Via’s Living Communities program gives people the tools they need to make a difference where it matters most to them – in their neighborhoods and communities. We have awarded support to 25 community projects so far this year. Each receives a small grant, mentoring and fundraising advisory services as well as inspiration from people leading similar initiatives to create vibrant communities.
ViabilityNet program’s third meeting was held in the beautiful mountains of Fagaras and focused on assets and impacts. Gradually, through the homework tasks, participants are now almost finished with their research on the resilience of their communities. Under the heading RESOURCE ROBUSTNESS, they described the resources in their communities and the quantity and quality of those resources. They also looked at the quality of the learning process and the innovativeness and the connectedness in their communities, which is called ADAPTIVE CAPACITY.
Via Foundation recognized individuals and companies which are donating their time and money to help others through the 21st Via Bona Philanthropy Awards, held on Monday, May 21, under the patronage of the US Embassy. This year, Via engaged the public through online voting. Whether on not you were among those who voted, you may be interested to read about the winners of the 2018 awards in five categories – Patron, Personal Engagement, Young Personal Engagement, Good Company and Bequeaths.
Be organized.
Dress nicely and polish your shoes.
Love what you do.
Words of wisdom shared by Wendy Luers, wife of US Ambassador William Luers and founder of the Foundation for a Civil Society (FCS), the predecessor to Via Foundation. Wendy’s life lessons have been etched into Via staff memory and, just in case memory fails, posted on the wall of our conference room.
The 2018 Via Bona Philanthropy Award finalists are here!
Via Foundation has selected 15 of the most inspiring examples of giving for 2018 and the award winners will be chosen from this pool of finalists. You can vote for the examples you feel are most powerful at www.cenaviabona.cz.
We have opened a call for another round of ViabilityNet 3.0, through which we support people who are engaged in communities in Central and Eastern Europe – and their ideas. If you are considering filling out an application but you’re still unsure whether ViabilityNet is a good fit for you, these thoughts from Zuzana Šrůmová, a participant of this year’s program, may help you decide.
A year ago a friend of mine said to me: “Zuzko, I really think that you should apply to this program. What you are doing and what you want to do in the future are exactly what this program is all about. I was one of the participants in the last round and it was really great.”
