The “Housing First” initiative for the chronically homeless is designed to provide these individuals housing as well as supportive services, such as counseling and treatment programs for mental illness, alcohol and drug abuse, and prostitution.

There are 21 apartments for chronically homeless individuals at scattered-site housing throughout the County. It is hoped that these individuals will eventually become self-sufficient and productive members of society. Statistics show that permanent housing placement reduces emergency hospital visitations and detoxification admissions.

The recipients of the Dunkin’ Brands Community Foundation Awards for 2007 are:
• National Volunteer Fire Council– $400,000
• The Nation’s Food Bank Network– $300,000
• Leary Firefighters Foundation– $25,000.

Applications are being accepted at this time for 2008 awards. For further information, send a letter of inquiry to foundation@dunkinbrands.com.

One of its current and most daring undertakings is developing affordable housing in southwest Florida. This development will feature affordable housing for families of mixed incomes on 146 acres.

Anyone interested in finding out more about this project or any non-profit or organization wishing to explore grant opportunities with this foundation should call Teri Hansen, President and CEO of the Venice Foundation, at 941-486-4600.

If you are interested in learning more about the Foundation’s grants program, contact Renee Calabro at (212) 250-5525 or consult their website at www.db.com.

A Quaker college in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is the latest to adopt a new methodology to its tuition protocol. Haverford College has decided to replace the traditional student loan program with grant appropriations for the incoming freshman class of 2008. In lieu of a student loan program, Haverford College President, Stephen Emerson, has instituted a funding source called the Next Generation Endowment Foundation. Students will be given grant appropriations relative to their financial statement, as an addition to their financial package. The Next Generation Endowment Foundation requests that each of the students who have utilized a grant, donate monies to the Foundation up to the amount of the grant. This will be done over the course of their lifetime, according to their means.

On December 10th, the Haverford admissions office offered considerable discounts for both middle and upper middle income students. In short order, similar admissions actions were announced by Swarthmore College and neighboring University of Pennsylvania. Anyone interested in finding out more information about student grants can call Kathy Bocella at (610) 313-8123, or contact her at: k.bocella@phillynews.com.

The Foundation for Women’s Wellness created the Joyce Brenner Women’s Health Research Award to improve medicine’s understanding of women’s health. The award will provide one-time funding of up to $20,000 to the selected finalist.

Research topics should be important to women’s health in general and/or illuminate gender disparities. Areas of interest include cardiovascular disease, leading female cancers (lung, breast, ovarian), and hormones’ roles in causing and treating health concerns; however, any topic deemed significant to a wide scope of women will be considered.

The lead investigator and proposed study must be at an accredited U.S.-based medical institution. Applicants must have M.D., Ph.D., or D.O. degree(s) with junior faculty or assistant professor appointment (or equivalent) at the time the award is given.

Complete program information is at the Foundation for Women’s Wellness Web site, http://www.thefww.org/research/whrf.htm

Talbots’11th annual Women’s Scholarship Fund is a program that awards college scholarships to women wanting to attend college later in life. Sponsored by the Talbots Charitable Foundation, this scholarship fund annually awards five $10,000 scholarships and fifty $1,000 scholarships. The fund was created to fill a void in scholarship programs, which typically make awards to traditional college students.

Eligible applicants are women currently residing in the US who earned a high-school diploma or GED at least ten years ago; are currently seeking a degree from an accredited two- or four-year college, university, or vocational-technical school; and have at least two full-time semesters or twenty-four credits remaining to complete their undergraduate degree.

Applications for the 2008 Talbots Women’s Scholarship are available at the Talbots’ Web site, http://www1.talbots.com/about/scholar/scholar.asp

The Kaiser Media Internships Program is an intensive twelve-week summer internship for young journalists and journalism college graduates interested in specializing in health reporting, with a particular commitment to coverage of health issues affecting diverse and immigrant communities.

It is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. The program provides an initial week-long briefing on health issues and health reporting in Washington, D.C. Interns are placed at a newspaper/radio or TV station, where they report on health issues for ten weeks.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. They must be new journalists who can demonstrate a commitment and ability to report on health issues affecting diverse and immigrant communities. Priority is given to journalists who are bilingual and/or bicultural, and to journalists who have studied or reported on health issues affecting diverse or immigrant communities.

The internship provides for travel and for training and accommodation expenses in D.C. and Boston. Interns are responsible for housing and other expenses during the ten weeks spent working at their host news organizations. The Kaiser Foundation provides a stipend — a minimum of $500 gross per week — matching the news organization’s weekly rate, if higher.

Visit the Kaiser Family Foundation Web site for complete program information, http://www.kff.org/mediafellows/mediainternships.cfm

Cable Positive’s Tony Cox Community Fund is a national grant program that encourages U.S. community-based AIDS Service Organizations and cable systems to partner in joint outreach efforts, or to produce and distribute new locally focused HIV/AIDS-related programs and public service announcements.

Eligible local community outreach projects include, but are not limited to, World AIDS Day (December 1) and National HIV Testing Day (June 27) events, AIDS rides/walks, and other joint efforts between ASOs (AIDS Service Organizations) and local cable systems. Funding is also available for the production costs of HIV/AIDS-related programs and PSAs.

Cable Positive allocates $100,000 to support two grant cycles each year. Grants of up to $7,000 each are available for 501(c)(3) organizations, with special consideration given to ASO’s partnering cable systems and producers.

For additional information about eligibility requirements, types of projects funded, and applicant criteria, visit the Cable Positive Web site, http://www.cablepositive.org/programs-tonycox.html

The Brick Awards are an annual program of Do Something that honor young people, age 25 and under, for their efforts to address problems in their local or global communities.

Nine Brick Award winners will receive a minimum of $10,000 in community grants and scholarships (if applicable). One will be selected by a national online vote as a Golden Brick Award winner and will receive a total of $100,000 in community grants. The community grant money is paid directly to the not-for-profit of the winner’s choice.

Applicants must be permanent residents or citizens of the U.S. or Canada and must be born on or after June 30, 1982. Winners ages 18 and under are eligible for a scholarship of $5,000 and a $5,000 community grant. Winners between the ages of 19 and 25 receive their entire award in the form of a community grant.

Visit the Do Something Web site at http://www.dosomething.org/brick for complete program information, application procedures, and information on previous award winners

Lapp Insulators of LeRoy, New York will donate $10,000 over the next two years to create the John S. Lapp Scholarship in Ceramics Engineering at Alfred University.

The Company’s collaboration with Alfred University promotes skilled young employees joining Lapp Insulators with a strong background in ceramics engineering and production. The Lapp Scholarships will help deserving students to become successful engineers and scientists.

Many industries critical to New York State’s economy use ceramics, glass, and engineered materials to enable the technology they rely on.

Lapp Insulators has been an industrial partner of the NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred University for many years. It is a leading supplier of high voltage insulators for the global electric utility industry. Its core businesses include ceramic and composite insulators for applications ranging from 15 kV to 765 kV.

The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University assists industries through research and education. Its programs have become internationally acclaimed in art, design, and engineering.

The Veterans Education fund is accepting applications for future scholarships. Applicants must have served for at least 60 days in either Iraq or Afghanistan or have been wounded in either combat theater; be enrolled in a undergraduate program, including technical schools; and have applied for all military benefits and federal needs-based grants. More information is available at www.veteransfund.org.

The Fund will announce its first 100 scholarship winners, at least one from each state, over the next two weeks. The scholarships cover all tuition, fees, and book costs beyond what the veterans and troops receive via military education benefits.

The maximum education benefit available to active-duty troops who served in Iraq or Afghanistan is now about $13,000 a year, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Benefits for guardsmen and reservists are even smaller, averaging about $5,300 a year. The College Board statistics show expenses from $16,000-$26,000.for state colleges.

According to the Veterans Fund many young vets to be forced to either get large student loans or are discouraged from attending college at all. The scholarship recipients joined the lobbying for increased education benefits.

The State Office of Medicaid has provided grants totaling $2.4 million to 45 community non-profit programs throughout Massachusetts to expand outreach under the state’s new subsidized health insurance program.

For example, two local nonprofit organizations in New Bedford, MA, will receive grant funds to start or continue enrollment for up to 382,000 people who still have no health coverage. The Greater New Bedford Community Health Center received $50,000, and People Acting in Community Endeavors received $55,000 to provide outreach to target populations who are eligible for subsidized health insurance.

Nov 15 was the deadline for all Massachusetts residents to register for health insurance, with penalties for those who do not enroll in the program. The grants will help those who could face penalties for not having insurance.
Each organization has its own approach to identify, educate, and enroll individuals who are eligible for subsidized health insurance by MassHealth, Commonwealth Care, and Commonwealth Choice health insurance coverage.

The Greater New Bedford Community Health Center will use the grant to continue and possibly expand its insurance counseling program. It informs people about insurance plans and help them find one that meets their needs. The grant will also help it print information, expand its calling campaign to inform patients about insurance, and assist other outreach groups.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines awarded a total of $250,000 in grants to six community banks through its Urban First-time Homebuyer Fund. First-time home buyers in urban areas can use the funds for a down payment, closing costs, counseling or rehabilitation assistance. Eligible homebuyers must be at or below 80 percent of the area’s median income, and all buyers must complete a financial literacy course. Qualified applicants will be eligible for up to $5,000 each toward the purchase of a home.

Buford, Wyoming-based Z-4 Energy Systems is working to develop a way to save wind energy when the wind is not blowing. It is working on a commercialization plan for wind-powered water pumping, incorporating compressed air storage by using air compressors, similar to those found commercially, powered by a wind turbine rotor.

Last month, Z-4 won its fifth grant, a $5000 WSSI Phase 0 grant from the Wyoming Business Council. It will use the grant to prepare a Phase I application to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and develop a commercialization plan for the device. It plans to bring the new technology to market in three years. According to Z4, the system could provide on-demand automated water pumping for livestock, and on-demand, pressurized water for human consumption at remote properties or in developing nations. Previously, Z4 received a $5,000 award to prepare a Phase I application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a wind turbine with a blade design incorporating a controlled flex that will adapt the blade to provide maximum power over a wider range of wind speeds, while limiting potential for damage by excessive wind. Z-4 Energy Systems has won five Phase 0 awards through the Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI), funded by the Wyoming Business Council, and administered by the University of Wyoming.

Its original $750,000 SBIR Phase 2 contract was recently increased by another $900,000, to apply Mikros’ technology to the Secure Wireless Program on Navy amphibious ships supporting the US Marines. Mobilisa, Inc. of PortTownsend, WA, is the Mikros’ strategic partner in this effort. The Navy will continue this effort well into 2009.

For more information, please visit: grants.gov

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is accepting applications for its arts teachers’ fellowship program. This fellowship is part of a regional initiative to support the artistic revitalizationof outstanding arts teachers in Bay Area middle schools and high schools. Fellows will design individualized courses of study that foster their own creative work and the opportunity to interact with other professional artists in their fields.

The program will award up to $5,000 each to art teachers in public middle and high schools in San Mateo and northern Santa Clara counties (Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills), with a complementary grant of $1,500 to the fellow’s school for post-fellowship activities. Fellowship awards may be used to defray the costs of tuition or fees, room and board, travel, purchase of materials and/or equipment for personal art-making, childcare, and other relevant expenses.

Program guidelines and application are available at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation Web site, http://www.siliconvalleycf.org/grants_DCtoMV_artsGrants.html

In the year ending September 2007, eight non-profits or municipalities received $139,000 from the USDA Rural Business Enterprise grants (RBEG) program. This included technical assistance funds, market research, and revolving loan funds to assist 61 small and emerging businesses. Rural Development processed six business and industry guarantee loans for $35,125,442, creating 208 jobs and saving another 63 jobs. Six small businesses received $75,000 in Rural Business Opportunity Grants (RBOG) from Wyoming.

Marvin and Kisha rent an apartment, but won’t for much longer. When the working couple decided to begin looking for a house, they got help from the City of Vicksburg and learned they could qualify for a forgivable loan from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas.

They hope to close on their first home soon. They couldn’t afford the closing costs. If they hadn’t known about the loan funds they’d probably still be looking.

For many, the City of Vicksburg has been the resource for information about financing and programs that help people transition from paying rent to building equity in a house and land of their own. The Vicksburg Planning Department received grants that help residents afford down payments and first-mortgage loans, offer counseling and conduct education workshops for aspiring homeowners about financing, credit, budgeting and assistance from state and federal agencies.

Marvin attended the city’s 8-hour homeownership seminar to attain a certificate that made the couple eligible for the Affordable Housing Program, which since 1997 has provided eligible first-time homebuyers in Vicksburg with up to $5,000 toward closing costs of a home. More than 100 Vicksburg homes have been purchased through the program.
The planning department can only assist with making and closing applications for properties in Vicksburg. Most agencies that have any kind of affordable housing program require their participants to get homebuyer education.
Vicksburg is the only area entity that offers the required courses. The Housing Revolving Loan Program and Homebuyer Assistance Program of the Mississippi Development Authority and the Affordable Housing Program, funded by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, are not open to commercial lenders and must be administered by a municipality or other nonprofit agency.
Applicants must meet specific criteria to be eligible for help, including need requirements and proof of a steady income. Terms of the home loan are also reviewed to make sure the buyer will be able to make the payments.

They took a single mother through the process, from start to finish. Roberta qualified for a grant from the Mississippi Development Authority through Vicksburg’s Homebuyer Assistance Program. In August, she and her two sons moved into their first home.

This year, assistance programs garnered Vicksburg an excellence award from the Mississippi Development Authority for “Best Overall Community Impact for a City.” The city has been getting money because it knows how to. Money through such programs indirectly reaches sellers, real estate brokers, mortgage lenders, bankers, inspectors, and skilled laborers.

Amador County supervisors turned down three proposed first-time homebuyer loans because the applicants were asking to purchase homes that seemed to the supervisors to be out of their price range. They will approve the requests if the applicants return with homes within their price range.

The supervisors measure loan applicants based on how well they meet the criteria. They approved an application for a family of four wanting to buy a $134,500 mobile home The loan was the fifth of eight first-time homebuyer loans offered to area residents.

Three $100,000 first time homebuyer loans remain open.. The other three applicants applied for loans ranging in price from $230,000 to $325,000.

The average home price in the county, is $372,000. There are about 460 homes for sale, about 30 percent more than previous years.

Key Lincoln Financial Foundation awarded education grants to Teach for America and City Year Greater Philadelphia.

Teach for America received $100,000 to help bring more than 100 new Teach For America corps members to Philadelphia to teach children in at-risk schools during the current school year. City Year received a $75,000 grant to support the In-School High School Partnership and the Starfish Corps after-school program, which provide academic support and mentoring to elementary and high school students.

Phase 0 has awarded $44,000 in grants to more than a dozen Florida small businesses.

Through the program, small businesses can receive up to $3,000 to help them in their bid for federal SBIR and STTR programs that solicit small businesses to create technology requested by government agencies.

Companies either didn’t know how to write a federal proposal, or under qualified companies were applying. Phase 0 program addresses both problems.

To screen applicants, Enterprise Florida partners with local organizations such as the University of Central Florida Small Business Development Center and the UCF Technology Incubator.

Companies can use Phase 0 funds for t market research, equipment, or hiring a writer to prepare proposals for SBIR or STTR grants.

A $1.35 million grant from the SBA is enabling Florida Tech to establish a Women’s Business Center, opening in November and will serve businesses in local counties and provide resources for women to start or grow their small businesses.

SBA has approved more than 110,000 loans totaling more than $20.6 billion under its two primary small business loan programs. It’s North Florida District approved more than 2,000 small business loans during fiscal 2007, totaling $442 million, a seven percent increase over last year.

The company won a Phase II Office of Science SBIR follow-on award for development of multi-kV SiC power devices for high-voltage power supplies used in high-power RF system applications. It also won a Phase I SBIR award for the development of high-current, multi-kV Thyristor-based devices oriented towards energy storage applications.

GenSic also received Phase I STTR award to develop optically gated high-voltage, high-frequency SiC power devices for environments rich in electro-magnetic interference, such as high-power RF energy systems or directed-energy weapon systems.

GenSic said that combined, the grants will allow it to develop a more-efficient power grid, and they will open the door to new commercial and military hardware technologies that have remained unrealized largely due to the limitations of contemporary silicon-based technologies.

Rural Development is a venture capital entity that provides equity and technical assistance to finance and foster growth in home ownership, business development, and critical community and technology infrastructure. The funds provide financial assistance and improve lifestyle conditions for Wyoming communities, businesses, and families.

The Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program has provided more than $68.5 million to Wyoming communities during the past year. USDA Rural Development funds programs in rural housing, utilities, and business.

Rural Development provided $13,687,275 to 103 families for homeownership loans under the Section 502 Direct and Guarantee loan programs. The programs are designed to assist individuals with home ownership loans that are unable to obtain credit under conventional rates and terms. Lenders throughout the state participated in the leverage and guarantee program. The success of the housing guarantee program is a result of partnerships with the local financial institutions and Wyoming Community Development Authority.

Forty-three Wyoming families had their homes improved or safety and health hazards removed through financial assistance under the Single Family Housing Section 504 Repair/Rehab loan and grant program with $238,717 in funds. Families in four counties were assisted with home repairs under the Housing Preservation Grant of $50,000, made to NOWCAP, a non-profit organization.

Three multi-family housing projects received financial assistance of $4,083,285. Funds were provided through the MFH 515 Direct and 538 Guarantee programs. The Community Facility grant program provided $185,200 to seven applicants. The program provides assistance for projects dealing with public health and safety.

Wyoming also received two grants for $680,741 from the Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant program for two projects, Fremont Co. School District #2 and North Lincoln Co. Hospital Board. The Rural Utilities Service provided a $1,324,000 loan o the Niobrara County Electric Association for an electric project.

The New York Life Foundation is dedicated to helping young people fulfill their potential and grow into productive adults. The majority of the foundation’s resources are directed through its Nurturing the Children initiative to organizations and programs that provide children with safe places to learn and grow, receive educational enhancement, and mentoring.

The New York Life Foundation Awards Program recognizes innovative Nurturing the Children programs created and managed by small nonprofit charitable organizations that are not typically recipients of grants from the foundation.

The program provides six grants of $25,000 each — one in each New York City borough and one in Westchester County. The grants are one-time-only program support for existing programs.

For the 2008 Awards Program, organizations can only apply for one of their existing programs that provide services that fit the foundation’s Mentoring category. This includes programs that offer young people sustained relationships with caring adults and/or peers who serve as positive role models. Mentors may be parents, extended family members, or other caregivers; community members; teachers; older peers; or others who spend time with youth.

Grants are awarded to private, nonprofit organizations that have tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status and are not private foundations. Organizations currently receiving $10,000 or more from the New York Life Foundation in the past year are ineligible. The organization’s current fiscal year operating budget may not exceed $5 million.

Go to the New York Life Web site at http://www.newyorklife.com/cda/0,3254,13735,00.html for complete program information.

The Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation created the Terri Lynne Lokoff/Children’s Tylenol National Child Care Teacher Awards to acknowledge the important role of child care teachers in providing quality early care and education.

Childcare teachers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia are invited to apply. Fifty teachers are selected for their commitment and dedication to the children they serve. Of the top ten recipients, one is selected to receive the Helene Marks Award.

As part of the application process, each applicant must design an enhancement project for the children in their classroom illustrating the educational, social, and emotional benefits from the project. Award recipients receive $1,000 each — $500 for the teacher’s personal use, and $500 to implement the project. The Helene Marks Award, which includes an additional $1,000 is presented to the childcare teacher who is selected from among the top ten applicants of the National Child Care Teacher Awards.

Applicants must be teachers of infant, toddler, or preschool age children, and must be employed in a home, group, or center-based program that is fully compliant with local and state regulations for operating child care programs.

See the foundation’s web site at http://www.tllccf.org/pr_nccta.php for more program information and eligibility guidelines.

Youth Service America and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice are offering grants of $2,000 each to help organizations that have had a successful youth engagement experience to replicate effective practices to organizations in a broader network or coalition without a youth strategy. Successful applicants will involve youth in addressing the world’s most pressing social issues, such as climate change, hunger, disease, nutrition, literacy, disaster relief, poverty, and more.

Applicants should plan to use Global Youth Service Day as a primary vehicle to engage youth in the issue addressed. Applicants are encouraged to pursue funding for an effort that takes place over a multi-year period.

Eligible applicants are local, state, or national organizations that are part of a national network, organization, or broader coalition of organizations and want to replicate their successful youth engagement experience (for youth ages 5-25) throughout that network without a youth strategy, specifically though participation in Global Youth Service Day. Examples include but are not limited to: food banks, zoos, housing authorities, and other nonprofit organizations addressing a social issue. Applicants must be located in the US.

Visit the servenet.orgweb site for further information.