Thursday, December 17, 2015

Must Read!!! Becoming Bold with Confidence....
Here I am a 39 year old entrepreneur/full-time employee for a major transit company with big dreams and little savings. A few months ago I took a leap into carrying out my dream of a full-time self-employed community activist & philanthropist, I'm thinking how much bondage I'm in to my employer, how much burden I'm causing myself with restless nights and migraine headaches, I had enough & nothing or no one could stop me (Not even God) so I walked in my job without a second look & said I quit!!! Here it is I've made between 70,000 to 75,000 thousand in not even an entire year as of yet, yet in still I became miserable & taunted at my dream of becoming who GOD ordained me to be. So I made up my mind to be free from the pain and agony of working long hours and hardly basking in my brand new home which I just purchased. See for me I was bold with confidence!!! In life you'll have hurdles, battles, trials, & many testimonies. No I don't advocate quitting your job please by all means don't hold me to it but in order to explore what's out there for you yes you & you alone you have to seek & try, never doubting (Of course I did) but knowing greater is waiting for me. Trust me I've experienced some very dark days, cried many nights of how my bills would get paid, how can the nonprofit move forward without funding, will the lights stay on, etc.....My family was guessing what's going on all while questioning me on every end and still I remain neutral never allowing anyone to know yes I'm freeing myself from my employer but I'm also walking into something so great it's beyond what I could imagine. I begin to open my heart to feeling vulnerable, scared, becoming pestimistic all in one. See for years I was the female who would start a project but never finished, I would walk away from anything that was un-comfortable to my mental but this time I have hope, I can laugh at my days to come yes my money is funny but in weeks to come I'll finally complete part of my task and begin my new journey. Moral to my story: Its quite okay to be bold with confidence only the strong will survive & I am dedicated to the youth & hearts of the community. Don't ever give up on your hopes & dreams, dreams don't become reality until you live it.
Signed Yours Truly,
Ms. Shameka Taylor

Monday, November 23, 2015

Through Faith, Hope and Love Community Outreach we love to explore topics that combat socialism, education, and most importantly the community. As a community-based organization our goal is to bridge the gap between education amongst inner city youth and allowing the community to become accountable as we enlighten everyone on the importance of a child's future in America as it stands. No we're not political but were practical... Many may ignore how important education is to a child whose growing up in a society full of chaotic political figures, no father's in the home, dysfuntionalism, and abandonment issues  all wrapped into one. With, FHL we try to provide a safe haven for troubled youth who need extra help academically as well as provide outlets to journal negativity into more positive roles that can be expressed through workshops, group discussions, writing, poetry, and  the performing arts.  Our programs are aligned to meet the District of Columbia's  Common Core State Standards Intiative in the public school sector.  We believe the more  we channel a child's brain to effective learning styles the more interesting learning becomes. We offer Mentoring through Youth Leadership, Counseling on Life Skills, College Readiness, Workforce Development, and Financial Literacy each and every Wednesday at the William O. Lockridge/Bellevue Neighborhood Library for youth ages 8-21.
Assessments are required to monitor the success of each child as well as  staff to parent intervention, all parties should be engaged in the development of a child's future. The no child left behind act is why we care and found it imperative to become involved. As, the founder I saw the adversity first hand with children, the anger, rage, and hurt in their eyes as an employee of one of the nations top transit systems located in Washington, DC and it literally broke my heart to listen to countless stories of pain and neglect. I knew I couldn't do this alone and I needed to become fully aware of the risk being taken in trying to help; I was ready for the challenge and so are those on board with me. Founded in 2012 we began outreaching by hosting small intimate events and getting the community involved as much as we could knowing the need was much greater, now in 2015 we are available as a resource to furthering your child's education as well as an organization who provides dress clothing to woman in transition by partnering with "Suited for Change". We want all to know we are dedicated and here to stay and determine for change as we expand to new heights and territories in 2016.

Monday, September 21, 2015

10 Steps to a "Winning Proposal"

Despite gaps in today's economy there are still opportunities available for grant seekers and monies to be invested into start-up projects, and nonprofit organizations. In order for your proposal to stand out in the crowd there are three areas examined; preparation, proposal writing, and follow-up. Majority grant-writers experience some sort of doubt at some point; we can believe internally there is always someone out there in the world of grant writing whose proposal may already have that stamp of approval and in this post I've included 10 healthy solutions to begin the process of writing a winning proposal. Rule #1 always prepare an outline that follows the guidelines, questions, or selection criteria for the proposal...Rule #2 write as you speak never try to write as someone whose fluent in a particular language or lingo conveying your thoughts as overly formal, pretentious, or ponderous...Rule#3 keep in mind the choice of words your using and utilize them effectively.....Rule #4 never exaggerate because as we all know actions are to be proven and speak louder than words and therefore if your organization isn't providing innovative solutions for those tech savvy individuals there should not be any indications of such, we all want to provide the next big thing with cutting-edge programs but make sure your promises are clean , upright, and available resources.....Rule #5 purchase a book on grammar you can always refer to it when in doubt....Rule #6 include a dictionary and thesaurus along with a book on grammar trust me they co-exist with one another and will help-to-build your vocabulary in the long-run...Rule #7 stick to your active voice it's a more straightforward way to writing a wining proposal...Rule #8 keep your own voice out of it excluding all personal judgments, controversial ideas, political views, and sense of humor completely out this is no area to take a risk... Rule #9 limit adjectives that modify nouns, verbs, or a phrase this will leave the reader wondering is this an opinion rather than documented facts, and lastly Rule #10 it's not personal; a winning proposal is neither a winning essay nor an autobiography...If we keep these 10 tips in mind when writing that winning proposal we are sure to accomplish what was set-out before us.