Cancellation of grant writing workshop at Hyatt looms

Due to lack of local participants, a federal agency may have to cancel a workshop that would provide technical assistance for up to $500,000 in annual grants.

The Administration for Native Americans is scheduled to conduct a free grant writing workshop from Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2005. The training will be held from 9am to 5pm at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.

However, only two individuals have registered so far. Project leader Lilia Kapuniai of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement said she would have to cancel the workshop if there were no more than five participants registered by Sunday.

According to Kapuniai, the CNMI is currently underrepresented in receiving grant awards from ANA.

In 2005, for instance, ANA did not fund any project from the CNMI. ÅgThis is the perfect opportunity to access funding up to an amount of $500,000 annually to support creative community-based projects. This is one of the hardest grant proposals to write, but through training and technical assistance we can help provide guidance,Åh Kapuniai said in an email to the Saipan Tribune.

The workshop goal is to educate at least 10 individuals from eligible organizations about ANA, its grant programs and means to access ANA funding. The intense three-day workshop will focus on developing specific goal statements, objectives, work plans, budgets and impact indicators.

Kapuniai said there would be another workshop scheduled for Jan. 25-27, 2006 at the Hyatt Regency Saipan. But ANA encourages potential applicants not to wait Ågbecause community planning and community support are two very important elements of this grant that require time,Åh she said.

The deadline for submission of grant proposals are expected to be in March or April 2006.

ANA’s grant program is a nationally competitive discretionary fund. Each year ANA distributes approximately $37 million to eligible organizations that proposed community-based projects to promote ANA’s goal of social and economic self-sufficiency for Native Americans, which includes American Indians, Alaska natives, native Hawaiians, and the native peoples of American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Marianas.

ANA administers five grant programs, three of which are available to the Pacific Region:

– Improving the Well-Being of Children/Native American Healthy Marriage Iniative – Projects that provide community support, relationship skills education, and other activities that promote the well-being of Native American children and families.

– Social and Economic Development Strategies – Projects that promote self-sufficiency in Native communities by reducing dependency on public funds and social services by using culture as a foundation to increase community and individual productivity through community development.

– Language Preservation and Maintenance – Projects that ensure the preservation and enhancement of Native American languages, allowing communities to develop language plans or projects that ensure the survival and vitality of our language.

In 2003, the CNMI government received a Social and Economic Development Strategies award amounting to $220,000 to increase the use of the Chamorro and Carolinian languages in the home.

Library Friends is an existing three-year grantee that has been awarded $250,000 for projects that would reverse the loss of culture by providing a variety to library services.

Online registration is available at www.anapacific.org. Interested parties may also contact the Hawaiian Council at 800-709-2642 and ask for Kapuniai.