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Welcome to ConneXion's

We have changed our format for our Newsletter, and in the interests of always tring to bring relevant material to our community and balancing that with an approach that is accessible but not overwhelming in its content we have begun to send out a smaller version of ConneXion's in the form of an eBulletin.

This site will host more extensive content that we cannot include in our brief eBulletins for members that are interested in accessing further resources, news, a calendar of upcoming events, and funding opportunities.

We continue to strive to improve our service and gladly accept any feedback on it.

Stay tuned as we continue to revamp this site, these pages, and our content.

~ Jeremy, 8/31/2006
 

FUNDING & SCHOLARSHIP

 OPPORTUNITIES

Government

 

Other

(2.06.07)

AMERICORP'S NCCC PROVIDES SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEN AND WOMEN AGE 18-24 

AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) is a full time residential program for men and women ages 18-24, with campuses located in Denver, CO, Charleston, SC, Sacramento, CA, and Perry Point, MD, in which participants travel the region, based on their campus location, completing service projects and working with local communities to address pressing needs.

The team-based residential structure of the program could provide a great opportunity to youth transitioning out of care that may not be fully prepared for independent living. Participants receive skill building opportunities, housing, food, uniforms, a living allowance, limited health care, and travel expenses to and from the campus at the beginning and end of the program.

Each service project, typically lasting 6-8 weeks, addresses needs in education, public safety, the environment, and other unmet needs. Examples of projects include, tutoring students, constructing and rehabilitating low-income housing, responding to natural disasters, cleaning up streams, helping communities develop emergency plans, and addressing countless other local needs.

For more information visit http://www.americorps.gov/about/programs/nccc.asp 

 

FIRST NATIONS SEEKS APPLICANTS FOR NATIVE YOUTH AND CULTURE FUND PROGRAM

Deadline: February 14, 2007 (Letters of Intent)

Funding Amount: $5000 to $20,000

Link: http://www.firstnations.org/gNativeYouth.asp

First Nations Development Institute, http://www.firstnations.org/, a national Native nonprofit organization established to work with Native peoples for social and economic justice, is soliciting Letters of Intent for its 2007 Native Youth and Culture Fund program.

First Nations is seeking projects that focus on youth and incorporate culture and tradition to address social issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, mental health, or other social issues. Specifically, the program is seeking projects that focus on one or more of four priority areas: 1) preserving, strengthening, or renewing cultural and/or spiritual practices, beliefs, and values; 2) engaging both youth and elders in activities that demonstrate methods for documenting traditional knowledge, practices, and/or beliefs, where culturally appropriate; 3) increasing youth leadership and youths' capacity to lead through integrated educational or mentoring programs; and 4) increasing access to and sharing of cultural customs and beliefs through the use of appropriate technologies (traditional and/or modern), as a means of reviving or preserving tribal language, arts, history, or other culturally relevant topic.

Approximately twenty grants are expected to be awarded. First Nations would prefer to review projects of no longer than one year in length and that seek between $5,000 and $20,000 in funding.

Eligible entities are tribal programs or Native nonprofits in or near Indian Country.    

 

 

(11.06)

Applications Available for Youth Garden Grant Program

The National Gardening Association and Home Depot have announced the 24th annual Youth Garden Grant Program. Over the last twenty-four years, NGA's Youth Garden Grants program has helped more than 1.3 million youngsters reap rewards and vital life lessons from working in gardens and habitats.

Schools, youth groups, community centers, camps, clubs, treatment facilities, and intergenerational groups throughout the United States are eligible to apply. Applicants must plan to garden in 2007 with at least fifteen children between the ages of three and 18 years. Previous Youth Garden Grant winners who wish to reapply must wait one year and have significantly expanded their garden programs.

Applicants should demonstrate a child-centered plan that emphasizes children/youth learning and working in an outdoor garden. Areas considered for support include educational, environmental, or social programming; leadership; community support; sustainability; innovation, and need.

Each winning program will receive educational materials from NGA and a gift card (amount to be determined) from Home Depot.

Program information and application are available at the NGA Kidsgardening Web site.

Link: http://www.kidsgardening.com/grants.asp

The McKenzie Foundation

Application Deadline: The foundation reviews letters on a continuous basis, and they may be submitted at any time during the year.

Description: The purpose of the McKenzie Foundation is to encourage and support nonprofit programs, primarily in the areas of education, health, human services, and cultural and environmental concerns. Faced with the task of translating these broad-reaching goals into a more focused set of grant guidelines, the board has selected four initiatives that will shape its grant-making for the next few years:

  • early childhood development
  • education
  • the environment
  • arts and culture.

Who May Apply: The foundation makes grants only to tax-exempt organizations with 501(c)(3) classification from the Internal Revenue Service. It does not support for-profit organizations or candidates for political office.

Link: http://www.mckenziefoundation.us/guidelines.php

Gleitsman Foundation Announces Guidelines for International Activist Award

Deadline: November 3, 2006

The Gleitsman Foundation ( http://www.gleitsman.org/ ) encourages individual commitment and leadership by recognizing the exceptional achievement of those who have initiated positivesocial change. The foundation seeks to honor "those individuals whose vision and courage inspire others to join with them in confronting and challenging injustice."

The foundation's 2007 International Activist Award will honor those who have struggled to correct social injustice worldwide(excluding the United States, which is the focus of the foundation's Citizen Activist Award in alternate years).

The award is not presented posthumously, nor is it given to groups or organizations.

The honorees will share $100,000 and will receive a specially commissioned sculpture designed by Maya Lin, creator of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C 

Link:  http://www.gleitsman.org/intForm.html

Minority Community Health Partnership HIV/AIDS Demonstration Grant Program

Deadline:  June 19, 2006

Funding Amount:  $150,000-$200,000 per year

The Minority Community Health Partnership HIV/AIDS Demonstration Grant Program (hereinafter referred to as the Community Partnership HIV/AIDS Program) seeks to improve the health status relative to HIV/AIDS, of targeted minority (see definition) populations through health promotion and education activities. This program is intended to test community-based interventions on reducing HIV/AIDS disparities among racial and ethnic minority populations, and demonstrate the effectiveness of community-based partnerships involving non-traditional partners at the local level in: • Developing an integrated community-based response to the HIV/AIDS crisis through community dialogue and interactions; • Addressing the sociocultural, linguistic and other barriers to HIV/AIDS treatment to increase the number of individuals seeking and accepting services; and • Developing and implementing HIV/ AIDS prevention, interventions, and educational efforts for targeted minority populations.

Link: here

Travel Stipends Available from Arsalyn Program

Deadline: Open

Funding Amount:  $1500 per stipend

Arsalyn is offering up to $1,500.00 in travel assistance to registered 501(c)3 organizations interested in fostering youth civic engagement and youth community leadership.

Arsalyn's Peer Exchange promotes dialogue and best practices among organizations that foster youth civic and political engagement. Arsalyn believes that face-to-face dialogue strengthens our collective ability to engage young people in the democratic process. The Peer Exchange project provides funding for representatives of diverse groups to visit each other, exchange ideas and learn from each other.

Arsalyn is particularly interested in promoting dialogue and mutual understanding across partisan lines. Arsalyn will give special consideration to exchanges between organizations that might further this end.

Eligible organizations include those that:

  • promote youth civic engagement and youth leadership

  • respect Arsalyn's non-partisan, non-issue-based approach and mission

  • are 501(c)(3) organizations operating in the United States and

  • are not private foundations.

The exchange must be two-way (representatives of both groups must visit each other's site), must involve youth representatives 16-20 years of age and must be documented and evaluated by participants with reports submitted to Arsalyn. Participants are selected on a continual basis through our application process. Applications for Peer Exchange are accepted year round.

Link:   http://www.arsalyn.org/peerExchange.asp

Keyspan Funding for Quality of Life Programming


Deadline:  October 31, 2006


The KeySpan Foundation will make grants of between $5,000 and $25,000 to organizations that improve the quality of life for young people in elementary or high school.  Eligible programs may focus on academic training, community service, leadership training, job training, cultural enrichment, health awareness, counseling, mentoring, or recreation. 

Link:  http://www.keyspanenergy.com/corpinfo/community/proposal_all.jsp.

Source:  MANY eMessages, Mid-Atlantic Network of Youth & Family Services, April 26, 2006, Vol.3, No.4

Nick Traina Foundation Funds Research and Treatment of Suicide Prevention

Applications are accepted year-round and the deadline is rolling.

The Nick Traina Foundation is seeking proposals from organizations involved in the diagnosis, research, treatment and/or family support of manic depression, suicide prevention and child abuse prevention.  The foundation may give special consideration to proposals that address manic depression in children and young adults. 

Link:  http://www.nicktrainafoundation.org.

Source:  2 Talk, Empire State Coalition, vol. 3, issue 4, April 2006, http://www.empirestatecoalition.org/newsletters/newsletter.pdf

GTECH After School Advantage Program Provides Computer Labs

Proposals are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis.

The GTECH After School Advantage Program is a national community investment program, which provides non-profit community agencies with state-of-the-art computer labs.  These Computer Centers are designed to provide inner-city children aged five to 15 with a meaningful, yet fun, learning experience during the critical after-school hours, in a safe environment.  This initiative is meant to provide an otherwise unavailable educational experience and bridge the digital divide among at-risk children. 

Link: http://www.gtech.com/about_gtech/proposal_guidelines.asp.

Source:  March Youth Initiatives Update, National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth

Annenberg Foundation

Letters of inquiry accepted year-round

As the principal means of achieving its goal of advancing the public well-being through improved communication, the Annenberg Foundation encourages the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.  Annenberg focuses on four major program areas:  education and youth, arts and culture, community and civic, and health. 

Link:  http://www.annenbergfoundation.org/grants

Source:  MANY eMessages, Mid-Atlantic Network of Youth & Family Services, April 26, 2006, Vol.3, No.4

Vulnerable Populations Portfolio


Deadline:  Open

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) project, The Vulnerable Populations Portfolio, is seeking new community-based approaches to health and health care problems that intersect with social factors-such as inadequate housing, poor education, and poverty.  We are interested in projects that serve hard-to-reach individuals and families, especially new immigrants and refugees, frail older adults and at-risk adolescents.  RWJF is especially interested in providing support to organizations that are outside the formal network of health care providers, such as grassroots organizations, faith-based organizations and advocacy organizations (rather than traditional providers such as hospitals and medical clinics).  Applicants may be either public entities or nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.  Funding Amount:  $300,000. 

Link:  http://www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp?ID=19480

Source:  Youth Network Council email, May 2, 2006