E-ALERT: Volume One, Number 1WELCOME to DOJ’s E-ALERT! Welcome to the Department of Justice’s Faith-Based and Community Initiatives E-Alert List! The purpose of this list is to keep you informed about the latest grant information from the Department of Justice, the latest news about faith-based partnerships around the country, and about inspiring reports of how the Faith-Based and Community-Based Initiative is making a difference in the lives of Americans. Twice every month you will be receiving an E-Alert on the latest developments. Also, we will send you additional E-Alerts when new grants are announced that faith-based and community based organizations might want to apply for. We hope you find these announcements useful. Feel free to forward this message to your friends and associates who could use this information. They can sign up to receive this newsletter themselves by going to www.usdoj.gov/fbci/listserv.html. Thanks for all your hard work to serve the neediest members of our communities. FAITH-BASED and COMMUNITY-BASED GRANT OPPORTUNITY The Department of Justice’s Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) is offering a new grant program opportunity designed to assist faith-based and community based organizations in their efforts to improve outreach and services to the victims of crime. The grant program, entitled Helping Outreach Programs to Expand (HOPE), can provide an excellent means of improving local organizations’ capabilities to reach out to crime victims and help meet their needs. The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is now accepting proposals for its Helping Outreach Programs to Expand (HOPE) grants program. HOPE grants provide up to $5,000 in funding to grassroots community-based victim service organizations and coalitions to improve outreach and services to crime victims, through support of program development, networking, coalition building, and service delivery. Funds may be used to develop program literature, train advocates, produce a newsletter, support victim outreach efforts, and recruit volunteers. Interested organizations should submit a letter of request on the agency's letterhead to the OVC Director. The letter should include the organization's mission statement; background information about the organization/coalition (e.g., how long in existence, names and titles of organization's principals); funding sources (past 12 months); description of activities and crime victim services; statement of need; intended uses of funds; and, letters of support (e.g., law enforcement, social services, victim services). If you are interested in this program, you can get more details at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/fund/expandingoutreach/welcome.html. REGISTER NOW FOR UPCOMING WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE On Friday, December 5, the White House and the US Department of Justice will host a conference in Tampa, FL to help faith-based and community organizations learn more about President Bush’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft will address the conference regarding the Federal government’s efforts to make sure that faith-based and community groups can compete on an equal footing for Federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. The Conference is free, but pre-registration is required. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Visit www.fbci.gov to register online. We strongly encourage you to register online. If you are unable to register online, print and complete the registration form available from the website and fax it to 703-299-4589 or 703-706-0476. If you are not able to view this file, please call 202-456-6718 to have a form faxed to you. Please register by Wednesday, November 26. If you are unable to attend the conference, please cancel your registration via email, to fbci@dtihq.gov, or via fax, to the numbers listed above, so we may accommodate as many people as possible. The Conference is part of a series of regional Conferences that will be held around the country. These conferences will equip participants with information about Federal programs that are suited to their needs, the Federal funding process, and the legal requirements that may apply to recipients of Federal funds. It will also give them practical information on the grant-writing process and successful practices from other organizations, as well as an opportunity to network with Federal officials. The Conference will offer several different tracks of workshops. When you pre-register, please indicate your preference for which workshop you would like to attend. Since workshops fill up, please mark a first and second choice. For more information, please call 202-456-6718, send an email to fbci@dtihq.com, or visit www.fbci.gov. We very much hope that you will be able to join us in Tampa, Florida. PRESIDENT ADDRESSES POWER CENTER President George W. Bush traveled to Houston, Texas on October 29, 2003, to address a large gathering of people who were celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Power Center, one of the nation’s largest faith-based providers of community social services. You can read the President’s remarks at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030912-14.html. |