Who provides grant money to start a small business??

I have a friend who lost her job with a Dell call center in Oregon & she is trying to find government or private people that provide funding to start a small business. She tried the Small Business Association, but they require adequate equity investment, evidence of ability to repay the loan from earrnings & reasonable amount of collateral. Also, they do NOT provide grants.
She has researched the business she wants to start, but she cannot meet the requirements of the SBA & she would prefer grant money. Like she told them, over half of ALL new businesses fail within the 1st 5 years due to lack of operating capital & they want me to pay THEM back instead of being able to put the money back into the business to see that it succeeds. ANY IDEAS from you folks????
Do you know of anyone who has gotten a business grant & from whom it came????
THANK YOU!!!!

There are no grants for a for profit business unless you are opening a daycare. If you need money, you will need to apply for a loan. No lender will talk to you unless you provide them with a valid business plan. Go to http://www.sba.gov , http://www.score.org or http://www.bplan.com for sample business plans and instructions on how to write a business plan.

Then, go to http://www.score.org/ and in the upper left hand corner, enter your zip code. On the next screen, you will get information on the nearest SCORE chapter. Call them and arrange for a free meeting with a SCORE counselor to review your business plan and discuss various loan options available to you.

SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

SCORE has 389 chapters in locations throughout the United States and its territories, with 10,500 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors.

No grants for businesses, she must invest her own money and take her own risk.
Why would anyone give grants to start businesses? The government might if she was developing weapon systems or something but nobody else has a reason to give grants.
People get money from loans on their houses or borrowing from family or having the seller carry the loan.