My First Grants Were Written for Friends For Hope

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So far what you have learned about me is that I try to help people.  All I want to do is make a difference in the world.

I became an actress so that charities could use my name to raise money.  I worked with my fellow Actor friends and organized golf tournaments and other big events.  Then I moved to a little rural town, Big Lake in Texas to get away from the big city life and settle down.

It wasn’t long after I took up gardening and volunteering at the Baptist church, that I was approached to help my community in another way.

There was a new organization  being created to help women who were going through some tough times.  Specifically Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.  This was a totally new platform for me since most of my fundraising projects were for Cancer, Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Toys for Tots and Make a Wish.

Sheriff Efrain Gonzales and Big Lake Mayor Frank Sandel helped to form Friends for Hope.

Nina Hallmark headed this organization and hand selected the board that would have the same vision that she did ‘to help those who have lost all hope, be strength for those who have none, and support those who need someone to lean on.’

Friends for Hope is a local network of volunteers that provided immediate support to a victim of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, or other violent crimes.  They linked victims with agencies for services such as therapy, shelter, legal aid or medical treatment.  They also educated the community concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and other violent crimes.  The volunteers helped change the attitude in the local community as well as assisting and supporting law enforcement in any way possible.

I always believe that you need either creditability or the passion to learn about whatever cause you are involved in.  Mine had always been in medical and health areas where I had overcome plenty of health battles myself.   I really had to take a hard look the domestic violence issues because I did have personal experience with abuse and sexual assault.  I went through the court system, and all of the so-called shame, but after it was all over, I put that all in my closet and locked away the key.  There were no support systems available to me and you could either get through the situation and come out with a stronger attitude or not.  I chose to put it all behind me and never look back.  Until now.

I didn’t feel like I had the qualifications to support, counsel, or really do much to help others since my personal situation was never really resolved, I just moved on.  So how could I help?  Our town was in a rural area, so I couldn’t really organize a big event with my Actor friends, and Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse wasn’t exactly a popular topic yet in the community.

I knew there were government programs and funding, but had no idea how I could tap into these programs.  I started researching and found out that these funds were awarded in forms of grants.  How the heck do I write a grant?   I am a visual person.  I can share events with you by telling you a story complete with all the imaginative visions so you know exactly what I’m trying to tell you.  In high school I was voted to be the biggest dreamer because I had a very vivid imagination.  In the Air Force one of the tests was the famous ink blots.  By the time I finished describing what I saw, I could convince the test giver it was really there!  Not too sure if that was a good thing… hahaha.

Raising money from selling a positive fun event with your favorite Actors is a total different ball game from asking local and area governments, foundations, and individuals to let loose of money.  I started researching all about grant writing.  Wow!  The discouraging facts that I found out, where that the percentage of grants awarded for the grant writer weren’t too good.  In fact it could take several years before your first grant would be awarded.  We didn’t have several years.  I am the type of person that if you tell me it can’t be done, I ask why? Then watch me accomplish the task.  Another thing I’m not so sure is a good thing….

To submit a government funded grant you are required to take a class.  Step one.  I attended and discovered grant writing could be right up my ally.  I am a stickler on following guidelines to a T.  If the grant guidelines tell you no paperclips or staples, then you better not have them or it could be rejected.  If it states double space, no bolding, etc. you better follow to the last dot.  The applying organization has to be non-profit, and you better have access to all the financial records, in this case from the county.  One last big important thing…you better have tons of accurate statistics.  Final step is that you have to make a presentation, in this case to COG (Council of Governments) for our area.  These are usually County Judges from surrounding counties who will rank your application and if it ranks high enough, the project will be awarded grant money from the state level or Council of governments.   The grant is not only competing against local grants, but also some statewide.  Even if you are ranked #1 local, this doesn’t mean your grant will be awarded.  There is only so much money the State is awarded from the Federal Government, and then it gets divided up between all of the regions, then gets divided up between all the the #1 ranked applications, then #2 etc, until the money runs out.

Writing the grant was one thing, but then to present to County Judges, get them to believe that we need the money more than anyone else, and to survive all of their stares and questions, oh my what have I gotten into!  This was a challenge that I was up for.

I started researching what grants to apply for…I was overwhelmed by all the money that was available out there and I could fit our mission into them all…but I had to start somewhere.  Even though Friends for Hope was mostly volunteers, you have to have some paid positions and be able to pay outside contractors (counselors), medical services, training, etc.  My first grants to tackle were VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) and VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) both of these grants are highly competitive and the funds usually get awarded to the big cities, because of course there are more victims.

In my presentation, and in the grant, I painted the picture of how services were lacking in a rural area, and that we could benefit other rural areas by acting as a central location for several of the surrounding rural areas.  We would be the middle man between the rural areas and the agencies.  We would train, and provide the volunteers.  Travel to accompany the victims to get medical treatment, to be advocates for them in court, to provide them counselors, and to free up law enforcement so they could enforce the law.

I had to put my training on the line….training?  Oh, I didn’t tell you about what it took for me to have the resources to write this grant.  I attended and became certified in several areas of the government agencies that provided help to victims.  I was on the board and according to the grant guidelines I could not be compensated for my grant writing.  My efforts, and the combined efforts of so many other volunteers in the community were top notch.

I was able to volunteer on the hotlines and be on call so my hours would count towards our in-kind funds for the matching part of the grant.  I worked the domestic violence and sexual abuse hotline sometimes 5 days a week, late evenings and through the night.  (I was single so I could work the hours)  Then on weekends and holidays I was on call for Friends for Hope.

Friends for Hope received several awards in our community for all the work we accomplished.  What a great group of volunteers.

My grant was ranked #3 for the VOCA grant and awarded $64,505.00 with an inkind match of $35,805.00 for a total of project cost of $100,310.00.  The second grant VAWA grant was ranked #1 and was awarded $32,896.00.  Both grants totaled $133,206.00!  These grants were the operating funds to run the organization.  These were my 2 first grants I had ever written and were both awarded.  I was on a roll.

I continued to write several other smaller grants for special projects for the organization and won them all.  I continued to write the VOCA and VAWA grants for 3 more years and this set up the foundation so Friends for Hope could continue to submit grants and continue to be funded.

In one of the photos above, the project was a candlelight vigil to remember the victims who have died in an abusive situation.  And it was Child abuse awareness month for children who have lived through abusive situations.

I designed the logo for Friends for Hope and created the website.

While this was part of my dream of helping make a difference, it took it’s toll on my health.  I started having Cluster Migraines frequently.  I was holding all the troubles of the victims and making sure I could fund this program on my shoulders and I was always so afraid that I would let them down.  What I also found out about myself is that helping victims on a very close personal level was not for me.  I always see the world with my ‘Rose Colored Glasses‘, and love my puppies and kitties, flowers, cooking and I met the love of my life, David.  I wanted to be in my happy place again, so I had to resign.  I am proud that I was able to set the foundation so the organization could continue to do all the good work that they set out to do for another several years.  We had moved from Big Lake and it would have been to hard to continue with my services.

While writing the grants for Friends for Hope, I wrote several other grants for the county.  I was awarded a grant for a new Ambulance, awarded a Master Park Plan that was to include a new community swimming pool, community center, walking track, stage and deer feeders.  This was a personal little project that I threw in because I love animals.  The high school kids built the deer feeders and raised money to keep them filled.  The county through the grant filled and maintained them.  Before we moved my next project was going to be a tunnel that went under the highway so the deer would not get hit by the fast moving vehicles.  Everyone had their fair share of jokes, like how do we tell the animals they have a tunnel crossing?  Laugh not!  It was a new funding statewide project for under roads and over roads to protect the wildlife and mainly save human lives and accidents.

My next grant was a happy grant for the community….for a Senior Citizens Indoor Aquatic Center in little rural Big Lake.  This is a project that I am very proud of and is a whole story all of it’s own.  That turned into a $300,000+ project that benefitted Big Lake.

We moved to Mertzon another, little rural community, and I was awarded 2 more grants, a new First Responder Truck, I wrote 1 grant to the San Angelo Area Foundation for $50,000.00.  I almost wasn’t awarded this grant, but they said if I would submit an application to the Meadows Foundation and if they awarded, then San Angelo Area Foundation would match and award.

I submitted to the Meadows Foundation and was awarded $50,000.00 totaling $100,000.00 for this project.

And wrote a grant for a training center and more emergency vehicle storage, to San Angelo Area Foundation and was awarded $59,669.00 matching $129,939.34 making the total project $189,608.34.

I am at 99% in my grant writing.  I lost a little $500 grant for a small children’s project, but our Mayor donated the money when he found out I was going to loose my first grant…so I did raise the money, but I did receive a denial letter.

I am happy to report that I am back to fun activities in my life, cooking, gardening, playing with my fur babies, and most important enjoying life with David!

I still look for ways to help others and try to do so though my cooking, gardening, and cookbooks to help brighten the days of others.  I am much more mindful of my health these days and try my hardest to not take on more than I can chew…..