Grant Opportunities
A comprehensive listing of nationally available rural health funding opportunities is available at the Rural Assistance Center.
The Alabama Rural Health Association (ARHA) monitors the availability of grant opportunities to improve health services for underserved and rural areas of the state. The ARHA Program Manager is available to assist community organizations that desire to pursue rural grant opportunities. This assistance includes gathering pertinent data from within the public health arena, interpreting grant guidelines, and providing liaison between the grantor and the prospective applicant.
To obtain assistance, please contact Carolyn Bern at carolyn.bern@adph.state.al.us or at (334) 206-5436.
Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike Applications
HRSA's Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) is pleased to announce the release "Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike Application Instructions for Calendar Year 2011/2012." The instructions are available now from the BPHC.
The goal of the FQHC Look-Alike Program is to improve the health of underserved communities and vulnerable populations by assuring access to comprehensive, culturally competent, quality primary health care services. FQHC Look-Alikes provide a comprehensive system of care that is responsive to the community's identified health care needs and provide services to all persons residing in the health center's service area, regardless of ability to pay.
USDA Distance Learning - Telehealth (DLT) Grant Program
USDA will not be soliciting applications for FY 2012. Per the Notice of Funding, the "$15 million in grants will be awarded to the top scoring applications in rank order from the national competition announced in the Federal Register on February 24, 2011 (Vol. 76, No. 37)." This simply means USDA will resume funding the highest scoring applications still eligible from last year's submission.
For more information, contact Teresa Hunkapillar at teresa.hunkapillar@wdc.usda.gov or at 251-943-3918.
Central Contractor Registration
Central Contractor Registry (CCR) information must be updated at least every 12 months to remain active. As of August 9, 2011, Grants.gov began rejecting submissions from applicants with expired Central Contractor Registry (CCR) registrations. Although active CCR registration at time of submission is not a new Grants.gov requirement, this systematic enforcement will likely catch some applicants off guard. According to the CCR Website it can take 24 hours or more for updates to take effect, so check for active registration well before your grant deadline. Applicants will not be eligible for a deadline extension if an application is rejected by Grants.gov for lack of the annual CCR registration.
An applicant can view their CCR Registration Status by visiting http://www.bpn.gov/CCRSearch/Search.aspx and searching by their organization’s DUNS. Note that CCR-registered users may elect not to display their information in the public search. The CCR Website provides user guides, renewal screen shots, FAQs and other resources you may find helpful.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) posts weekly reports of spending, announcements of grant and contract opportunities, and state-by-state allocations of the Medicaid relief and $155 million committed toward the creation of 126 community health centers at HHS.gov/Recovery.
Alabama is expected to receive about $3 billion from the federal stimulus law. Visit the State of Alabama Federal Stimulus Initiative for information on the recovery progress in Alabama. | 
