David Schwartz, president and founder of Firehouse Grants in Jenkintown, has helped secure more than $180 million in grant funding for Fire and EMS departments across the country.
A 1995 graduate of Cheltenham High School and a volunteer with the LaMott Fire Company since 2001, Schwartz said the endeavor began in 2004 when someone handed him a grant application and said, “Go figure this out.”
From there, Schwartz’s services spread through word of mouth, neighbors began asking for help, and Abington Township became Schwartz’s first client. He officially started the business in 2009.
Firehouse Grants has a marketing and advertising presence through the internet, and Schwartz and staff attend trade shows across the country. Clients have come mainly from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, and Delaware, though Schwartz said clients represent municipalities from coast to coast, including a handful in the Minneapolis region.
“A couple years ago, someone from Minneapolis called us, and we ended up helping them pay for career firefighter staffing. They had a good experience with us, so now we have this little pocket in those suburbs that we continue to work with,” Schwartz, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, said.
Firehouse Grants has helped companies in greater Glenside receive more than $2 million in grants, including $337,000 for a fire truck’s new pumper in 2017.
“We’ve worked with all the Cheltenham Township fire companies and a few in Glenside,” he said. “Most recently, we issued the FY2024 Safer Award grant for the Elkins Park Fire Company. We got them a $37,000 award and we got LaMott $460,000 through the same award.”
Schwartz noted that LaMott Fire Company recently received a state LSA award for a building renovation.
“That was just announced in December. We got Glenside Fire Company an $11,000 grant last year through the AFG Award Program. They’re both FEMA-funded programs,” he said.
For Schwartz, firefighting is an occupation as well as a way of life.
“Everybody that works with me is also a firefighter. We all sort of life and breathe fire service. I often tell clients that it sounds corny, but we actually believe in what we do because these departments have very little funding,” he said. “They rely on these grants to make sure they can effectively serve their communities so that they can go home to their families every night. We see it firsthand when we go out on calls.
“I run the business from LaMott every day. If we get a call, I go on the call, and then I come back and keep working. I love it. I love everything about the fire service,” he said, noting that he has wanted to serve as a firefighter for as long as he can remember.
“It’s in my blood. My son just turned 16 and became a junior firefighter with Abington Fire Company in August. I ended up joining there as well, so now I’m at both,” he said.
For more on Firehouse Grants, you can visit their Facebook page and website.
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