--ANNOUNCING OUR FIRST "PEOPLE'S CHOICE" DREAM GRANT AWARD--

 Although we were very pleased to be able to give two aspiring writers enough money to put them well on their way to making their writing dream a reality with our 2006 Dream Grant, we grew discouraged from the number of writers we were not able to help.  We raised only $900 in grant applications--and we gave that away.   But what about everyone else?  As always, we are hopeful to receive grants from larger organizations, so we can offer more writers more money (not to mention to buy land for a writer's retreat); however until we do, we are completely reliant on the number of grant entries we receive to determine how much money we can give out.  We don’t keep one single dime of grant money raised from applicants.  Our board members and judges are volunteering their time and talents because we believe one day that will pay off for both the writers who look to us for help and for our foundation.   Because we wanted to offer more writers more money, but had no funds to so, we' decided to turn to the public for help. 

This is where you came in. 

We raised money for one more aspiring writer after the public donated $5 for each vote cast on their favorite writing dream.  YOU helped raise the money; YOU picked the dream.  That's the "People's Choice" Dream Grant Award!  Our first ever...

Our judges’ panel is pleased to announce the winner of our 2006 People's Choice Award:

Congratulations MINDY HARDWICK!

Mindy Hardwick's Dream Grant is for support in her volunteer writing workshop with incarcerated youth at Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Everett, WA.  As a part of the workshop, an anthology is published & distributed to the community.  One incarcerated youth writes about his family:  “What people don't know is you have a family curse. Most people don't realize It’s because it's cast on you at a young age, but when you grow older, you start to realize it. ‘Your Dad does that. You're gonna end up just like your dad.’ Throughout my life, I heard, ‘Your Dad just got out. He's selling drugs again.’ It starts to stick in your mind…”  Mindy holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College. Blooming Tree Press published her first short story. She is currently working on a young adult novel about a boy whose father is in prison. If you would like to contact Mindy about her idea, you can email her at mindyh@myexcel.com .

Thanks for voting for these great project ideas!  Isn't it great to know that for only $5 you can help aspiring writers who, like yourself, could use the support and assurance that their ideas are worth something?  After all, everyone needs someone to believe in their dreams!!

* Just like our Dream Grant, you can rest assured that all grant funds raised by our foundation will go directly into our grant pool—we’re volunteering our time and talents, so writers' dreams can come true!

Please feel free to contact us at writers@hobsonfoundation.com if you have any questions or if you have recommendations for sites listing pertinent information for writers.... All the links listed on our website were given to us by writers who recommended their integrity; however, please follow these links at your own discretion.