FLAGS - Family Literacy Alliance of Greater Syracuse

Grant-Writing Resource for Teachers
The NEA Today Online features grant-writing tips written by several teachers who have written successful grant proposals. http://www.nea.org/neatoday/ then click on grant funding. There are several opportunities available for teachers in the classroom for projects.

Grantsmanship Center helpful website:
This site helps nonprofit organizations and government
agencies write strong proposals. Stick to the free
information for tips and abstracts of proposals.
http://www.TGCIgrantproposals.com

Series Focuses on Capacity Building
Human and Institutional Capacity Building:
A Rockefeller Foundation Series
http://www.rockfound.org/display.asp?context=1&Collection=
1&DocID=707&Preview=0&ARCurrent=1
Human and Institutional Capacity Building: A Rockefeller Foundation Series is a set of publications intended to stimulate thinking and reflection among funders, nongovernmental organizations, universities and other public-interest organizations on the future of this field. This website also contains a Tool for
grant searches.

Grants Support Public Education
NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education http://www.neafoundation.org/grants.htm
Created by the National Education Association, the NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education supports a variety of efforts by teachers, education support professionals, and higher education faculty and staff to improve student learning in the nation's public schools, colleges, and universities. The Foundation’s Learning & Leadership Grants and Innovation Grants provide support for applicants to engage in high-quality professional development or implement project-based learning and innovations that raise student achievement. The Read Across America Library Books Awards help public schools serving economically disadvantaged students purchase books for school libraries. The next deadline for all three of these grant programs is September 15, 2005. For application guidelines and forms visit the website listed above.

Staples Foundation for Learning -- Funding for Educational Programs:
The mission of Staples Foundation for Learning is to provide funding to programs that support or provide job skills and/or education for individuals with a special emphasis on disadvantaged youth. The mission is carried out by assisting local groups with programs and services that will positively impact their communities every day. http://www.healthinschools.org/grants/ops363.asp Deadline: September 27, 2005 For complete program information and application guidelines, please visit http://www.staplesfoundation.org/foundapplication.html The Foundation funds a variety of projects and the grants awarded are in the $5,000 - $25,000 range.

The WHO Foundation 2005 Grants for Grassroots Charities Serving Women and Children
The Women Helping Others (WHO) Foundation nationally supports grass-roots charities serving the overlooked needs of women and children. The Foundation’s priority areas are in health, education, and social services. The Foundation recognizes the value of new programs created to respond to changing needs and will consider funding projects of an original or pioneering nature within an existing organization. Deadline: September 13, 2005

Toyota Teacher of the Year
The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) and Toyota are pleased to announce the nomination process for the 2006 Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year Award. The Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year award was established to honor excellence in family education. Awards are given to educators who demonstrate exemplary efforts to help parents and children achieve their academic and non-academic goals. Nominations will be accepted October 1, 2005

Mini-grants up to $500 for schools and agencies that work with K-12 youth:
The Constitutional Rights Foundation is seeking applications for the Maurice R. Robinson Mini-Grants program. The mini-grants fund k-12 service learning projects designed to address important community issues in the areas of poverty, hunger, environment, youth mentoring, crime and safety and aging. Mini-grants up to $500 will be awarded. Eligible applicants include elementary and secondary schools and community agencies that work with k-12 youth Deadline: October 14, 2005 For complete program information and application guidelines, please visit http://www.crf-usa.org/network/crf_robin.html

The Thomason Gale TEAM Awards: The Thomson Gale TEAM awards recognize and encourage collaboration between teachers and media specialists to promote learning and increase student achievement. Nominations for the award will be evaluated based on : 1) demonstrated collaboration between media specialists and teachers during the 2004-2005 school year 2) effective techniques that positively impact student learning and achievement; 3) support received from school leadership; and 4) ability for others to replicate this best practice. Nominations may be submitted by library media specialist, teachers, principals, student and parents. The winners will receive the following: 1) a $2,500 cash award 2 ) Thomson Gale products 3) a one year subscription to library media connection 4) an educators professional bookshelf and 5) a feature in an article in library media connection. Deadline Sept. 9 2005 For complete program information http;//www.galeschoools.com/TEAMS/

Service-Learning Projects Funded
Youth Service America: Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grants http://www.ysa.org/awards/award_grant.cfm
The State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Award, administered by Youth Service America, enables youth and educators to bring the positive benefits of service-learning to more young people. Schools and organizations use service-learning as a tool to help youth build stronger academic skills, foster civic responsibility, and develop leadership skills. One hundred grants of $1,000 each will be awarded to teachers, youth (ages 5-25), and school-based service-learning coordinators to implement service-learning projects for National Youth Service Day, April 21-23, 2006. The application deadline is October 17, 2005. Visit the website listed above for more information.

Grants for Children’s Centers
National Children's Alliance: Children's Advocacy Centers Grant Program http://www.nca-online.org/grants.html
The National Children's Alliance (NCA) administers federal funds for the start-up and/or expansion of Children's Advocacy Centers. Children's Advocacy Centers are programs designed by professionals and volunteers responding to the needs of their own communities. The Centers offer a new way of serving abused children through a comprehensive approach to services for victims and their families. The Centers stress coordination of investigation and intervention services by bringing together professionals and agencies as a multidisciplinary team to create a child-focused approach to child abuse cases. NCA offers several different categories of grant funding for NCA-member and non-member agencies, including staff training grants, program development grants, and tribal program grants. The deadline for competitive grants is September 13, 2005, and the deadline for non-competitive grants is October 11, 2005. Visit the website listed above for more information.

American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation Grants
The American Association of University Women's Eleanor Roosevelt Teacher Fellowship program offers two types of funding opportunities for women public school teachers:Professional Development Grants provide up to $5,000, including attendance at the five-day Eleanor Roosevelt Teacher Institute and Forum on Educational Equity held in Washington, additional professional development activities (e.g., workshops, courses, conferences); and seed money to plan a classroom-based gender equity project.
Project Implementation Grants offer up to $10,000 to support a classroom or school gender equity program.
Fellowships are available to teachers who have taught for three years. The AAUW encourages women of color and teachers working with underserved students to apply.http://www.schoolgrants.org/Grants/nation-deadline.htm#top

Mattel Children's Foundation
The Mattel Children's Foundation, a philanthropic program of Mattel, Inc., has announced the recipients of its first round of domestic grants, representing the first time the foundation has awarded funds through its online, unsolicited grant application program. Thirty-eight nonprofit organizations directly serving children in need in twenty-one states will receive grants ranging from $3,000 to $25,000. Deadline: September 30, 2005.

Two types of grants will be considered: 1) program-specific grants -- i.e., funding for the launch of new programs or expansion of existing programs; and 2) core operating support -- i.e., support of organizations to sustain their programs.

Applications must be submitted online through the Mattel Web site. See the site for complete program information, application guidelines, and a list of grant recipients from the program's first round of funding. http://fconline.fdncenter.org/pnd/3297/mattel

Starbucks Foundation Offers Funding for Youth Literacy Programs Deadline: September 1 and March 1, annually through its Giving Voice program, the Starbucks Foundation (http://www.starbucks.com/foundation/), a philanthropic vehicle of the Starbucks Coffee Company, will fund programs for youth, ages 6-18, that integrate literacy with personal and civic action in the communities where they live.

The Starbucks Foundation invites Letters of Inquiry from qualifying organizations that work with underserved youth in one of two areas: 1) Arts & Literacy -- programs that innovatively address literacy and learning for the 21st century, provide high standards of excellence in mastering basic skills, and promote youth voices through a variety of venues; and 2) Environmental Literacy -- programs that offer place-based approaches to addressing environmental literacy and empower youth to be heroes for a sustainable environment in their own communities. The foundation supports registered, nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organizations in the United States, as well as Registered Charities in Canada, that deliver services to youth and address at least one of the program's action areas. Grants range from $5,000 to $20,000. Visit the Starbucks Foundation Web site for program information, application procedures, and eligibility questions. RFP Link: http://fconline.fdncenter.org/pnd/3498/starbucks

Articles and Reports
Children in Immigrant Families
A panel of experts convened by the Brookings Institution and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs reported that one in five children in the United States lives in an immigrant family, most of whom will be lifelong U.S. residents, and their presence will affect basic institutions, including the health system, that currently are not well equipped to handle their special circumstances. Language barriers, greater poverty rates, and lower rates of public assistance, child-care and health insurance are a few of the several difficulties facing children of immigrants. ,at www.futureofchildren.org/pubs-info2825/pubs-info.htm?doc_id=240166; "The Health and Well-Being of Young Children of Immigrants," a research report by the Urban Institute, at www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=311139; "Caring Across Cultures: Achieving Cultural Competence in Health Programs at School": Survey Results at www.healthinschools.org/sh/cultresults.asp; In Focus summary at http://www.healthinschools.org/focus/2005/no1.htm.

Mentoring as a Family Strengthening Approach
Inspired by research revealing the success of youth mentoring, the Family Strengthening Policy Center explored mentoring as a family strengthening approach in a policy brief entitled Mentoring as a Family Strengthening Strategy. Although the role of the family has been limited in traditional youth mentoring programs, this policy brief looks at two types of programs: 1)Traditional youth mentoring programs that incorporate a strong family engagement component; and 2) Family mentoring programs that use a mentoring model to connect families to volunteer mentors. Lessons learned and policy recommendations can be viewed at www.nassembly.org/fspc/practice/documents/Mentoring_FINAL.pdf.

Importance of Parental Involvement in Schools
Direct parental involvement in school can be one of the strongest predictors of a teenagers scholastic achievements, yet it decreases when a child reaches his/her teen years. The paper, Please Stop the Rollercoaster, examines the relationships between parents of teenaged students and their child’s school and provides advice on what educators can do to improve connections and build trust. View the document in its entirety at http://www.pleasestoptherollercoaster.com/Parenting-teenagers.htm.

Guide to Federal Funding Sources for Workforce Development Initiatives
This guide catalogs 87 federal sources and offers guidance on accessing federal funds and strategies for maximizing federal funds and building partnerships. http://www.financeprojectinfo.org/Publications/workforcefunding.pdf

Launch of Adult Education Content Standards Warehouse
The US Department of ED, Office of Vocational and Adult Education has announced the launching of the Adult Education Content Standards Warehouse. The American Institutes for Research (AIR) through a contract with the United States Department of Education operates the warehouse, a key feature of a National Leadership activity funded under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. The warehouse is located at: http://www.adultedcontentstandards.org.

Conferences:Gathering for Nonprofit Agencies
National Leaders Summit http://www.nassembly.org/nassembly/nls.htm
The 2005 National Leaders Summit is being sponsored by the National Human Services Assembly, a coalition of leading national nonprofit agencies committed to helping individuals, families, and communities thrive. The summit, a gathering for nonprofit health and human services, human development, and community development organizations, will be an opportunity to network and share ideas with peers from throughout the U.S. The keynote address will be given by Lester Salamon, Founding Director and Principal Research Scientist of the Institute for Policy Studies, Director of the Center for Civil Society Studies and Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. The summit will take place on September 8, 2005 in Washington, DC. For registration information visit the website listed above.

NOTE: If you have difficulty accessing any of these items, please contact nvolk@unitedway-cny.org.