How to make Bradley County HCI applications competitive: evidence, sustainability and leverage

Moltry walked applicants through features that tend to make proposals competitive with the HCI evaluation criteria. She said strong applications "clearly identify a problem," "explain why the project matters," "use data for evidence," include realistic budgets and supporting quotes/quotes-to-vendors, provide photos or drawings when appropriate, describe long‑term maintenance and sustainability plans, show measurable outcomes and community partnerships, and provide realistic timelines.

She offered a concrete framing example: rather than writing "we need a new playground," provide specifics such as the distance to the nearest ADA‑accessible playground and the number of children served (she used an example that the nearest ADA playground was 11 miles away and that a park serves 4,000 children). Moltry emphasized evaluators also look for projects that will be sustainable in five years and that leveraging other funding sources strengthens an application.