Why You’re More Capable of Writing Grants Than You Think (a note to moms advocating for their kids)

I come to grant writing with a background in healthcare, quality, and safety. I’ve successfully obtained grants for Bennett and I’ve also reviewed grant applications across different platforms for medical equipment, therapy support and nonprofit funding. I understand how reviewers think. I know what they’re looking for, what raises red flags, and what makes an application stand out as credible, reasonable, and fundable. And here’s the surprising part: The reason my grant applications work isn’t because of my title, my resume, or my professional experience. It’s because I’m a mom translating lived reality into language others can understand and trust. That’s the part I want other moms to know they already have.

If you’ve ever stared at a grant application and thought, “I’m not a writer,” or “I don’t know how to say this the right way,” I want you to pause for a second and remember if you are advocating for your child, you already hold the hardest part of grant writing. You just haven’t been told that yet. Grant writing isn’t about sounding impressive. It’s about making real needs feel clear, necessary, and reasonable. And moms do that every single day.

1. Tell the truth without exaggeration

Strong grant writing doesn’t come from dramatizing your child’s needs. In fact, exaggeration is usually what hurts applications. What works is clarity. When you live this life every day, you know exactly what’s hard, what’s needed, and what changes when the right support is in place. You don’t need to inflate anything, you just need to explain it plainly. That honesty builds credibility. Reviewers can feel when something is real.

2. Connect equipment to impact—not pity

This is one of the biggest shifts moms make when grants start working. Instead of: “My child needs this because things are hard.” You naturally begin to write: “This equipment allows my child to participate, build confidence, gain independence, and keep up with growth.” That shift from hardship to function, dignity, and access is everything. It tells funders they aren’t donating to a problem. They’re investing in a child’s ability to live fully.

3. Show that you understand system

Even if you don’t work in healthcare like me, you know how systems fail families because you navigate them constantly. You know: what insurance won’t cover, what therapies require and what delays actually cost your child over time. When you explain those gaps clearly, your application sounds informed, competent, and reasonable…because it is. You’re not asking randomly. You’re explaining why the request exists.

4. Make abstract needs tangible

Grant reviewers don’t live your life but you can bring them into it. You do this when you name: exact equipment, real dollar amounts, growth related replacement timelines and the difference between having support and going without. You are not asking them to imagine a gap. You are showing it to them and that’s powerful.

5. Humanize without oversharing

Your child is not a diagnosis. When you write, naturally show who they are: a kid who wants to move, play, belong, and grow. You invite connection without turning your child into a story for sympathy. That balance—human and professional—is rare, and moms can be uniquely good at it with the right mindset.

6. Persist and refine

Most people quit after one rejection. Moms don’t. You learn what works, adjust your language, and keep going because stopping isn’t an option. That persistence alone puts you ahead of most applicants.

If I had to distill it into one sentence:

You are capable of writing strong grants because you can translate your child’s lived reality into clear, credible, outcome-driven stories that make funding feel necessary, reasonable, and impactful. That’s not something you fake. It’s something you earn by living it.

A note from me to you

If you’re reading this and thinking, “I wish I could do this, but I don’t know where to start,” I want you to know: you’re closer than you think. Sometimes all it takes is someone helping you shape the words you already carry. If you need help writing a grant, revising one that didn’t get funded, or even just figuring out how to tell your child’s story without feeling clearly and confidently- I’m happy to help. You don’t have to do this alone. And you are capable of more than you’ve been told.