CGD Secures Funds for School Safety Forum 2019

CGD secured $4,050 in sponsorships to support Center for Safe and Secure Schools School Safety Forum. 

Commissioner Sponsorship Level: ASAP Security Services provide the latest in security and surveillance for their clients spanning across the great state of Texas. Their team of seasoned systems integrators is committed to delivering only the highest quality solutions, from home and commercial automation to video surveillance, monitoring services, fire alarms, gunshot detection, and more. Whether you’re in Houston, Dallas, Helotes or surrounding cities, their security and surveillance company will meet your needs so that you always feel protected. https://www.serviceasap.com/

Commissioner Sponsorship Level: CrisisGo Inc. is a safety platform that allows management of crisis situations and increase community engagement through emergency alerts. CrisisGo Inc. creates safe environments in education, places of worship, the oil and gas industry and manufacturing. CrisisGo Inc. builds emergency communication tools that improve speed in safety, prevention and response. https://www.crisisgo.com/

Commissioner Sponsorship Level: LENSEC is a manufacturer of video surveillance software for physical security. Since 1998, LENSEC has been helping security integration partners grow their businesses around the world. As a pioneer, LENSEC is still breaking ground in the industry with innovative ideas and products. https://lensec.com/

Commissioner Sponsorship Level: Premier Wireless Business Technology Solutions offers innovation, safety & transformation through technology.  Premier Wireless Business Technology Solutions provides the hardware, defense-grade security, business solutions, and the support team.  Education, Government, Healthcare, Hospitality and Restaurants are industries Premier Wireless Business Technology Solutions specializes in serving. https://www.pwbts.net/

    
Superintendent Sponsorship Level: Facilities Services provides quality construction services for commercial, educational and institutional markets.  Dura Pier Facilities has served LaMarque and Spring Branch ISD’s with building and emergency renovations.  Dura Pier Facilities Services include repair and renovation in electrical, mechanical, HVAC and many other additional services.

Principal Sponsorship Level: ABM Texas General Services, Inc. serves internationally to industries in Aviation, Banking, Life Sciences, Commercial Office Buildings and Real Estate, Education, Food and Beverage, Government, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Nuclear Power, Parking, Retail, Sports, Technology and more.  ABM Texas General Services, Inc. is an organization that offers services in electrical, facilities engineering, Janitorial, and Specialty Services. https://www.abm.com/services/

Exhibitor: Digital Air Controlling, Inc. specializes in Building Automation, Security Access Control and Video, Testing, Adjusting and Balancing and Life Cycle Services. DAC, Inc. began in a neighborhood garage in downtown Houston with three employees in 1993.  Today DAC, Inc. provides services to Chevron, Memorial Herman Healthcare System, FEMA, Marathon Oil and other organizations. http://www.dac-inc.com/services  

Thank you to our sponsors for the School Safety Forum 2019 on October 15, 2019.     

CGD Celebrates $11,000 Grant for the Head Start REAL SuperMENtors Read Program

 CGD Manager Joyce Akins and the rest of the CGD staff are pleased to announce that the TEGNA Foundation awarded $11,000 for Head Start’s REAL SuperMENtors Read Program. The program, which focuses on inspiring a love of reading and developing literacy skills in children at a young age, recruits male volunteers to read aloud to Early Head Start/Head Start students once a month. Grant funds were awarded in collaboration with the Education Foundation of Harris County and will help purchase over 300 Scholastic Inc. book sets. Congratulations to all!

CGD Reviews a Successful 2017-2018 Fiscal Year

HCDE’s Center for Safe and Secure Schools Gets Award from US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs

Center for Grants Development is pleased to announce that the Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice has awarded Center for Safe and Secure Schools a $480,233 grant award to implement the STOP (Student, Teacher and Officers Prevention) School Violence Prevention and Mental Health Training program. CSSS STOP program will train up to 50 school staff and personnel (two representatives from each of the 25 districts in Houston/Harris County) in each session, twice a year. Initially, CSSS will provide training for 13 Title I middle schools with its student training sessions, reaching over 9,500 students (grades 6th – 8th) and will add 17 more schools the following year, totaling 30 schools over the 3-year grant period. Thanks to Dr. Vida L. Avery, CGD Resource Development Specialist, for her work on this proposal.

CGD Secures Funds for Early Childhood Winter Conference

CGD secured a $400 sponsorship to support the Teaching and Learning Center’s 33rd Annual R.T. Garcia Early Childhood Winter Conference from Jessie Rodrigues, Regional Director of Strategic Accounts, at Achieve3000®. Achieve3000® is the leading literacy platform in today’s blended learning programs, with cloud-based solutions that serve nearly three million students worldwide. Based on decades of scientific research, Achieve3000’s patented and proven differentiated instruction for grades PreK-12 and adult education reaches all students at their individual reading levels to accelerate learning, improve high stakes test performance, and drive college and career success. CGD is also pleased to announce the sponsorship proposal she submitted to H-E-B was approved. Teaching and Learning Center will receive gift cards in the amount of $500 to support its 33rd Annual R.T. Garcia Early Childhood Winter Conference.

Thanks to Dr. Vida L. Avery, Resource Development Specialist, Center for Grants Development, for securing these sponsorships. 

Whataburger Supports HCDE Head Start REAL SuperMENtors Program

Whataburger delivered its Whataburger for a Year gift basket valued at $315, along with 1,000 coupons this week to support Area I Head Start’s REAL SuperMENtors Read Program. The company also sent 1,000 pencil packs last week. Thanks to Sharvon D. Pipkins Kamaya, CGD Development Coordinator, for writing and submitting the donation request via the Education Foundation of Harris County. Total value of the donations is $5,905.

HCDE Gets an Award from Texas Workforce Commission for the Distance Learning and Capacity Building grant

Center for Grants Development is pleased to announce that Adult Education has been selected to move forward to the contract development phase as a result of their proposal to the Texas Workforce Commission for the Distance Learning and Capacity Building grant. The proposal requested $174,798 to expand the use of a hybrid model (online and face-to-face classes) for ESL, Adult Basic Education and Adult Secondary Education. The project will train up to 70 teachers to become distance learning teachers and serve 2,950 adult education students in distance learning models. Thanks to Joyce Akins, CGD Manager, for her work on this application/proposal.

Convenience of Community Connectors and/or District Contacts. CGD Presented at Local Youth Development Council Meeting. 

Gayla Rawlinson Maynard, Center for Grants Development co-presented with Nicole Trellis with the Powell Foundation at the Youth Development Council sponsored by The Simmons Foundation. The 25 attendees represented Child Advocates of Fort Bend; Covenant House; Family Life and Community Resource Center; Houston Freedom Schools; Houston Revision; Montrose Grace Place; and ProUnitas to name a few. Mrs. Maynard’s focus was government or public grant funding while Nicole shared insights into foundation or private funding.

Want to learn more about grants and proposal writing?
We have designed in-person and online sessions to support school district administrators, curriculum/grant specialists and teachers. From those just beginning to learn about grants, to those who have knowledge and experience in proposal development, we're here to help you.

Quest for Grants Training Series
Quest for Grants Training Series consisting of online webinars and face-to-face workshops, are held throughout the year. It provides grant specialists or program staff with in-depth knowledge and tools to start or continue funding their programs. You may search for each opportunity via our workshop management system by Quest for Grants or event title.

Quest for Grants Webinars/Workshops:

The webinars/workshops are designed to support school district staff including administrators, curriculum specialists or teachers who are new to the grants arena or those grant specialists who are new or experienced professionals. 

So, You Want Me to Write a Grant: Grant Writing 101

So, You Want Me to Write a Grant: Grant Writing 101 teaches participants components of a grant proposal; how to manage the writing process from preparation through grant submission; how to justify the budget; and how to make reviewers like the proposal.

  Study grant-related definitions, key terms and acronyms.
  Learn the broad areas and basic components of a grant proposal.
  Acquire tools and techniques for pulling the proposal together.
  Understand the review process and what reviewers like.
  Share resources that will assist in proposal planning and preparation.
The Grant Budget: It's Not Just About the Math!
The Grant Budget: It’s Not Just About the Math! teaches participants the elements of budget preparation and planning while taking them through the development of a detailed line-item budget. Individuals gain resources to assist them in understanding:

  budget categories;
  calculating cash matches and in-kind contributions;
  allowed and disallowed costs; and
  and other budgetary issues. 
Building a Grants Development Office
Building a Grants Development Office covers how to create the structure and processes of a successful grants acquisition program within an organization. The session also equips you with the measurements for assessing the effectiveness of your grants office.

Participants learn:

  factors to consider when developing or revamping their office;
  elements that are central to success;
  proven processes / major activities; 
  promotion of grants office activities / successes; and
  measures of Success
Proposal Writing Best Practices
Proposal Writing Best Practices shares proven strategies, techniques and tools that can improve the success of a grant specialist. It covers:

  habits of successful grant specialists;
  mistakes inexperienced proposal writers often make;
  proposal formatting;
  budget considerations;
  reviewer likes and dislikes; and
  general proposal tips and techniques.

Customized Training for School District Personnel
CGD works with staff from the 25 HCDE school districts and 35+ charters to customize training (1-3 hour sessions) on grant-related topics at a no cost to the district/charter when held at the district/charter site. 

Funding Resources Are Everywhere
Funding Resources Are Everywhere! shares research tools and helps participants analyze their organization's fit with funders. Connecting to funders is the first step to creating sustainable programs. Using the latest online resources, this workshop is designed to:

  train participants to research funding opportunities that support medium to large projects; and
  clarify funding criteria and analyze organizational fit with funding opportunities.
 
It Takes Planning to Save the World
It Takes Planning to Save the World session helps beginning grant professionals understand the fundamentals of program planning. Participants learn about:

  defining program design
  stages of program planning
  components of successful program plans; and 
  using a logic model to plan programs. 
Data Mining for Grant Writers
Data Mining for Grant Writers! guides participants through the process of locating statistics quickly and seamlessly. Participants are led through a series of practice activities to uncover "hard-hitting" local data to:

  strengthen proposal budget categories;
  calculating cash matches and in-kind contributions;
  allowed and disallowed costs;
  and other budgetary issues.
Using a Logic Model to Create Your Grant Project Design
Using a Logic Model to Create Your Grant Project Design covers the elements of a logic model and how it can be used by your grants team to create your project. The session will walk you through strategies to engage your grant writing team to conceptualize a project.

Participants learn:

  purpose and benefits of a logic model;
  logic model and theory of change examples;
  components of a logic model;
  steps to create the model; and
  how to use the logic model in a grant proposal.
Grant Writing Composition and Its Process
Grant Writing Composition and Its Process introduces participants to the fundamentals of writing a grant proposal. Developing a successful grant proposal takes time and effort. Writing a proposal is an integral part of the process. Participants learn about writing techniques, different writing styles, the writing process, appropriate grammar use and much more.

  Getting Started – The Process
  Composing Proposals
  Requests For Proposals | Funding Guidelines
  Writing Tips

The following list provides various resources for general Grant Foundations questions and other funding support resources.

General Grant and Foundation Sites

Grants.Gov

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

The Federal Register

National Institutes of Health Grant Guide

Texas Register

The Foundation Center

Government Sites

National Institutes of Health

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

National Institute on Drug Abuse

National Institute of Mental Health

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

HUD Grants

HUD Community Planning and Development (CPD)

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

National Science Foundation

National Endowment for the Humanities

Funding Information E-Mail Lists

Department of State Health Services Funding Alert

The Planned Giving Design Center

General Resource Sites

National Low Income Housing Coalition

Census Bureau American Fact Finder

Philanthropy News Digest

The Grantsmanship Center

The NonProfit Times

National Association for the Education of Young Children

Innovation Network

GuideStar – The National Database of Nonprofit Organizations

National Institute on Out-of-School Time

Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations

Additional Sites

Kids Count

Charity Navigator