding for testing facilities and laboratories working in hydropower energy. Interested parties should apply by April 23, 2026.
Water:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants provide funding to rural local governments and nonprofit organizations to prepare for or recover from an emergency that threatens the availability of safe drinking water. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Technical Assistance:
Something I often hear when meeting with local governments and organizations is that they are interested in taking advantage of federal funding opportunities, but do not have the capacity to submit a competitive application. Thankfully, you don't have to go through this process alone. My office has compiled a list of resources provided by state and federal government agencies designed to help grant applicants here.
I often hear from groups that find a grant that interests them, but they aren’t sure when the grant application will reopen, or they feel the deadline is too soon for them to write a competitive application. To help groups plan for upcoming grants, my office has compiled a list of past opening and closing dates for major grants here.
Water:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering free technical assistance for water stakeholders, such as drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities to work to prepare for natural disasters through their Strengthening Water Infrastructure for Tomorrow (SWIFT) initiative. Interested applicants can apply for assistance as well as view other forms of free water-related technical assistance here, with requests being taken on a rolling basis.
The EPA also provides free technical assistance for organizations ensuring compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act. Interested parties can request assistance here, with requests being taken on a rolling basis.
Local Governments:
Through state funding and in partnership with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Colorado Circular Communities (C3) Enterprise is providing technical assistance under the STEPS program to local governments and school districts looking to implement recycling and zero-waste programs. Parties interested in either their “light-touch” or “in-depth” technical assistance should fill out the online form here, with applications being taken on a rolling basis.
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs is continuing to provide free technical assistance for local governments through their Regional Planning Roundtable Commission. Interested parties can apply here, with applications being accepted on a rolling basis.
Rural Hospitals:
Through funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Rural Health Information Hub provides free technical assistance for rural hospitals here. HRSA also provides and funds the following free technical assistance programs for rural health care institutions: the Targeted Technical Assistance for Rural Hospitals Program (TTAP) (interested parties can apply here), the Rural Hospital Stabilization Program, the Rural Emergency Hospital Technical Assistance Center, and the Rural Healthcare Provider Transition Project (interested applicants can apply here).
Environmental:
The Internal Revenue Service is offering monthly virtual office hours to help entities with the pre-filing registration process on the IRA/CHIPS Pre-filing Registration Tool. Pre-filing registration is a required step for applicable entities and eligible taxpayers to take advantage of the elective payments or credit transfers available under the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act. Interested individuals can find more information here.
Grants on the Horizon:
The last round of the popular Department of Transportation Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program is expected to open later this spring. Created through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the SS4A program funds planning and construction projects for roadway improvements addressing pedestrian and motorist safety.
The Environmental Protection Agency has announced a plan to re-open the popular Clean School Bus Program, and has issued a Request for Information in preparation for another round of funding becoming available later this year.
The National Endowment for the Arts’ next cycle of Grants for Arts Projects funding is set to re-open in mid-May with an application deadline of July 9, 2026. This program provides funding for nonprofit organizations and local governments to carry out arts projects.
Application Tip of the Month:
While different grant programs and agencies can all have different formats for grant applications, many of the fundamentals stay the same regardless of program. The Environmental Protection Agency has a list of tips for grant applicants that discusses each section of an application and recommended best practices for the process here.
Reminders from last month's newsletter:
You can always find a full list of the resources and grants (some of which are still open) from previous grant newsletters on my website here.
If you know someone who would like to be added to my monthly grants newsletter, they can sign up for the newsletter here.
If you would like to request a letter of support from my office, please fill out a letter request form here and email any questions to co07grants@mail.house.gov. Please allow at least one week of processing time. Letter of support requests received within a week of the deadline may not be processed in time.
Please reach out with any questions, requests for letters of support, or if you would like my office to keep an eye out for federal funding in specific areas.
Thanks for reading,
