Nashville Hosts Full House
at Statewide Grantwriting Training

Field Office Director, Bill Dirl (left) and Knoxville's Keith Richardson (center) with Nashville's Marsha Webb, Operation Specialist and Faith-Based Liaison

Tennessee's three FPM Faith-Based Liaisons successfully held a two-day "Art and Science of Grantwriting" training event in Nashville on August 20 and 21, 2008 where an overflow crowd from across Tennessee and five states attended to learn how to apply for federal grants from HUD and other agencies. Due to the unexpected interest in the event, with some 150 persons expected, the training was held at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville.

The annual training is a primary activity to fulfill the faith-based activities and local action plans of the Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville Field Offices. Planning began months earlier during statewide conference calls with the Field Office Directors and Liaisons, Gail Bankston-Memphis, Keith Richardson-Knoxville, and Marsha Webb-Nashville. In addition to their other Operations Specialist activities, they were able to plan and announce the event through several available communications options, but primarily using online promotion and electronic registration.

Some 150 attended Tennessee's annual statewide training

"The key to the large attendance for this year's event was due to promoting it on the Internet and via e-mails to our partners, who helped us to spread the news statewide," said Terry Livingston, Nashville Web Coordinator. Not only did the National Faith-Based Listserv newsletter announce the event nationally via e-mails to subscribers, but we actively contacted local partners and utilized our Tennessee Calendar to allow them to register online - making the online registration the primary way to register."

Use of electronic registration is the most advantageous way to give everyone wanting to attend an equal chance to register, in lieu of letters, faxes or other means of registration. It alleviates any notion of giving some groups or persons any advantage. However, there are still many who do not use the latest technology, and received news of the training by other means. When announcing events on the calendar, there is always a telephone number given for them to call. But this leads to another question. How did they find out about the event without the Internet? That's where partners and alliances come into play. Therefore, there will always be some who have no option to electronically register. We must still provide them a way to register, too. We all know that sooner or later, they must become involved with technology, or they won't be able to apply for any HUD federal grant or register on Grants.gov.

Knoxville Operations Specialist and Faith-Based Liaison, Keith Richardson, instructed the two-day training event

New attendees are given the basics of how to form, administer, and operate a new 501c3 non-profit agency and how to apply for all types of grants. "It's amazing to see wide-eyed people learning about how the government operates with regard to federal grants and all the available resources out there, said Livingston. 'Who knew!' is the typical response." However, when they get the opportunity to network with others already successful with their business or with those just "starting-up", they see that their dreams can become a reality. These students understand that with persistence and research, they can become successful. The one common thread of this training that instills hope and opportunity is the knowledge and proof that ideas can become a reality - and a reality that may help others realize their dreams.