(Great Falls) — The University of Providence in Great Falls received a $7000 grant from the Town Pump Charitable Foundation to refurbish their Veteran’s Center. Associate professor of Sociology and military affairs coordinator Deanna Koepke talks about what the grant is about.
“The Town Pump Charitable Foundation had a seven-year anniversary program where they were giving $7,000 grants out. The reason that I became aware of that is one of my colleagues was actually offering a grant writing class and I had actually been interested in learning how to apply for grant for some time. So, I took the class one of our assignments was to actually write a grant proposal and I found that Town Pump was one that focused on both the military and education. So, it seemed like a perfect fit or the opportunity to ask for some money to refresh our Veteran Center.”
She continues by talking about the process to get the grant.
“They have a website and it was really easy you just log in and create an account and then they have some specific information that they were looking for and you just uploaded the document that said what you’re asking for in terms of money what it would be spent on and how you would know what you were trying to do had been successful.”
She went on to talk about what the money will be used for.
“So we’re going to refresh our veterans center here on campus. About 9 years ago, the campus recognized that there was a need to have some space set aside for our veteran students. So, we realized it was important to have a space where the veterans could be surrounded just by other people who understood what their experiences now, had similar past experiences and they could just support each other in a space that is designated just for them. And at the time we were fortunate enough to be able to find some space to set aside for them but we didn’t have a lot of extra budget money to do a real nice job of making it look friendly and warm and inviting. So, this grant is my opportunity to refurbish the location.”
Finally, she finished by talking about when the refurbishment was expected to take place and when the center would be open again.
“We’re in the process right now. In fact, right in front of me on my desk I’ve got a quotation from a company that we’ll order furniture from. I’m picking up paint swatches and our physical plant staff are going to get to work on that with the goal of having it done in time for us to have a sort of grand reopening on November 10th which is the day before Veterans Day.”
