Chattanooga misses out on Department of Education grant

Chattanooga's Community Foundation has been passed over for a U.S. Department of Education grant that could have been as much as $500,000.

But it's not alone - not a single nonprofit group in Tennessee received a grant from the department's Promise Neighborhood Planning program.

"We're disappointed," said Pete Cooper, president of the Community Foundation, which administers 273 funds for local charities and causes. "But remember, we still have this strong coalition with more than 50 organizations dedicated to this concept."

And since the organizations had to find $200,000 on their own as a match for the grant, at least that money is still around, he said.

The Department of Education announced the 21 grant recipients today. They received up to $500,000 to start the Promise Neighborhood program, which, in previous situations, had helped low-performing students in inner-city communities to graduate college and be able to successfully compete for jobs in the workforce, officials said.

In his 2011 budget, President Barack Obama requested $200 million for Promise Neighborhood projects and $10 million for planning grants for new communities.

The 21 Promise Neighborhood grantees include

Abyssinian Development Corp., New York City

Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, St. Paul, Minn.

Athens Clarke County Family Connection, Inc., Athens, Ga.

Berea College, Clay, Jackson, and Owsley counties, Kentucky

Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Mont.

California State University-East Bay, Hayward, Calif.

Cesar Chavez Public Policy Charter High School, Washington, D.C.

Community Day Care Center of Lawrence, Inc., Lawrence, Mass.

Delta Health Alliance, Inc., Indianola, Miss.

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Boston

The Guidance Center, River Rouge, Mich.

Lutheran Family Health Centers, New York

Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta

Neighborhood Centers, Inc., Houston

Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission, Los Angeles

United Way of Central Massachusetts, Inc., Worcester, Mass.

United Way of San Antonio & Bexar County, Inc., San Antonio, Texas

Universal Community Homes, Philadelphia, Pa.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Ark.

Westminster Foundation, Buffalo, N.Y.

Youth Policy Institute, Los Angeles

Contact Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431

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