My project is an on-going service that provides one-on-one tutoring for women in the Gainesville community who are attempting to obtain their GED, or high-school equivalency degree. The portion of the project funded by the Teach Something grant was twofold.
First, I worked with a University of Florida student group to prepare a workshop for my clients on finances and budgeting. The student group prepared worksheets and information sheets to hand out to the clients and also prepared an hour-long lesson and discussion on budgeting. We held the event at a park in Gainesville and invited both the clients and any of their children. The event also included a cookout for the women, their families, and the volunteers.
Second, I began at outreach program to other university students across the US and Canada who are interested in starting a version of the Bella Luce Learning project in their own community. By hosting a table at the Clinton Global Initiative University program, I was able to contact over 20 other interested students and begin the process of setting up additional chapters of Bella Luce Learning on their campuses this fall.
Winning a DoSomething grant allowed us to take on new projects that moved our organization into new and positive directions. First, holding the finance workshop was something that we have been hoping to do for the past year--having the money to provide food and materials for the workshop was exactly what we needed to make the event attractive to our clients. The DoSomething grant also helped us fund the day-to-day materials for our clients, which include GED prep books and GED calculators.