HomeStart, in partnership with the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois, is pleased to announce a new grant opportunity in which applicants can apply to send a team to a three-day Community Leadership Institute (CLI) event. The event focuses on sharing ideas and successful solutions to the problems and issues facing many communities across the country. This year’s Institute will be held October 12-15 in Los Angeles, CA. Additional information about the Community Leadership Institute can be found at www.nw.org.

This grant opportunity offers the chance for a team of up to 7 community representatives to attend this event in order to work for positive changes within their neighborhood or community. The grant award covers tuition, airfare, ground transportation, food, and shared hotel costs. This year the training will take place in October, and at least 3 members of the awarded group’s leadership must be able to attend this training. (If your group only has 3-4 members that attend, you must be willing to work with an additional neighborhood group during the conference.) This grant is a part of the Neighborhood Grant Program in partnership with the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois and is available to residents of Boone, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago counties.

After the team attends the event, they will work with HomeStart to develop a community-based project. Possible projects include neighborhood festivals, community clean-ups, neighborhood safety projects, etc. The team will have up to $2,000 to implement the project, pending HomeStart’s approval.

“The Community Leadership Institute is a great opportunity for learning, networking, and getting new ideas for community improvement,” commented Deb Elzinga, Executive Director for HomeStart. “Every year hundreds of people from all around the country gather to attend workshops and networking sessions all geared around building strong neighborhood at the NeighborWorks Community Leadership Institute, and we are excited to be able to send a team to represent our region,” said Elzinga.

HomeStart will select one team per year for this opportunity. Applications will be accepted from May 1, 2017, through 5 pm on June 1, 2017. Interested applicants can download a form by visiting www.nwhomestart.org and submit via email to sarahb@nwhomestart.org, or deliver to HomeStart at 803 N. Church Street, Rockford. Questions about the CLI Training Opportunity, or about the application should be directed to Sarah Brinkmann at 815-516-5287.

The decision will be made by June 12, and the winning team will be asked to have the names of all participants to HomeStart no later than June 23, 2017. All applicants should have their list of participants ready when the application is submitted.