NPower Greater DC Region, a local nonprofit organization that provides technology services to other nonprofits, announced that applications are being accepted for its second annual NPower Technology Innovation Award given by Accenture. This award recognizes those nonprofits in the metropolitan DC region whose innovative use of technology has helped them improve key aspects of their operations and more effectively fulfill their missions. The award will honor a winner and two other finalists that best demonstrate how technology advancements have had a positive impact on 1) their overall mission; 2) the efficiency of day-to-day operations; 3) the effectiveness in serving clients and key stakeholders; and 4) their fundraising, advocacy or volunteer efforts. Winners will receive free technology consulting and software products valued up to $35,000.

NPower's vision is a thriving nonprofit sector in which all organizations have access to the best technology resources and know-how and can apply these tools to help create healthy, vibrant, thriving communities.

The mission is to ensure all nonprofits can use technology to better serve their communities.

The goal is to reduce the challenge of managing and using technology so that nonprofits can focus on what they do best -- feeding the homeless, tending to the sick, teaching children to read, and saving the environment.

The Program Assistant will be responsible for:
Managing and administering The Book Club, where families receive free, new books by mail on a monthly basis along with reading incentives and reading activities for families to talk about and do at home
Work with partner agencies to enroll new clients
Analyzing data for program evaluation
Conducting parent workshops and volunteer orientations
Delivery books and supplies to sites
Field calls and e-mail inquires from partner agencies, donors, & potential volunteer
Maintaining the organization's database
General Office Administration; paying bills, handling mail, & ordering supplies
Other duties as assigned

The Reading Connections mission is to share a passion for books and reading with children living in housing crisis. In this way, they seek to build foundations for a lifelong love of reading and achievement. Over the years, TRC has expanded to 13 shelters and transitional housing sites in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. They also provide staff training, parent workshops and a Book Club for Healthy Families DC/Alexandria/Arlington, Arlington Early Head Start and The Child and Family Network Centers.
Now in their fifteenth year of service to the community, TRC recognizes the critical relationship that exists among literacy, academic success, and breaking the cycle of poverty. The five established programs and services provide a continuum of care for children living in housing crisis. They begin working with children when they enter shelters (Shelter Read-Aloud Program) and continue to encourage their literacy development once they have moved into homes of their own.

How to apply:
Send or e-mail resume and cover letter to:
Courtney Kissell, Executive Director The Reading Connection 2009 N. 14th Street, Suite 307 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone (703) 528-8317, Ext. 12 ckissell@thereadingconnection.org www.thereadingconnection.org

The Sociological Initiatives Foundation provides grants of $5,000 to $15,000 to support community- based research projects. Areas of interest include but are not limited to social justice, social welfare, human rights, literacy, language learning and use, dialect use and curricular issues in teaching second languages and non-native languages.

For more information contact Prentice Zinn - at pzinn@grantsmanagement.com or 617-426-7080x307.

Vernacular architecture shapes everyday life. Comprised of those buildings generated in a particular place, by a particular community, or for a particular function, vernacular architecture comports behavior, constructs identity, orchestrates ritual, and mediates social politics. Dedicated to the study of ordinary architecture, Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, the scholarly refereed journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, invites submissions of articles that explore the ways the built environment constructs the everyday. The editors encourage the submission of articles employing cross-disciplinary methodologies and engaging topics within and beyond North America. We are particularly interested in articles that incorporate field work as a component of the research.

All manuscripts should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style. Contributors agree that manuscripts submitted to the PVA will not be submitted for publication elsewhere while under review by PVA. Two hard copies of the manuscript and photocopied reproductions of the illustrations should be sent directly to each of the two editors.

List of available opportunities on the project finder:

Resource Guide for Prospective Parents
Evaluating Mental Health Policies in the US
NSP Data Assessment
Collaboration DC "Mapping South of Washington"

If you would like to share any announcements from your organization or campus with the CoRAL Network community, send a brief blurb to kcarter@coralnetwork.org by close of business each Thursday for inclusion in the following Monday's Newsbits.

Please note that submissions MUST be about local events, news, opportunities and activities that are related to community affairs in the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Northern Virginia.