MDNHA board member Meg Cooper and MDNHA executive director Dr. Rolando Herts with representatives from 2019 grant program awardee Delta Hands for Hope, Shaw, MSInterested individuals and organizations are invited to learn more about Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area (MDNHA) grants available in 2021 during upcoming grants pre-application virtual workshops.
This year, MDNHA has $250,000 in grants available. Organizations can request a maximum grant amount of up to $24,500.
The grants are designed to support local projects and activities that further MDNHA’s mission of fostering preservation, perpetuation, and celebration of the Delta’s heritage through a climate of collaboration and sustainable economic development.
The virtual workshops are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 27, and Wednesday, Oct. 28 via Zoom. Each session will begin at 3 p.m. and will last approximately 90 minutes.
“For the second year in a row, we are implementing the workshops and application deadline in the fall in order to streamline our review and implementation process,” said Dr. Rolando Herts, executive director of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area and director of The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University.
Herts said the new timeline has been beneficial for the organization.
“Last year was the first time we worked with this timeline, and had we not done so getting grants completed during the unexpected COVID-19 outbreak would have been very difficult,” he said. “This will give us more time to review the proposals, make awards, and issue grant funds for programs that will begin in summer 2021.”
Each workshop will discuss program guidelines, application and reporting requirements, and tips for submitting competitive applications.
Following the workshops, the recorded Zoom meetings will be posted on MDNHA’s website at www.msdeltaheritage.com.Complete program regulations and application forms will also be made available on the MDNHA website after the workshops.
Nonprofits, educational institutions, schools, units of local government, and others are eligible for the grants and are encouraged to attend.
Those interested in attending the live sessions must register online at https://mdnha.formstack.com/forms/grants_workshop.
The deadline for grant applications is forthcoming with grants to be awarded in Summer 2021.
The Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area is a cultural heritage partnership between the people of the Mississippi Delta and the National Park Service. The Heritage Area includes 18 counties that contain land located in the alluvial floodplain of the Mississippi Delta: Bolivar, Carroll, Coahoma, DeSoto, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, Warren, Washington, and Yazoo.
The Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area was designated by the U.S. Congress in 2009 and is governed by a board of directors representing agencies and organizations defined in the congressional legislation.
More information about the Heritage Area, including the complete approved management plan, is available at www.msdeltaheritage.com.Information about the grants program is also available on this website.
The mission of The Delta Center is to promote greater understanding of Mississippi Delta culture and history and its significance to the world through education, partnerships and community engagement. The Delta Center serves as the management entity of the MDNHA and is the home of the International Delta Blues Project. For more information, visit http://deltacenterdsu.com.
For more information, contact The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at (662) 846-4311, or email grants@msdeltaheritage.com.
