General Assembly (GA) Scholarships & Grants for Youth and Young Adults
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries has created new funding opportunities and processes to make it easier and more economically accessible than ever for youth and young adults at attend Justice General Assembly (GA) 2012 in Phoenix, AZ.
Youth and Young Adults Scholarship Program
The Youth and Young Adult Scholarship Program from the UUA Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries is a grant to assist individual youth and young adults for whom attendance to GA is financially difficult. Youth (grades 9-12 or equivalent) and young adults who have a real financial need that would otherwise prohibit them from attending General Assembly are eligible.
This award pays the applicant's GA registration fee and up to $500 for expenses associated with attendance at GA.
Additional funds beyond $500 for expenses are available this year through a generous gift from the Katie Tyson Fund for applicants who demonstrate exceptional leadership ability and potential and indicate in their applicant statement their plan for bringing what they have learned at GA back to their communities.
The deadline for applications is March 31, 2012. Applicants will be notified of award decisions after mid-April.
A link to the online application can be found on the Scholarship Opportunities for Attending General Assembly web page.
General Assembly Planning Committee (GAPC) Matching Grant Program
The General Assembly Planning Committee (GAPC) has established a matching grant scholarship fund to increase economic accessibility for Unitarian Universalists (UUs) who want to attend GA and to encourage congregations to send delegates to this annual meeting of congregations.
For individuals, this means that the cost of GA registration and up to $500 for expenses (transportation, etc.) can make attending General Assembly more affordable. For congregations, this means that, in addition to paying the recipient's registration, the Planning Committee will match (up to $250) what a congregation budgets to support sending a member to GA.
Under special circumstances, youth and young adults who are awarded GAPC matching grants may request that an award from the Youth and Young Adults Scholarship Program serve as their congregational match.
The deadline for applications is March 31, 2012. Applicants will be notified of award decisions by mid-April.
More information, including a link to the online application, can be found on the Scholarship Opportunities for Attending General Assembly web page.
NOTE: To ensure that youth and young adults are considered for even more scholarship options, the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries and the General Assembly Planning Committee (GAPC) have combined their scholarship application processes. The funds and decision-making procedures will remain separate, but youth and young adults no longer have to submit separate applications to be considered for either of these two scholarship awards—the one application automatically qualifies the applicant to be considered for both programs. Those who received an award from one scholarship program last year are still eligible to be considered for an award from the other scholarship program this year.
*NEW!* Get There Grants
Get There Grants are for projects that defray costs to help youth and young adults attend the 2012 Justice GA in Phoenix, AZ. These grants are for shared expenses that can lower the cost of attendance for a large number of youth or young adults. The goal of Get There Grants is to empower youth and young adults to find creative solutions for making Justice GA more affordable for themselves and their peers. Ideas could include:
- Subsidize bus rental or car pooling for groups of young adults or youth.
- Provide box lunches for youth and young adult attendees at a location near the convention center.
- Purchase ingredients to offer a $2/plate spaghetti dinner prepared offsite near the convention center.
Any youth, young adult or religious leader who works with youth and young adults may apply for a Get There Grant. Note that youth applicants require adult advisors, and all applicants must have a fiscal agent (congregation, UUA district/region, religious organization, etc.). Grants will vary, but may range from a few hundred dollars to $1,000-2,000.
Grant applications received by March 31, 2012 will be given priority. Grant applications received after the deadline will still be reviewed for the available funding. Don’t let the deadlines keep you from applying for a great project idea that comes up – even if the deadlines have passed!
For more information about how to apply, please see the Get There Grants Application (PDF).
For more information about these and other programs that support youth and young adult attendance at GA, visit the General Assembly home page, check out the GA Accessibility Project on our blog Blue Boat, email us at youth@uua.org or youngadults@uua.org, or call us at (617) 948-4350.
We look forward to seeing you in Phoenix!
For more information contact youth@uua.org.
This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors. Please consider making a donation today.
Last updated on Thursday, March 1, 2012.
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