Happy New Year and Peace to everyone! (No email next week)
PUBLICATIONS
Community Foundations leading on Community Engagement - Resident Engagement Guidebook - This Guidebook was created as an early tool for community foundations interested in more deeply engaging residents. As community foundations have adopted new tools and approaches to strengthening their communities, resident engagement has emerged as a key practice. This Guidebook is designed to assist community foundations as they explore the range of efforts and activities that encompass resident engagement. It also describes why such efforts are critical to community change and deeper, long-lasting community impact.
TOOLS
Discussion Guide: Protecting Communities, Serving the Public - This five-session discussion guide is designed to help communities bring police and residents together to build trust and respect, develop better policies, and make changes for safer communities.
Regional Economic Success - CSG’s RES work advances the principles and practices of regional wealth-building as a means to better economic development policy and practice. This year, as part of our WealthWorks project, we published a set of tools to help regional communities advance sustainable development practices that grow multiple capitals, increase local ownership of assets and improve wellbeing of residents. We also visited Ohio, Texas and Alabama to document the stories of practitioners using demand-driven value chain development strategies to help low income residents get ahead. Look for videos from these communities and others in early 2015.
LEARNING
WEBINAR: From Hobby to Entrepreneur - Taking the Leap!!, Friday, January 9 at11:15 am EST
https://learn.extension.org/events/1882
FUNDING
Captain Planet Foundation Offers Grants for Hands-On Environmental Education Activities - DEADLINE: January 31, 2015
Grants of up to $500 will be awarded in support of high-quality educational programs that enable children and youth to understand and appreciate our world through hands-on projects that improve the environment in their schools and communities....
EPA Announces Funding Opportunity under the FY15 Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grant Program; Cites the Role of Workforce Boards as Applicants and/or Partners
The Environmental Protection Agency has announced the availability of funds and solicits proposals from eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, to deliver environmental workforce development and job training programs that recruit, train, and place local, unemployed and under-employed residents with the skills needed to secure full-time employment in the environmental field, with a focus on solid and hazardous waste remediation, environmental health and safety, and wastewater-related training. In Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15), EPA anticipates providing some funding preference to applicants who choose to deliver other types of environmental training, beyond brownfields hazardous waste. Applications are due by February 3, 2015. Click here for the Notice of Fund Availability and application requirements.
IMLS Announces Availability of “Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries” - The deadline for proposals is February 2, 2015.
Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries represents a special funding opportunity within the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grants for Libraries program. These small grants encourage libraries and archives to test and evaluate specific innovations in the ways they operate and the services they provide. Sparks Grants support the deployment, testing, and evaluation of promising and groundbreaking new tools, products, services, or organizational practices. IMLS has announced a funding opportunity under this program on December 1. Applicants may propose activities or approaches that involve risk, as long as the risk is balanced by significant potential for improvement in the ways libraries and museums serve their communities.
Libraries that fulfill the general criteria for libraries may apply. In addition, institutions of higher education, including public and nonprofit universities, are eligible.
IMLS conducted a series of focus meetings in 2014 that identified issues in each of these areas. The materials from those meetings may help inform the applicant’s development of projects.
(Note: both funding opportunity announcements outline a series of webinars for interested applicants)
USDA Announces Community Connect Grant Program
This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service announced the Community Connect Grant Program for fiscal year (FY) 2015. These grants are intended to provide financial assistance to eligible applicants for unserved rural areas, on a community-oriented connectivity basis, with broadband service that fosters economic growth and delivers enhanced educational, health care, and public safety services. The minimum grant amount is $100,000; the maximum grant amount is $3,000,000. Applications are due by February 17, 2015. Click here for more information, eligible organizations, and application criteria.
