Training Highlights

ARC Regional Training in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 29-30, 2004

The ARC Navigating the Federal Funding Process Regional Training that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 29-30, 2004, gathered a diverse group of participants representing community-based, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations from 15 States across the Nation.

Welcoming the training participants, Michael Carrington, Deputy Director of the White House Task Force for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, stressed the importance of removing the barriers that prohibit the Federal Government from partnering with faith-based organizations. He pointed out a pressing need to build the capacity of faith-based organizations to compete for Federal funding. Larry Fiedler, Program Manager, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, emphasized the importance of seeking funding at the State level and provided potential sources and contact information for State juvenile justice agencies.

The participants of the Philadelphia workshop indicated that the training materials, especially the Federal Funding Toolkit, addressed their grant-writing needs and were vital in planning for their grant-writing process. The participants rated as very high the overall quality of the training facilitation.

A few comments from participants who attended the ARC Regional Training in Philadelphia are presented below:

• "Great ideas presented and explanation of how to navigate through CD-ROM [Federal Funding Toolkit] and Web."

• "Everything discussed is helpful to development as a whole whether Federal grants or foundations. Very helpful to a novice like me! Group involvement and listening to those experienced was very helpful. Great facilitation!"

• "I thought the entire program was great! I have gained a wealth of knowledge to work with."

• "I now have a better understanding of grant writing. The toolkit is a great resource. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to attend this training."

• "The facilitators really made the training great. They gave real life example, which made the information much easier to learn, to understand. Thanks for putting this together."

• "The handouts extremely supportive of the expertise demonstrated by the presenters - Very comprehensive training - I want to thank all responsible for design and presentation of this training seminar."

• "I have had limited involvement in grant writing in the past - I feel confident now in being a greater help in the application process. I feel that this training was complete in covering all aspects of the grant application process. All of the presenters in my group were excellent. Well spent two days."