October 10, 2002
Contact: Dan Langan
(202) 401-1576
In Atlanta: Sonya Sanchez or Laura Caudell
(703) 967-0065
Paige Joins White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at Training Conference in Atlanta
Conference to help organizations that have been "lifting people's lives"
ATLANTA -- More than 1,500 leaders of faith-based and community organizations from Atlanta and surrounding areas attended a White House conference today to learn how they can participate in the federal grants process in order to help meet the needs of the poor in their communities.
The day-long event was sponsored by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and five centers located at the departments of Education, Labor, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development.
Jim Towey, the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, kicked off the conference.
"We hope to level the playing field through these workshops, so these organizations can have the necessary information to obtain federal support, and America can benefit fully from their contributions," Towey said. "Grassroots groups touch the lives of the poor and distressed in compassionate and inspiring ways and affect lasting, positive results. We must encourage and expand the important work of these groups."
U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige said the goal of the initiative is to provide groups with the ability to better compete for federal funding.
"There are thousands of hard-working organizations across America that have been lifting people's lives in ways that are beyond the government's ability -- often on shoestring budgets," said Paige, who gave the keynote address. "They are eager to do more for their communities but have been held back because they are either not aware of federal grant opportunities or merely got bogged down in the cumbersome process. The president's goal is that these groups have the ability to compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support and face fewer bureaucratic barriers."
President Bush created the White House initiative last year to leverage the contributions of grassroots community and faith-based groups to help meet social service needs across the nation.
The Atlanta event is the first of a series of regional educational conferences sponsored by the White House to provide participants with information about federal grant programs, their funding process, and the legal requirements that apply to recipients of federal funds. Attendees also received practical information on the grant-writing process as well as an opportunity to network with federal officials.
The Faith-Based and Community Initiatives enlists, equips, enables, and empowers these groups to do their heroic work across America. The president signed the executive order creating the initiative on Jan. 29, 2001, and declared that his administration is committed to identifying and removing needless barriers that thwart the compassionate work of these organizations.
The Department of Education's Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives focuses specifically on how these organizations can use federal funds in order to help students succeed in school and close the achievement gap between less fortunate children and their peers. The new No Child Left Behind education law provides these organizations grant opportunities through several programs such as the 21st Century After School Learning Centers and Supplemental Services or tutoring. The department is seeking to recruit the most qualified providers of these services, including faith-based and community groups, without regard to their religion or lack of religion. Federal funds may not be used by any organization for inherently religious activities.
For more information about the President's Faith-based and Community Initiatives, including the Education Department's, visit: www.fbci.gov.
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