Show Me the Money….

For some reason, this time, the same story I had heard numerous times, got to me. The person had paid a lot of money to someone to write a grant for them and all that they got was a CD and a book with instructions. We got connected because of an ad in craigslist.com, this person was going to pay again to hire another grant writer. I spent the amount of time necessary answering questions and ’splaining so this individual could understand that unfortunately, there are not many grants available for individuals. Government funded projects are awarded to non-profit, education and public organizations, who then disburse them in ways that will benefit individuals. Foundations can only fund non-profits (501(c)3), education and public organizations.

If you are one of those individuals looking for grants to start a for-profit business you need to look at the Department of Commerce’s Small Business Administration, which gives you the real facts about grants for business start-ups. There are great pointers and templates for business plans in this website. The SBA provides guarantees on loans and works through banks to assist individuals with funds for business start-ups and expansions.

The complete listing of government benefits with a explanation of programs can be helpful to understand where some of the federal grant money goes. An example of grants that benefit individuals and are administered by governmental entities and non-profits is the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) American Dream Downpayment Initiative. The program helps eligible individuals with down payment, closing cost and rehabilitation assistance that increases home ownership rates. ADDI locations throughout the United States can be found here.
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“What do you mean I am a Technology Immigrant?” I asked my son, “Yeah Mom,” he responded, “my generation was born with the computer – I have always worked with a computer – that makes me a Technology Native”…My son encouraged me to start this “blog” and after reading all I could on this technology trend, I became interested enough to start “findmegrants”. I am using Word Press, a free software for blogs that has templates you can choose from and “how to” instruction throughout the software.I had to learn a little html language to be able to set up the links, but Word Press “how to” pages gave me the code and indicated where to place it. It was a lot harder for me to grasp the concept, than I am making it sound – I had to read the “how to info” several times and bug my son for jargon translations before I got that ahaaaa moment.In order to put pictures in the site, they need a “URL” number and I used “flickr”, the free picture website. When I wanted to make changes to the picture, I was sent to another free website – “picnik” to crop, adjust, add color…just so you know, I took many credit hours in college to learn how to do this in the dark room…amazing – now it is done in a matter of seconds.Now why blog? – There is some money to be made – I think… After I read Steve Pavilian’s article,“How to Make Money From Your Blog” very carefully taking the time to go to the highlighted links I really began to understand how Google Adsense works. He also gives great advice on personal development, which is perceptive. Successful blogs, according to Steve are based on blogging about information that gives “value”. “If my writing doesn’t change people’s thinking, actions, or awareness, then my value isn’t being transferred well enough,” says Pavilian. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight…..

The organization, Corporate Voices for Working Families, issued Tomorrow’s Workforce: Ready or Not Report: It’s a Choice the Business Community Must Make Now (July 2008) that contends “young people are not prepared with basic workforce skills” – these young’uns do not meet the hiring criteria for the workforce, even after graduating from high school and college, for that matter. “Employers want workers with applied skills, such as professionalism, teamwork, communication and critical thinking all of which are required in a “knowledge based economy,” the report said.

While reading the report, I became alarmed when it said, “This crisis is one that threatens our nation’s ability to compete in a rapidly changing and more competitive global economy. And if left unresolved, it is a crisis that will undercut the standard of living and way of life for our children-and theirs”. After thinking about this profound statement, I became very confused…I kept asking myself why the Education System is not connected to the business community more tightly AND why are we not organizing and demanding changes in the local education systems like we know we are in a crisis?

The report gives a crystal clear interpretation that the current Education system is outdated and broken and gives us the information very loudly. To borrow from the movie Cool Hand Luke, “What we have here is a failure to communicate” – a profound disconnect between the education and workforce stakeholders that needs fixing.
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A “Shout Out” to some of my favorite web-sites for non-profits…

Grant Resources and Information:

If you have never visited – The Foundation Center, then you have been missing out on a wealth of information and a true friend to non-profits. They will send you a notice, via e-mail every Friday that tells which foundations are soliciting proposals. They have good information for entities that want to become non-profits. The Foundation Center also has information about the management responsibilities of the board of directors.

Grants Alert has daily listings of foundations soliciting proposals and deadlines. They have a wealth of information about fund raising strategies that is very beneficial for those non-profits that may want to have fund raising events.

Grant Wrangler is a grant alert website for educators and teachers. They send out a bi-weekly e-mail to let you know what options for education funds are available.

Fundsnet OnLine Services is a comprehensive site for grant seekers looking for information on financial resources available. Their grant information is categorized by concept and is very user friendly. They also have information on scholarship opportunities.

Financial Literacy Information:

Texas Workforce Commission has a free website called “Reality Check” that takes persons through a budget analysis on what is affordable with the type of occupations one chooses to pursue. It is the coolest tool to add to career classes and summer job training programs – the data is based on Texas occupations and wages but the lesson on budgeting is universal.
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All Performance Measures were not created equal…

During my tenure working with a “workforce board”, I got to know the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) inside and out. This Act was started during Clinton’s second term in 1998 – remember the Job Training Partnership Act? Better known as “JTPA” – WIA replaced that Act.

Anyway, what really surprised me was how little people knew about the WIA programs. WIA has funds for youth and adults that need assistance to find a job, support services like childcare, transportation and training.

After realllllllllllly looking for a job for a certain period of time, and no luck – then it may be possible to get WIA training funds. The training funds are issued to the training providers on your behalf in what’s called Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). Here is the catch – it has to be training in an occupation where there is a demand – a job – in the local area.

The local workforce boards are the ones who approve the demand occupation list and the training providers. The training providers are held accountable by data submitted by employers that indicates – get this – job placement! The job placement data for the approved training providers in Texas is kept in a website for everybody to see. The workforce boards are held accountable for the funds – trainee’s social security number does not show up on the quarterly employment reports – the workforce board gets dinged and then the dinging has a political domino effect. Job placement is the ultimate performance measure for success in the WIA training programs.
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Calling All to Financial Literacy!…..

Richard had graduated from high school in 2007; he was a pretty smart guy and got into a state college. He left for his first year in the fall and I did not see him again until the next summer.

“How did it go Richard?” I asked, he said he could not go back to school because he had taken four credit cards he had been offered on the first day of school and had maxed them out. ” On what,” I asked. “Important stuff like pizza, music, electronic stuff… you know the stuff I need to be cool. My parents helped me with my tuition and all my regular budget needs, but I did not have much left to live on, the credit cards were so easy to get and they came with a free t-shirt. The credit card companies are now chasing me, every day they threaten to take me to court. My parents say I have to stop and clear this debt, so I have to work full-time to pay them off and then I can return to school,” he said.

Richard told me this story a short time before the announcement of the failure of the housing market and sub-prime loan crisis. When I asked Richard what kind of interest rate he was paying, that look on his face said it all, this poor soul had no clue, he too had gotten “sub primed”. Because of the lack of credit history payments, he received the highest interest rate and he was now going to pay way more than he had borrowed.
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