Grant Management Barriers
Published: 11/07/2025
GrantWriters Connects Ohio Youth with Transformative Life Skills
A Loving Heart of Dayton, Ohio, believes the circumstances of at-risk youth should never dictate who or what they become in life.
As is the case for so many nonprofits, time and money can often be in short supply for A Loving Heart. The unwavering dedication and commitment of this very special nonprofit, however, has never been compromised nor has any such challenge impeded its ability to transform and save the lives of those it serves. They know when money and other resources are needed, they can rely on GrantWriters to seek and secure grant funding.
Seeing a Need for After School Grants
A Loving Heart originally started as a daycare more than two decades ago. They also have provided residential, structured group home, and foster care services for girls ages 14 – 18 since 2013. In addition to providing a caring and productive living environment, A Loving Heart offers youth support and programming to teach the skills necessary to live successfully at home or in an independent living environment. These programs include mentoring; anger management and conflict resolution counseling; mental and emotional skills building; and career and life training.
Now it aims to add after-school programming to its supportive services. “We want to expand into after-school programs and work with schools on the emotional issues a child may struggle with while trying to learn,” says William Peterson, M.Ed., Business and Operations Manager.
A Loving Heart needed grant money to help them fulfill this mission and the assistance of a grant-writing firm to find and secure those funds. In 2015, they began their search. GrantWriters stood out from other grant writing firms because of its deep knowledge of education and ability to match A Loving Heart with the right grants for accomplishing their goals.
Saving Valuable Time on Grant Research and Proposals
GrantWriters first compiled a Grant Research Opportunity Report for A Loving Heart. “We really don’t have the time to spend hours looking for grants,” says Peterson. “GrantWriters was able to bring the right grants to us. They were able to say, ‘These are the things you do, and these are the grants beneficial for you.’” One of the opportunities identified was a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant.
From there, GrantWriters created a grant proposal, handling about 80% of the writing with input from Peterson and his team. Through the process, GrantWriters built a convenient template A Loving Heart can use to write and submit grant applications moving forward.
Perhaps even more valuable than the potential grant money was the time A Loving Heart saved developing the proposal — time they could devote to their priority: at-risk youth. “Once we connected with GrantWriters, it was like we had another staff member,” reflects Peterson.
While A Loving Heart has not yet secured grant funds, they understand the process takes time. Thanks to the systems GrantWriters implemented, they are now better positioned and more prepared for success.
