Main Street Arkansas Calendar – February 20 - 24, 2012
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MONDAY President’s Day – office
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY Cary – south Arkansas
THURSDAY Cary – National Trust Trustees’ meeting
FRIDAY Cary – National Trust Trustees’ meeting
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Blytheville Planters Seek Volunteers
Main Street El Dorado Celebrates Their Volunteers
Mural Discovery in Walnut Ridge
Cash Mobs
The Rural Grocery Store Initiative
5 Grant Opportunities
Smart Growth Awards (Main Street Category)
Blytheville Planters Seek Volunteers
http://www.couriernews.net/story/1815491.html?response=no
Main Street El Dorado Celebrates their Volunteers
http://www.eldoradonews.com/news/localnews/2012/02/15/main-street-sets-musicfest-volunteer-cel-12.php
Mural Discovery in Walnut Ridge
http://www.thetd.com/freepages/2012-02-15/news/story2.php
Cash Mobs
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/14/10400367-cash-mobs-flash-mobs-go-to-bat-for-small-local-businesses
The Rural Grocery Store Initiative
http://www.ruralgrocery.org/
Rural Services Grant due March 16
http://www.arkansas.gov/drs/drsgrants.html
Support for the Development of Public Green Spaces
TKF Foundation: Open Spaces Sacred Places National Awards Initiative
The TKF Foundation supports the creation of public green spaces that offer temporary sanctuary, encourage reflection, provide solace, and engender peace and well being. The Foundation's Open Spaces Sacred Places National Awards Initiative funds the development of significant new public green spaces in urban settings that demonstrate a combination of high quality design-build and rigorous research about user impacts. The initiative’s final Request for Proposals (RFP) will support cross-disciplinary teams that are able to 1) conceptualize, plan, design, and implement an open and sacred green space, 2) conduct an associated research study(ies), and 3) communicate scientific findings. Funded projects should serve as potential models for urban areas across the United States. A total of $4 million is available through this RFP. The application deadline is June 29, 2012. Visit the Foundation’s website to learn more about the National Awards Initiative and review the RFP
Investigations Measuring the Impact of Choice Neighborhoods Interventions Supported
Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Transformation Initiative: Choice Neighborhoods Demonstration Small Research Grant Program provides support for the development and implementation of small scale research projects that complement current larger-scale Choice Neighborhoods (CN) Demonstration baseline research. Proposed activities should be designed to overcome the following challenges and provide clear evidence of the impact of CN: the difficulty in establishing a convincing counterfactual of the impact to the neighborhood and its residents in the absence of the CN intervention; the difficulty in explaining why a particular approach does or doesn't work due to CN combining a variety of services and investments; and the difficultly in measuring the benefits that accrue to individuals, businesses, or other entities that extend beyond the scope of the CN baseline research project. The application deadline is March 13, 2012.
$500 Grant Opportunity
http://goodcitizenship.maker.good.is/
The Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation and the Arkansas Community Foundation are partnering to seek grant applications from nonprofit organizations.
The grants funded by the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame will go to programs that benefit black communities or other underserved populations in the state through education, health and wellness, youth development, small business development or economic development. The Arkansas Community Foundation will administer the grants.
Grants will typically range from $1,000 to $2,500 but may approach $5,000 in special circumstances. There are some restrictions on the funds’ use.
Priority consideration will be given to:
Applications that show multiple sponsoring agencies/ organizations.
Proposals that include evidence of local financial support.
Proposals that demonstrate collaborative ventures among organizations within the community.
Proposals that have promise for sustainability beyond the grant period.
Proposals that show an innovative approach to community challenges.
April 15 is deadline to apply. Nonprofit organizations can get more information online at arcf.org.
2012 EPA National Award for Smart Growth Achievement, Application Period Now Open
Deadline April 6, 2012
EPA is pleased to announce that the application period for the 11th annual National Award for Smart Growth Achievement is now open. This competition is open to public- and private-sector entities that have successfully used smart growth principles to improve communities environmentally, socially, and economically. Winners will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington, DC, in December 2012.
There is only one application form for all three categories listed below.
· Programs and Policies
· Equitable Development
· Main Street or Corridor Revitalization
In addition, the review panel will choose an Overall Excellence winner from those that apply in these three categories.
· Application deadline: April 6, 2012.
· Public-sector winners will receive one complementary registration to the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in 2013.
· EPA will film short videos of the winning projects, which will be shown at the awards ceremony in 2012 and the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in 2013 and posted on the EPA smart growth website.
· All entries must be submitted using the application form.
· The application can be submitted by either a public-sector or private-sector entity, but all applications must include a public-sector partner.
The official award guidelines and entry form can be found here: http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/awards.htm. Note that an updated entry form will be posted here by March 2012 with information on where to send the applications.
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