Welcome! We are glad you want to apply for a minigrant to help with your healthy community project.

Application Deadline: (Youth Leadership Minigrants for teams of youth have no deadline)

Before You Begin: Filling out this application should be the last step of the process. If you have not already done so, please download the Try This WV Minigrant packet. Use the minigrant checklist to ensure you have completed all pre-application steps. You can also set up a consultation with Brittney Barlett by emailing director@trythiswv.com. Click here to download the Try This WV minigrant checklist/application packet.
 
Questions: If you have questions related to this online application form, please email trythiswv@gmail.com. Please put “Application Question” in the subject line.

NOTE: Questions on this page are for Youth Leadership Minigrants ONLY. Youth Leadership Minigrants are for teams of young people ages 13-22. Traditional Minigrant applicants can skip by pressing "NEXT"

Please note that the only budget that will be accepted is the official Try This WV minigrant budget spreadsheet. You can download the budget spreadsheet by clicking here, find it on our website at www.trythiswv.org/how-to-apply, or get it directly from the Try This WV Minigrant packet.

List 3-5 measurable objectives for your project in the coming year. These should identify who is doing it, what is being done, how it’s being measured, and when it will be completed.

Each objective should contain the following:

• Specific: Goals need to be specific. If they are too broad they are just “big ideas” and will remain just that, big ideas.

• Measurable: Goals must be stated in quantifiable terms, otherwise they’re only good intentions. Measurable goals facilitate management, planning, implementation, and control.

• Attainable: Goals must inspire people to aim high but not out of reach. Goals must be achievable, or they’re a set-up for failure. Set goals you know your team can accomplish.

• Realistic/Relevant: Goals must require a realistic look at the desired outcome and the process. Think: Given our resources can we really do this?

• Time-Bound: With reference to time, your goals must include a timeline of when your goals should be accomplished.

Example: The volunteer team will build one new 20' X 12' high-tunnel greenhouse by October 2022.

Example: John Doe will supply at least 400 lbs of fruits and vegetables to the Lewis County Food Pantry by August 15, 2022.

Thinking and Acting Long-Term

Every project should be one step toward a broader, long-term community goal and thinking about how to best serve people in need. When you start a running/walking group, you move your community toward the broader goal of making it easier for people to be physically active. When you start a healthy school backpack program, you take a step toward a broader goal of reducing child hunger. All of these are also making it easier for folks without resources to find health.

To help make your project a success, we ask that you think about sustainability and health equity. Here are some definitions and questions to help you think about these things. It's okay to be unsure, just try your best - this is something Try This can help you develop throughout your project.

Sustainability: Every project needs funding, capacity, and organized effort to sustain itself. This is what sustainability means. Your team should think about what money, people, and planning you will need to keep going. Try to think about what your team would need if you wanted to continue this project in the future.

Health Equity: For Try This, equity means providing the resources and opportunities to the folks who most need it so that everyone, regardless of their situation or ability, can get healthy. That means reaching communities and growing leaders that have historically been left out of planning and leadership roles, such as racial and ethnic minorities; people experiencing poverty or houselessness; LGBTQ+ individuals; and in West Virginia, rural, youth, and aging populations.

Try This encourages projects that involve these communities in decision-making and project leadership, as well as projects that are serving these communities. One of the best things to ask yourself is: what group of people in my community is not at the table making decisions with us?

Try This WV encourages projects to invite members of the communities they are serving to join and inform the project team.

Are any of the members of this project team a part of the group or community you hope benefit from your project?

If yes, please tell us how you plan to utilize their abilities, input, insight, and/or institutional knowledge to enhance your project's reach and effectiveness. 

If no, please tell us why.

Examples: 

Yes, we have two team members who are residents of the senior living facility that we are building a garden for. We are also handing out a survey to the all of the residents to find out what kinds of crops they want to grow and if they have any mobility issues we need to accommodate for.  

Yes, three of our fellow team members are young people. They will inform us on what activities we will have for our youth obstacle course.

No, we do not have any healthy food box recipients on our planning team because it violates our organization's policy to have clients volunteer.

Please note that you need to have at least 3 people representing at least 3 organizations that are going to make meaningful contributions to this project!

“Organization” can be an actual agency, like the local health department or school, or a group, like "teenagers” or “substance use recovery community”.  Please list all of the people and groups on your team, and their specific contributions.

Example Contribution: “100 volunteer hours to help build playground” or “$500 in-kind donation for creating our website for free”.

Please include the project team leader and the fiscal sponsor in this list.

Letters of Commitment:

You are required to have at least 3 Letters of Commitment for your project. These letters must go beyond simply endorsing your project. Each letter must tell specifically what that partner will contribute to the project. Examples could be a local business committing to donating their labor to build a new playground, a volunteer offering to show up to the weekly cooking classes, or an organization offering the use of their facility for events.

Please upload at least 3 Letters of Commitment below.

Time to submit your application!

We will send you a copy of your application for your records within three business days of the application due date. A group of Try This WV team members and partners will be scoring and reviewing each application carefully. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at trythiswv@gmail.com.

Thank you for applying and being part of the healthy-community movement!