Homewood Nation

The grant competition launched earlier this year by Urban Innovation21 marked another milestone today. Noon was the deadline for business owners to submit their applications for the grants, after going through four training sessions, the last of which was last week.

I haven't spoken yet with any of my classmates to learn what this process was like for them. This is what is was like for me: the more research I did to try to flesh out the idea that want to partiallyl fund with the grant, the more confused I became. Then, not just confused but discouraged. then beyond discouraged to resigned. Around 10, 10:30 last night, I gave up, and I told my wife so.

And she said something like, "So you're giving up, after all this?"

Men - you know how sometimes your wife asks a question that's really a statement that says how disappointed she is in you?

As the Bible would put it, I girded up my loins. And wrote. And read some more. And wrote some more. And went all night, and through the morning, with about 20 minutes of sleep, leaving the house at something like 11:35. As I approached the library, one of my classmates was leaving, and I guessed that she had just met with UI21 community affairs specialist James Myers Jr.  When I found Mr. Myers, another classmate was just finishing up with him. After I took my turn, two more were right behind me.

So maybe I wasn't the only one who didn't sleep last night.

They expect to officially announce winners by the end of May or early June.

And can you believe that as I write this, I am re-writing my application in my head?

Sigh.