Get in the Running for Grant Money

By Eddie North-Hager on March 18, 2009 3:11 PM

The deadline has arrived for those interested in vying for a piece of the $1.1 million raised last year by USC staff, faculty, students and friends during the annual Good Neighbors Campaign.

To be eligible, community stakeholders must partner with a USC-affiliated volunteer to create a program that will serve the neighborhoods surrounding the university.

To apply for a grant, the USC partner - faculty, staff member or student - must attend one of three workshops in March. The last workshop will be held from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on March 24 at the USC Leavey Library Auditorium. The grant application is due by March 31.

Last year USC Neighborhood Outreach, the nonprofit that gives away the money raised by the Good Neighbors Campaign, funded 38 of the 46 proposals submitted - an amazing 82 percent - with grants ranging from $5,000 to $80,000.

“The turnout has been phenomenal,” said Carolina Castillo, USC’s executive director of planning and development for government and community relations, who oversees the campaign. “We are excited about the ability to invest directly into local community based organizations and schools at a time when city, state, federal and foundation funding is disappearing.”

Victor Sanchez’s idea is to start a program in which USC students tutor fourth-graders in reading. The lessons would be reinforced when the fourth-graders help first-graders improve their reading skills.

Sanchez, who has been teaching at Vermont Elementary for 11 years, became a Title 1 coordinator two years ago. That means he oversees school programs that address the needs of at-risk students.

“If you don’t have those skills by second grade, it won’t happen for you,” Sanchez said. “There are several things I want to do. But I’m in the process of figuring out what’s going on. I’m still unsure if I’m going to apply.”

When Ryan Taylor took his son to his first day of class at the Science Center School, he immediately saw a need for after-school programs.

Four years later, providing after-school care is Taylor’s full-time concern. His not-for-profit LEAP program is in seven schools, serves 600 children and has 30 employees.

The program provides a nutritious snack, homework help and back-to-basics tutoring.

“We hope to awaken a talent or an interest they don’t know about,” Taylor said. “A lot of these kids only know of three career options - a teacher, entertainer or athlete. If they are not good at doing one of those three, they don’t think they are going to succeed.”

So in addition to helping with real-world problems, such as a vocabulary quiz, the program wants to expose students to photography, cooking, art and tango, among other subjects.

Taylor, who is partnering with USC religion professor Cecil Murray, hopes to expand the after-school program using USC students.

Wendy Milette also sees plenty of possibilities in her area of interest - filmmaking.

Milette wants to bring the project known as My Hero into more schools.

My Hero, which began in 2002 and now has about 1,000 stories archived, profiles people who deserve attention.

“Not only is this an opportunity to learn about the media but to celebrate people who are doing really good work,” Milette said. “We are highlighting what they do and providing inspiration for others to do good things in their life.”

Milette, a USC alum, was invited to apply for the grant by Linda Overholt, a program coordinator at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Milette’s husband, Chris Cain, works as an engineering technician at the school.

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