Appalachians are ready to strengthen their communities and ARC is here to provide the resources they need.
READY Appalachia is an ARC initiative offering no-cost training and funding access to build individual, organizational and community capacity in the Appalachian Region.
Across all READY Appalachia offerings, special emphasis is placed on serving Appalachia’s most underrepresented communities, including economically distressed areas, counties targeted by the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities, and marginalized populations.
READY Grants to Grow
READY Grants to Grow is a $9 million funding opportunity that will award grants of up to $500,000 to organizations seeking to build individual, organizational and/or community capacity across the region.
Any organization that is eligible to apply for an ARC grant can propose a project for funding.
READY Community Foundations
READY Community Foundations helps participants strengthen operations, programming and fundraising.
In August 2024, ARC announced 30 community foundations from 10 Appalachian states to participate in this six-week training program.
READY Local Governments
READY Local Governments helps local government officials better identify, access, manage, and implement federally funded projects.
In April 2024, ARC selected 90 local government entities in 12 Appalachian states to participate in this nine-week training program.
READY Nonprofits
READY Nonprofits helps nonprofit executives and board members increase their capacity and better fulfill organizational missions.
As of March 2024, ARC has awarded over $1.6 million to 68 Appalachian nonprofits for capacity-building projects.
READY LDDs
READY LDDs has awarded nearly $4 million to 41 Appalachian Local Development Districts to hire staff and more effectively help clients, including local governments and nonprofits, access and manage federal funding.
