NEW - SHARED SITE BEST PRACTICE AWARDS
GU is pleased to announce the second GU/MetLife Foundation Shared Site Best Practice Awards.  These awards champion best practices of intergenerational shared site programs while raising the visibility of these important programs and encouraging the development of new models.  Up to five shared site programs will be selected as best practice award winners, receive a cash award of $2,500 and be highlighted in a report released at GU's 15th International Intergenerational Conference in Washington, DC in July 2009.

To download the nomination form click here.  To submit an electronic application click here.  Deadline for submissions is November 14, 2008.  For questions contact Sheri Steinig at ssteinig(at)gu.org.

NEW - THE BROOKDALE RAPP 2008 - 2009 LOCAL SEED GRANT INITIATIVE
The Brookdale Relatives As Parents Program (RAPP) has announced the Local Seed Grant Initiative for 2008-2009.  RAPP is designed to encourage and promote the creation or expansion of services for grandparents and other relatives who have taken on the responsibility of surrogate parenting when the biological parents are unable to do so.  The Program is intended to:

-Award seed grants to local agencies to provide support groups and at least two other supportive services to relatives caregivers and their families;
-Encourage cooperation and collaboration among various service systems (such as legal services/legal aid, child welfare, health care, aging, schools, family services, mental health);
-Ensure the development, expansion and future continuity of local services; and
-Create replicable models of service.

Up to thirty local agencies will be chosen from throughout the United States through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process.  Each agency will receive a $10,000 grant over a two-year period as well as training and technical assistance.  Matching support in cash or in-kind will be required of all selected agencies.  The sponsoring agency must be a 501(c)(3) entity or have equivalent tax-exempt status.

Priority will be given to those agencies that have access to relative caregivers, provide supportive services and demonstrate broad community involvment and support.

Copies of the RFP guidelines and application forms call be downloaded at www.brookdalefoundation.org.  The deadline for the submission of local proposals to the Brookdale Foundation is Thursday, December 4, 2008.

NEW - GRANT FUNDING - RURAL HEALTH CARE OUTREACH SERVICES PROGRAM
The Outreach grants are demonstration projects to test out good ideas to impove access to health care services in rural communities.  Awardees will receive up to $375,000 over the three years of the grant.

General Program Information: http://ruralhealth.hrsa.gov/funding/outreach.htm
Information on past grantees: http://www.raconline.org/success/success_source.php

Important Tips:

-You must be registered in Grants.gov in order to apply.

-You need to be in a rural area to apply (to determine eligibility visit http://ruralhealth.hrsa.gov/funding/eligibilitytestv2.asp.

-Grants need to be community-driven and reflect a broad consortium of at least 2 independent entities rather than one single entity in charge.  The lead applicant needs to be a not-for-profit entity.

-Health care is fairly broadly defined - consider human services.

-Program will not be competed again until 2012

NOTES: Deadline for RFP's is October 16, 2008.  Announcement # is HRSA-08-002.

GRANT RESEARCH HELP
Writing a grant and in need of specific demographic or economic information on a particular community?  Check out this website developed by journalists as a resource for non-profit organizations - it's amazing!

http://www.epodunk.com/nonprofits/

FEDERAL FUNDING CATALOG
Are you working with a small faith- or community-based organization serving those in need?  Are you looking for grant opportunities to help fund your services?  If you answered yes to these questions, then be sure to download this new - and growing - online grants catalog from the USDA's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: Federal Funds for Organizations That Help Those in Need.  (Beware: At 1.6 MB and 90 pages, the download may take a while!)

Nearly 200 federal grant opportunities are identified in this extremely valuable online catalog.  The grants are organized into categories - from Abstinence Education to Workfore Development - and include a myriad of other categories such as Elders in Need, HIV/AIDS, and Refugees and Asylees.  The catalog also contains basic information on the federal grants process and answers some frequenly asked questions as well.

Though already vast, the catalog is still a work in progress and additional grant opportunities will be added in the future.  The Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives will maintain an up-to-date list on their website, so be sure to visit them regularly for updates and to learn more about this exciting new resource.

For additional funding ideas, read or download the chapter entitle Funding and Partners from Under One Roof: A Guide to Starting and Strengthening Intergenerational Shared Site Programs or review this article in Together.