A federal security grant for campus doors, cameras, and lighting, with the paperwork handled.
Churches and private 501(c)(3) schools can apply for up to $200,000 per site through the federal Nonprofit Security Grant, with no match required. Every application starts with a written vulnerability assessment of the campus. I walk the campus, write the assessment, and prepare the application for Dallas and Fort Worth churches and schools.
Who it's for
Both qualify for the same federal grant, and both start the same way: a walk of the campus.
Churches
A written vulnerability assessment of the campus, the federal Nonprofit Security Grant application built on it, and a facility capital snapshot for the budget committee and the insurer.
Private schools
Private 501(c)(3) schools qualify for a federal security grant that public schools are not eligible for. The assessment covers entries, pickup lines, sightlines, lighting, and lockdown capability, and can also support conversations with your insurer.
How the walk works
The assessment is the slow part of any grant application, so it starts with a walk, not a contract.
Walk the campus
About an hour with you or your facilities lead. Entries, parking, sightlines, lighting, cameras, lockdown capability. Photographs and notes, nothing sold.
Read the summary
Within a week you get a written summary of what the walk found, in plain language, with the items that would go into a grant application marked. It is yours whether or not we go further.
Decide
If the summary is useful, the full assessment and the application follow at the flat fee above. If it is not, you have lost an hour.
The federal security grant, in numbers
The Nonprofit Security Grant Program pays for cameras, access control, secured entries, lighting, training, and planning at houses of worship and private schools. These are the FY2026 figures from FEMA and the Texas Office of the Governor, Public Safety Office.
Texas opened its FY2026 window on January 12 and closed it March 12. FY2027 dates publish with the FY2027 notice. Every application needs a written vulnerability assessment of each site completed first; the Texas pre-application guide calls it the foundation of the application. Public and municipal schools are not eligible; private 501(c)(3) schools and churches are.
Sources: Texas eGrants FY2026 NSGP workshop deck and pre-application guide; FEMA FY2026 NSGP notice. FY2027 figures publish with the FY2027 notice.
About Vince Sandlin
I hold a bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a minor in business, and for 21 years I have worked inside Dallas and Fort Worth churches, private schools, and institutional buildings on the facilities side, most of it as a flooring contractor.
Over 21 years on these campuses I saw how often security upgrades waited on budget, while a federal grant built for exactly that went unused. I am a member of a DFW church and a private Christian school parent, so this is not abstract to me.
I do not bid or perform the work an assessment identifies. The numbers stay objective because I have nothing to sell on the other side of them.
- B.A., Criminal Justice, minor in Business, University of Texas at Dallas
- 21 years in DFW church, K-12, and institutional facilities
- OSHA 30
- Assessments follow CISA's facility security self-assessment framework, one of the formats Texas accepts
- Applications written to FEMA's Investment Justification scoring rubric
- Lay the Line is a d/b/a of In Perpetuity Holdings, LLC, Plano, Texas
Book a campus walk
Call or email with the campus address and a morning that works. Most walks happen within a week.