Financing Your Education

Tony Garcia, Community Coach for WSU’s Horizons Program presented a workshop titled “Alternative Financing for Your Education” at the DSHS/Worksourse Annual Columbia Basin Job Fair, information on Displaced Worker funds, Tuition Assistance for Working Parents,
Scholarship opportunities, student employment, Workforce Training Program, Job Corps, Veteran’s assistance, and all the other possibilities. Other partners that served as a panel included:

• WIA funding (Skillsource)
• Opportunity Grant sources (Worksource Center, BBCC),
• Work-based Learning Tuition Assistance Program & Financial Aid (Big Bend Community College)

Grants Library

The Horizons program has purchased and supplied the community with a small grants library to assist community members in furthering their needs to seek funding in order to advance our efforts towards poverty reduction. The small library has been purchased from the Foundation Center and consist of the following books:

• Foundation Directory, 2008
• Foundation Directory, Part 2
• Foundation Directory, Supplement
• National Directory of Corporate Giving, 13th edition
• Foundation Today Series
• Foundation Centers Guide to Winning Proposals
• Grantseeking on the Web
• Foundation Fundamentals
• Foundation Center’s Guide to Proposal Writing
• Guia Para Escribir Propuesta

The grants library will be housed at the Port Authority for easy use by community members.

Grant Writing Workshop

The Horizons Program is sponsoring a Grant Writing Workshop for community members and community agency partners on April 4 & 5. The program was honored to have renowned grants trainer Susan Howlett. During the two-day training the following topics were covered:

• Where does money come from (types of sources and where to find them)
• How do you decide what’s a good match for you and your project.
• How do you prepare your organization to be grant-ready.
• Writing a compelling letter of inquiry
• What do grantmakers look for in a proposal.
• What are the standard questions and what are strong answers for each.
• Budgets and other support documents and the stories they tell.
• Cultivation, recognition and stewardship of grantors.
• How to corroborate need.
• How to articulate outcomes or measurable objectives.
• How to develop an evaluation plan.
• An exercise in reviewing real letter of inquiry.

Imagine You at WSU

Washington State Universtiy brought in students and professors to teach, present and work with Royal City High School Students to promote higher education as a possible avenue to poverty reduction.

Former Royal City Students now attending WSU presenting in front of current Royal City Students.

WSU Staff discussing higher education with Royal City High School Student

WSU faculty teach Mariachi History in Front of Royal City Class.