10/27/10 5th Annual C4A Conference: “Building Livable Communities”

5th Annual C4A Conference: “Building Livable Communities”
Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 8AM to 3:00PM
CT Legislative Office Building • Hartford

$65 cheap gets you: Registration and continental breakfast

Here's the schedule; see the NCAAA site for more information

9:00 – 9:30 Welcoming Remarks
Penelope L. Young, President, C4A
Patricia Rehmer, Deputy Commissioner, CT Dept of Mental Health and Addiction Services
Michael P. Starkowski, Commissioner, CT Dept of Social Services

9:30 – 10:45 KEYNOTE by Joseph Lugo, Aging Services Program Specialist, Center for Planning and Policy Development at the U.S. Administration on Aging. the keynote speech is THE NEVER ENDING STORY: Rediscovering Our Role in Health and Long-Term Care. A discussion of the current state of affairs for home-and-community based services and the identification of potential new opportunities within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that intersect with current aging and disability efforts.

11:00 – 3:00 Workshops A, B and C (Choose two or three) and /or Lunch*

11:00 – 12:00 Workshop A (or Lunch)

12:15 – 1:15 Workshop B (or Lunch)

1:30 – 3:00 Workshop C

The session A and B workshops are :

1. Visitability: A Key to Inclusive Communities – Candace J. Low, BA, M.Ed
2. The Independent Living Movement: Past and Present – Eileen M. Healey, Executive Director, Independence Northwest, Inc.
3. Preventing Falls – Dorothy Baker, Ph.D, RN
4. VA Connecticut: Overview of Services and Care Coordination & Case Management Program –Donna C. Vogel, MSN, CCM
5. Federal Health Care Reform: Focus Points for Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities – Kate McEvoy, JD

The session C workshops are:

6. State of the State: Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services – Laurel Reagan, APRN; Jennifer Glick, BSN, MSW; Sharon Wall, MS, C.R.C, C.P.R.P, C.C.D.P; Celeste Cremin – Endes, LCSW, MPH
7. State of the State: Department of Social Services – Jennifer Throwe, MSW, CIRS-A; Dawn Lambert, MFP Project Director
8. Livable Communities, Creating Environments for Successful Aging –Brenda Kelley, M.A.
9. Hoarding in Late Life: A Review – Rajesh R. Tampi, MD, MS, FAPA; Javier Lopez, MD

Library Journal seeking reviewers

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Anna Katterjohn
Library Journal
160 Varick St., 11th fl.
New York, NY 10013

If you have any questions, email akatterjohn@mediasourceinc.com or call 646-380-0729.

Hartford Public Library receives $638K!

Congratulations goes out to the Hartford Public Library, recipient of a National Leadership grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Titled "Building Relationships and Bridging Social Capital: An Inclusive Approach to Immigrant Civic Engagement within," the library will partner with Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Resettlement Services, the City of Hartford’s Office of Human Relations, Everyday Democracy, and the University of Connecticut’s School of Social Work to promote immigrant civic engagement. Focusing on legal permanent residents within Hartford’s immigrant community, the library and its partners will train a core group of volunteer immigrants who will help other newly arrived immigrants in tasks such as accessing community services. To further encourage civic participation, the city and the library will establish a broadly represented library-based Advisory Council on Inclusivity. With the library as the catalyst, this integration model will transcend the existing naturalization process to give immigrants a specific sense of belonging in America, and experience as active community participants and future civic-minded individuals. A project Web portal and other materials will offer other libraries guidance on establishing similar programs in their communities.

Grant Opportunity for CT Nonprofits

Community Partners, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Harvard Business School Club of Connecticut, offers the Turbo Award which grants $10,000 with an additional $10,000 from New Country Porsche of Greenwich

The award will be given to the Connecticut-based nonprofit organization that can best demonstrate how it would use this grant to significantly benefit the Connecticut community.

Deadline: October 15, 2010.

More information.

Citizenship Resources Center

The new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Citizenship Resource Center is open for business.

Here is some of their propaganda, it looks like it’s a useful site: Helpful, well organized, clear.

USCIS is committed to making the naturalization process more meaningful and transparent for all applicants. Providing accurate and easily understandable information is the first step toward achieving this goal.

In an effort to provide learners, teachers and immigrant-serving organizations with a one-stop resource for citizenship information and educational materials, USCIS developed the Citizenship Resource Center. This free, easy-to-use website will help users better understand the citizenship process and gain the necessary skills required to be successful during the naturalization interview and test.

Aspiring citizens visiting the website will be able to:

* Learn about the naturalization process and testing requirements in clear language

* Locate appropriate test preparation materials

* Access interactive learning activities and multimedia resources

* Search for upcoming citizenship and naturalization-related events.

Educators visiting the website will be able to:

* Learn about the naturalization process and testing requirements

* Locate appropriate citizenship-focused teaching materials

* Access multimedia resources to supplement classroom instruction

* Identify free training and professional development opportunities.

Organizations visiting the website will be able to:

* Find information on USCIS grant programs and technical resources

* Locate grant application opportunities and program development content

* Browse success stories and promising practices for citizenship preparation from current and former USCIS grant recipients.

The Citizenship Resource Center was designed on a platform that can be improved over time and easily expanded to meet evolving needs. In the upcoming months, USCIS plans to introduce:

* Interactive learning activities for applicants;

* An online training course for volunteer instructors; and

* Short lesson plans and teaching tools for citizenship instructors.

Recognizing the continued demand for English language and citizenship instruction, USCIS partnered with the U.S. Department of Education to enhance the Web-based America's Literacy Directory to include a prominent citizenship class search function and an expanded list of program offerings. Through this joint effort, approximately 1,000 new citizenship programs have been added to the zip code searchable database.

Mymoney.gov

Twenty different government agencies partnered to create Mymoney.gov. It brings together unbiased and reliable information about financial topics so users can make smart financial decisions.

The website organizes information by "life events" such as "Starting/Buying a Business," “Marriage / Divorce / Partners,” and "Planning for Retirement."

The "planning for retirement" section includes information on 401(k)s, long-term care information, step-by-step social security retirement benefits planner, and more. The Marriage / Divorce / Partners section includes materials on starting a Household on Solid Ground Financially and Domestic Abuse.

Mymoney also includes tools, budgeting worksheets and checklists.

Free Grant Writing workshop at hartford Public Library

GRANT WRITING BASICS (3 Parts)

Presented by Cheryl Murray, Grantwriters Plus in partnership with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. Wednesdays, October 6, 13 & 20, 10:00 am - noon

Participants must attend all three sessions.

1. Part 1 will cover: Mission Statement and Project Match; Needs Assessment; Responding to the Need, Target Audience; Goals and Outcomes.

2. Part 2 will cover: Project Evaluation; Logic Model (inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts); Timelines; Marketing and Outreach

3. Part 3 will: Define a project budget and its components; Identify responsibilities in preparing a budget; Identify different types of financial information needed; Identify steps in preparing a budget; Identify how a budget is used after the grant is awarded. Attendees will work with a case study for a small project budget from a private foundation.

Program room, 3rd Floor. Registration required: in-person, online, or call 860-695-6295.

Free Workshop: CONSUMER CREDIT at Hartford Public Library

Free Workshop: CONSUMER CREDIT: EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK

Thursday, September 23, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Presented by Beth Markowski-Roop, Hartford Federal Credit Union

During the workshop participants will:

• Be introduced to credit basics, types of credit and credit reports
• Learn how credit can affect your ability to obtain employment or rent a home
• Gain an understanding of how credit works and how it affects your credit score
• Learn what lenders look at when evaluating your credit score for mortgage and/or loan applications
• Discover what you need to do to repair your credit

Seminar Room, 2nd Floor. Registration required: in-person, online, or call 860-695-6295.

Elevator Speeches: Nonprofit Workshop at Hartford Public Library

Workshop: YOUR "ELEVATOR SPEECH" CAN HELP YOU SOAR!

Thursday, October 28, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Presented by Susan L. Hartt, Writing Matters! and Executive Director at New Haven Chorale.

This workshop is offered in partnership with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

Story telling is at the heart of effective communications - and that often starts at the first meeting or online visit. This workshop is designed to provide guidelines and ideas for business and nonprofit communicators to relate winning "stories" about their organizations, customers, clients, donors and culture in person, in print and in electronic media. The workshop is intended for business owners, managers, marketers and corporate or nonprofit board meetings: anyone who answers such questions as: "Tell me about you."

Program room, 3rd Floor

Registration required: in-person, online, or call 860-695-6295

Community Needs Assessment resources of interest:

Navigating Collaboration. This resource is the result of the NN/LM MCR Collaboration Working Group which developed tools (webinars, information, resources) for use by Network members to assist them in developing and maintaining outreach projects. Working Group members provided online presentations on each of five topics:

• Definitions
• Keys for Partnership
• Strategies for Overcoming Barriers
• Funding
• Lessons Learned

Archived webinars in the series Navigating Collaboration: A Crash Course in Connecting with the Community include:
* "Lessons Learned Presentation" (3/2010) by presenter Will Olmstadt
* "Definitions" (10/09) presentation by presenters Kathy Tacke & Siobhan Champ-Blackwell
* "Keys for Partnership (12/09) by presenters Bob Engeszer and Susan Centner
* "Strategies for Overcoming Barriers Presentation" (1/10) by presenters Melody Kinnamon and Chris Engleman
* "Navigating Collaboration Funding Presentation (2/10) by presenters Lori Philips and Siobhan Champ-Blackwell

Also see Rebecca Jones' (managing partner, Dysart & Jones Associates) list of 5 Critical success factors for effective focus groups at. Jones' materials was used as the basis for a Sirsi Dynix Institute webcast.

LiveStrong Cancer Support Community Toolkit

LiveStrong Cancer Support Community Toolkit

The Community Toolkit provides nfp’s information about best practices and being successful. Though it’s geared for organizations interested in serving people affected by cancer, the principles are universal and useful.

• Applying best practices to your work and your organization.
• Community outreach
• Program development and evaluation

And information related to:
• Advocacy
• Grants
• Marketing
• fundraising efforts

Books Across America Library Books Awards

Books Across America will make about fifty awards of $1,000 to public schools serving economically disadvantaged students to purchase books for school libraries.

Applicants must be practicing preK-12 school librarians, teachers, or education support professionals.

To be eligible, 70% of students in applicant schools must be eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program.

See the NEA Foundation web site for more information and the application.

Deadline = 11/20/09.

Red Robin Foundation’s U-ACT Program

The Red Robin Foundation U-ACT Program challenges middle and junior high schools to create caring communities and creating a sense of neighborliness inside and outside of their schools.

Ten awards ranging from $1,200 to $15,000 are available for middle and junior high schools.

• By October 1, 2010 – Register your middle or junior high school (grades 6-8 are eligible) to participate in the U-ACT® Program for the 2010-2011 school year
• October 2010 – April 2011 – Implement U-ACT® at your school using the program criteria
• April 8, 2011 – All U-ACT® entries must be postmarked by this date to be eligible for consideration of an award.
• May 2011 –Program winners announced.

Update: Guidelines for Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries and Museums released

IMLS Releases Guidelines for Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries and Museums

This is a new grant program that will provide one-year grants of $10,000 to $25,000 for innovative projects that respond to the challenges and opportunities facing cultural heritage institutions in a rapidly changing information environment.

Deadline for applications: November 15, 2010.

Successful proposals will address problems, challenges, or needs of broad relevance to museums, libraries, or archives, will test innovative responses to these problems, and will make the findings of these tests widely and openly accessible. Grant funding may include all activities associated with planning, deploying, and evaluating the innovation, as long as the expenses are allowable under federal and IMLS guidelines. Examples of projects that might be funded by this program include, but are not limited to:

* exploring the potential of highly original, experimental collaborations,
* implementing new workflows or processes with potential for substantial cost savings,
* testing new metrics or methods to measure the impact of promising tools or services,
* rapid prototyping and testing of new types of software tools, or creating useful new ways to link separate software applications used in libraries, archives, or museums,
* offering innovative new types of services or service options to museum, library, or archive visitors, or
* enhancing institutions’ abilities to interact with audiences in new ways to promote learning or improve services, such as through the deployment of innovative crowd-sourcing techniques.

Full press announcement.

Youth Garden Grant Program

The National Gardening Association (NGA) awards Youth Garden Grants to schools and community organizations across the United States with child-centered garden programs.

Priority is given to programs emphasizing one or more of the following:
• educational focus or curricular/program integration
• nutrition or plant-to-food connections
• environmental awareness/education
• entrepreneurship
• social aspects of gardening (e.g., leadership development, team building, community support, or service-learning)

For the 2011 grant cycle, 100 grants are available.
• Five (5) programs will receive gift cards valued at $1,000 (a $500 gift card to The Home Depot and a $500 gift card to the Gardening with Kids catalog and educational materials from NGA
• Ninety-five (95) programs will receive a $500 gift card* to The Home Depot and educational materials from NGA

Applicants must plan to garden with at least fifteen children between the ages of 3 and 18. Deadline: November 1, 2010.

If this looks familiar, it should. It was previously mentioned on the Division of Library Development blog.

Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education (NECME) Thursday, October 14

The Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education (NECME) will be held on Thursday, October 14, 2010 at the Hartford Marriott, Farmington, CT.

The conference is sponsored by the Connecticut chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education and Region One NAME members.

The conference schedule is online.

Keynote Speaker: Gloria Ladson-Billings, author and the Kellner Family Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Baseball tomorrow Fund

The Major League Baseball & Major League Baseball Players Association's Baseball Tomorrow Fund provides funding for incremental programming and facilities for youth baseball; grants are designed to be sufficiently flexible to enable applicants to address needs unique to their communities.

Though the average amount of funding is $39,000, there is no specified amount.

Application deadlines are 1/1, 4/1, 7/1 & 10/1 of every year.

Public Welfare Foundation

The Public Welfare Foundation supports efforts that ensure fundamental rights and opportunities for people in need. It looks for carefully defined points where its funds can make a difference in bringing about systemic changes that can improve people’s lives.

The Special Opportunities Program supports initiatives addressing racial equity and justice; these often represent initiatives that do not fit within their usual program areas (specified below). At times this program serves as a laboratory for new ideas. It also entertains proposals that combine objectives of more than one Foundation program. Grants made under this program must be especially compelling.

The application process is comprised of two steps: a letter of inquiry and invitations to submit full proposals. Upcoming deadlines include November 20 (for a February 2010 disbursal).

The Public Welfare Foundation also provides grants for programs in these specific areas:
• Criminal and Juvenile Justice
• Health Reform
• Workers’ Rights

Applications accepted on an ongoing basis.

Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund Accepting Letters of Inquiry

The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund awards grants of up to $25,000 to nonprofits working to protect wildlife and ecosystems through established conservation programs that promote education, awareness, and training in local communities most at risk.

The fund is particularly interested in supporting established, long-term conservation programs that contain in situ components (scientific field studies); which promote education, awareness, and training in country (education programs); and demonstrate a marked benefit to in-country participants, habitats, and species by working with local communities, regional/national non-governmental organizations, and government agencies that directly impact the initiative.

Application is by invitation only; emails of inquiry are accepted on an ongoing basis. Inquiries should be submitted by January 1, 2011 to be considered for an invitation to apply. Invited applications will be due by January 25, 2011.

Sara Lee Foundation Foundation Grants

The Sara Lee Foundation supports nonprofit organizations with clearly defined missions and programs addressing the following areas: food related programs (including food insecurity, nutrition education, and healthy and active lifestyles), women’s self-sufficiency programs, and diversity through highly visible cultural programs.

The Foundation's funding process utilizes a four-step system which includes determination of eligibility, online letter of intent, notification, and finally an invitational Request-For-Proposal (RFP).

Liberty Hill Foundation’s Queer Youth Fund

The Liberty Hill Foundation’s Queer Youth Fund makes multiyear grants to grassroots, local, state, or national nonprofit organizations working to improve the quality of life among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning (GLBTQQ) youth.

The Queer Youth Fund awards grants to innovative and effective leadership development programs or organizing projects that empower GLBTQQ youth to improve societal conditions affecting them and that make a long-term difference to their movement.

Deadline for Letters of Intent: Tuesday, October 5, 2010



Deadline for Full Proposals: Tuesday, February 1, 2011 (by invitation only)

Ezra Jack Keats Foundation Library Mini-grant Program

As noted on the ‘additional grants’ page, the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation Mini-grant program awards funds to programs that encourage literacy and creativity in children.

Multiple awards of $500 each are available. Public schools and libraries are eligible to apply.

Deadline: September 15, 2010

Ford Foundation’s Initiative to Develop Arts Spaces

The Ford Foundation has a new, ten-year initiative named the Supporting Diverse Art Spaces Initiative. It provides funding to arts groups around the country to develop new arts spaces, launch programs and address sustainability in newly opened facilities, and expand and renovate established facilities.

The Foundation is accepting Letters of Inquiry on a rolling basis, and reviewed for the fall, 2010 cycle. The review period for fall cycle LOI is September 22 – November 3, 2010 during which time applicants that have been invited to submit full proposals will also receive site visits.

Grants of up to $100,000 over two years are being awarded to nonprofit arts organizations intending to buy, build, renovate, partner in the development of, or become anchor tenants in, vibrant and sustainable arts facilities. Since this is a ten-year initiative, keep those ideas germinating.

More details at the program site.

LEGO Children's Fund: Child Education, Technology and Communication Grants

The LEGO Children’s Fund provides quarterly program grants for projects in a narrowly defined scope:

• Early childhood education and development that is directly related to creativity
• Technology and communication projects that advance learning opportunities

Award amounts vary but are typically between $500 and USD $5,000. For the upcoming cycle (deadline: October 15, 2010), interested nfp’s must take an eligibility quiz on the the LEGO Children's Fund web site during the month of September.