Warden Development Council

The Warden Development Council (WDC) came together in the summer of 2006 as an informal group of citizens concerned about the lack of growth in the City of Warden and it’s viability as a thriving, growing community. The county and communities around Warden were growing at an unprecedented rate, but Warden remained a community in poverty and on a downslide. At the same time, the community was approached by WSU to be part of the Horizon’s Project. As in most small towns, even though these two organizations came about independently, many of the members of the WDC also were in the Horizon’s Leadership. In 2007, the ideas produced by these two groups merged with the WDC taking the lead in registering with the state as a not-for-profit 501 (c) (6). As the groups became more and more focused on the work of creating a community where families that earn a ‘living wage’ would like raise their children, it was obvious through the strategic planning process of the Horizon Project that the WDC become the vehicle for change.

Financing Your Education

Tony Garcia, Community Coach for WSU’s Horizons Program presented a workshop titled “Alternative Financing for Your Education” at the DSHS/Worksourse Annual Columbia Basin Job Fair, information on Displaced Worker funds, Tuition Assistance for Working Parents,
Scholarship opportunities, student employment, Workforce Training Program, Job Corps, Veteran’s assistance, and all the other possibilities. Other partners that served as a panel included:
• WIA funding (Skillsource)
• Opportunity Grant sources (Worksource Center, BBCC),
• Work-based Learning Tuition Assistance Program & Financial Aid (BBCC)

Citizenship Training

June 13, 2008 WSU sponsored a workshop entitled "General Information Regarding Citizenship and Visas for Family Members” . David Estudillo, attorney from the Estudillo Law Firm from Seattle, presented basic information about citizenship requirements, obtaining lawful permanent residency, visa preference categories, and other potential visas at the Warden community Center. Following the presentation on June 14 Horizons partners (The Moses Lake Community Health Center; Warden Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Central Committee)"Know Your Rights as an Immigrant and How to Acquire Your Records" presented by Miriam Cardenas of the Mennonite Centeral Committee.

Grants Library

The Horizons program has purchased and supplied the community with a small grants library to assist community members in furthering their needs to seek funding in order to advance our efforts towards poverty reduction. The small library has been purchased from the Foundation Center and consist of the following books:
Foundation Directory, 2008
Foundation Directory, Part 2
Foundation Directory, Supplement
National Directory of Corporate Giving, 13th edition
Foundation Today Series
Foundation Centers Guide to Winning Proposals
Grantseeking on the Web
Foundation Fundamentals
Foundation Center’s Guide to Proposal Writing
Guia Para Escribir Propuestas
The grants library will be housed at the Warden Community Library for easy use by community members.

Grant Writing

The Horizons Program is sponsoring a Grant Writing Workshop for community members and community agency partners on April 4 & 5. The program was honored to have renowned grants trainer Susan Howlett. During the two-day training the following topics were covered:
• Where does money come from (types of sources and where to find them)
• How do you decide what’s a good match for you and your project.
• How do you prepare your organization to be grant-ready.
• Writing a compelling letter of inquiry
• What do grantmakers look for in a proposal.
• What are the standard questions and what are strong answers for each.
• Budgets and other support documents and the stories they tell.
• Cultivation, recognition and stewardship of grantors.
• How to corroborate need.
• How to articulate outcomes or measurable objectives.
• How to develop an evaluation plan.
• An exercise in reviewing real letter of inquiry.