The US government has hundreds of grant programs that it creates each year, they include everything from programs to create micro-businesses in Peru, to grants to create frequency sensors for the the Air Force. The US Government has a free site  to allow you to search these grants, grants.gov. While I suspect that there are not grants for everybody, and the process for applications may be daunting in many cases, it is certainly worth a look to see if there is something here for you. Its your tax money … you might as well use it.