Metro has continued the Community Enhancement Fund Grant Program (CEF) for Davidson County nonprofits for 2014.

The CEF is designed to meet community needs by funding:
• Services not currently provided by Metro Nashville Government.
• Services which enhance those already provided by Metro Nashville Government.

All applicants must attend a mandatory applicant training session.

Applicants must attend an information session on Tuesday, April 2 from 2-4 p.m. or Wednesday, April 3 9:30-11:30 a.m. Both sessions will be held at the Howard Office Building, first floor, 700 Second Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37210. Free parking is available behind Lindsley Hall (the castle building on the Richard Fulton Campus).

Pre-registration is not necessary, but be sure to sign-in upon arrival in order to get credit for attending.

Attendees who want to review a copy of the handbook during the training are advised to print out a copy to bring with them. In an effort to reduce paper consumption, we will be providing only a limited number of paper copies of the handbook at the training.

Find more information here.

Join Laurel Lunn, PhD student at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University and Marielle Lovecchio, Community Development Director for the Center for Refugees and Immigrants of Tennessee share the design and data collection from the Nashville Refugee study.

Presenters will discuss:
• The targeted population of the survey, which includes Somali and Iraqi refugees living in Nashville
• Information regarding health status, psychosocial factors, and experiences with health services within Nashville’s refugee population
• Preliminary data collected from over 100 Somali refugees

Location: Coleman Community Center, 384 Thompson Lane, Nashville
When: Friday, March 1, 8:30am-10am
To RSVP: contact Christine Shoaf at Christine.c.king@vanderbilt.edu

The Nashville Conflict Resolution Center will offer mediation training in May.

The deadline to apply for the Spring Family Mediation training is April 12. Applications can be found here.

NCRC mediation training incorporates both theory and practice to provide the skills necessary to mediate a wide range of court and community-based conflict.

NCRC trainings cover these topics & more:
• Conflict management styles
• Mediation ethics
• The role(s) of the community mediator
• The 5 steps of the mediation process
• Handling bias & power imbalances in mediation
• Cross-cultural communication / multicultural competency
• Strategic listening for feelings, values & topics
• Rule 31 standards & procedures
• Negotiation strategies for breaking through impasse
• Games, videos, simulations & role-plays
Learn more here.

Are you part of a school or nonprofit organization with an outstanding program for college accessibility.

The Exemplary Model Grants RFP is available March 1 and due April 19. The grant will award $10,000-$40,000 to school districts, schools, nonprofit organizations, and higher education institutions with at least two years experience in college access related intiatives, a track record of data collection and data use and a demonstrated staff capacity to carry out the project.

Awards will be chosen by Tennessee College Access and Success Network, State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

Learn more

Can Nashville weather the storm?

Hear from David Padgett, PhD, TSU and Nia Foderingham, MD, Meharry Medical College as they share their geographic information systems (GIS)-based research on Nashville’s vulnerable populations and their proximity to hazards associated with extreme weather events.

The discussion will happen at Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Care Center on Friday, Jan. 11 8:30-10 a.m.

They will discuss:

• Their use of modified Social Vulnerability Index (SOVI) score to measure the relative vulnerability of communities and neighborhoods within the region
• Impacts of the 1,000-year May 2010 storm event
• Spatial and SOVI analysis results which revealed the locations of several Nashville communities that have especially elevated risk levels.

For more information, or to RSVP for the event, contact Christine King Shoaf at christine.c.king@vanderbilt.edu.

Progress Inc. is in the beginning stages of adding a fourth building to their campus on Ezell Pike in Nashville and they’re looking for an organization to occupy the new building.

The building would include two large office spaces joined by a shared meeting space with separate entrances that could be secured from the rest of the building if needed. The occupants would also have access to larger conference room space when needed/available and could opt to share front office functions (office manager) and back office functions (ordering supplies, maybe limited business office support).

Occupancy is still 18-24 months away and rental costs are still being considered, but if you would be interested in learning more, contact Donna Goodaker at d.goodaker@progress-inc.org.

The Nashville Area Chapter of the Grant Professionals Association (GPA) will award one grant professional a one-year gift membership. If you’re interested in being considered for this membership, the deadline to apply is Wednesday, Jan. 2.

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS:  i) any individual who is currently active in the grants field or a new entrant and aspiring grant professional, ii) individuals who are not current Nashville Area GPA Chapter Members, and iii) current Nashville Area GPA Chapter Members who, due to recent career transition, are experiencing financial need that otherwise precludes them from continuing active dues-paying membership.

INSTRUCTIONS:  To apply, send an email to the attention of Leah Smith (Secretary of the Nashville Area GPA Chapter) at leah@hon.org with the following email subject line:  Nashville Area GPA Gift Membership Application.

Attach to your email a Microsoft® Word document (not to exceed one-page, 1-inch margins all around, Times New Roman font) that contains the following:
1. Name
2. Title & Organization
3. Contact Information (Email address and preferred phone number)
4. Needs Statement:  Your needs statement should answer the questions:
* Why is it important to you to be a chapter member?
* What are you hoping to learn through your one-year chapter membership?
* What will you contribute to the chapter as an active member?

PLEASE NOTE: Recipient of free membership will be asked to serve on one of the Chapter’s committee’s during his/her first year.

For any questions, please feel free to contact Leah Smith at leah@hon.org.

Do you know an outstanding volunteer? Hands On Nashville is accepting nominations for the 2013 Mary Catherine Strobel Awards!

Nominations are due Dec. 14, 2012 and the awards luncheon is scheduled for April 2, 2013.

Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards categories include:
•Youth Volunteer
•Innovator
•Community Impact
•Civic Group
•Direct Service
•Corporate Service Project

Click here for more information or to nominate a volunteer today!

CNM is partnering with Nashville Social Enterprise Alliance for the Business For Good Competition. The Competition aims to provide potential and serial social entrepreneurs with a unique forum for submitting novel ideas to solve various social problems in Nashville.

Each team or individual that submits their concept will potentially have an opportunity to pitch their idea to an audience of Nashville’s most successful entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, and community leaders and a chance to win seed funding, incubation space, mentorship/coaching, website development, branding services, legal and technical assistance, and other great awards.

For more information, visit: http://nashvillesocialenterprise.org/business-for-good

The Meharry-Vanderbilt Community Engaged Research Core is hosting a free, half-day conference to support local community organizations in their work to create their own research agenda. The day will provide an orientation to the basics of research and explain why community based organizations can and should have their own research agendas. The conference will answer common questions that many organizations have including;

• Why does research matter?
• How can research findings be used to help my organization and the community we serve?
• Should our service model be evidence-based?
• How can our organization find a research partner?

As the future of funding becomes even more competitive, organizations must be able to show they are effective and efficient in delivering their services. Please join us on Friday, November the 2nd to learn more about how research can help your organization be the best it can be!

Date: Friday, November 2, 9am-1:00pm
Location: Goodwill Center, 937 Herman Street, Nashville
To Register: https://redcap.vanderbilt.edu/surveys/?s=XE4Lru
Cost: There is no registration fee. Lunch will be provided.