Keep Learning… Our Future Depends On It River Trail Project Update

I was fortunate to meet with the very busy Ms. Kate Tykocki today. We reviewed the three grants that we are pursuing along with the impending deadlines for the first one; April 1, 2011. We are in agreement that I will be pursuing three grants for new art installations along the Lansing River Trail. We are in the process of deciding which three areas to strategically place our desired sculptures, including; Hawk Hollow Park, Fenner Nature Center, Adado Park, Old Town and Potter Park Zoo.

Until today, I never realized how much efforts are needed to add sculptures into a public place. For example, there needs to be soil testing done prior to having a sculpture constructed/placed within the City of Lansing. I also wasn’t aware that the bases are typically separate from the sculptures. I was under the impression that the base was a part of the sculpture.

Kate asked me if this project was meeting my educational goals and expectations. In all honesty, it’s exceeding my expectations and I’m becoming more and more excited as time is passing. I never realized how detailed and involved the grant writing would be and never did I suspect that I would be part of something this huge in the Lansing area.

We also spoke about the importance of having grant writing experience and being able to have specific measurable results to talk about during interviews, place on my resume and within my professional portfolio. I have seen several job postings recently that desire candidates with grant writing abilities and experience. Due to this fact, I initially was interested in undertaking the grant writing opportunity for this reason. However, I’m even more excited about having this amazing opportunity to be a part of something of this magnitude and actually giving back to my community in this way.

My long term goal is to work for Capital Area Michigan Works (CAMW) and help the unemployed and underemployed seek out educational opportunities and rewarding career paths. With all of the recent budgetary cuts induced by the Federal Government, I can foresee a need to have grant writing skills and abilities in order to maintain sustainability for the organization. Perhaps I will be fortunate enough to continue volunteering for CAMW by offering my services as a grant writer. This could be the beginning of a great professional relationship and hopefully assist me in my future within the workforce development field.