ENCORE RFP Informational Session
By Marcela Navarro

EDINBURG - With one of the lowest college going rates in the nation, concerns about whether or not students in the Rio Grande Valley are ready to start a postsecondary education arise among local educational and community leaders.

The Texas Valley Communities Foundation (TVCOF), a non-profit organization dedicated to address the critical needs of RGV residents, hosted on June 12 a Request For Proposals (RFP) Informational Workshop for local representatives of different community-based organizations and educational institutions.

After launching their first RFP cycle in 2008, TVCOF and Engaging Communities for College Readiness (ENCORE) program announced their second RFP session for the 2009-2010 cycle last May, to continue supporting the development of college readiness programs in the Rio Grande Valley.

More than 50 representatives of Valley organizations interested in the development of college readiness programs attended the workshop to learn more about college readiness and how to successfully complete the ENCORE RFP application. Applicants are looking to develop college readiness programs in the communities they serve to prepare and motivate students to purse a postsecondary education.

"We understand that sometimes community-based organizations feel alone when writing grants," said Gilbert Maldonado, chief executive officer of TVCOF. "We're here to help these entities become successful as they develop college readiness programs in their communities."

At the meeting, the participants discussed the importance of creating alliances among their organizations to create and promote college readiness programs.

"We need to help students understand that college is not an option, it is a requirement to get into adulthood," said Johnny Martinez, administrator of Texas State Technical Colleges. "We need to be able to do funding and get resources for the kids because the more agencies equals more resources, and the more resources we have the more successful our kids are going to be."

During the RFP session, organizations were exposed to the many resources available to help them increase the chances of obtaining one of the grants offered by ENCORE. The ENCORE team members reviewed the guidelines and policies of the RFP process as well as the key findings from the ENCORE research report conducted during 2008 where students, parents, school administrators and community leaders from the Valley participated.

"We want all community-based organizations in the Valley to fully understand and adopt in their advocacy agenda the importance of higher education and college readiness," said Ernesto Villarreal, ENCORE program director. "ENCORE is looking for partners interested in developing dynamic college readiness programs across the communities they serve; we like to invite all community-based organizations to join us in this college readiness movement to improve the educational achievement of our students in Valley."

ENCORE invites all community-based organizations to submit their RFP application to develop a college readiness program for the communities they serve. The deadline to submit the ENCORE RFP application is July 31, 2009.