Bonnie Houk specializes in finding the money to do what needs to be done.
She's not a banker or a financial specialist. Houk is grants manager for the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center in Greenbush.
Over the years, Houk as secured more than 100 grants totaling more than $13.3 million, all dedicated to schools and educational programs. And, in March, her expertise was recognized when she became one of just a handful certified by the American Association of Grant Professionals, headquartered in Kansas City.
Grant writers perform a variety of duties besides filling out endless forms to apply for grants. They perform needs assessments of groups or organizations to determine what has to be done to improve a program, for example. There's also budget development and project designs with goals and objectives the organizations hope to accomplish, using the grant funding they're applying for, Houk said.
The AAGP decided about seven years ago it wanted a way to guarantee that grants were being written correctly and, most importantly, that ethical guidelines in the grant application process were being followed. The group developed an extensive testing process that was based on experience in the field, as well as understanding of federal and state laws and regulations governing the administration of grant funds.
The examination was field tested and, finally, it was decided it was ready to go. In November, Houk was one of about 100 grant writers from around the country to take the test, administered over a two-day period in conjunction with the AAGP annual convention in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Crystal City, Va.
“We were kind of the guinea pigs because it had never been administered before,” Houk said. “We really set the bar so anybody else taking the test will have to make a certain percentage to be certified.”
A total of 170 certifications were awarded by the Grant Professionals Certification Institute, an affiliate of AAGP. More certifications were awarded this time than people who took the test, Houk said, because AAGP wanted to reward the people who'd helped develop and field test the examination. By doing so, they'd already proven they had the requisite knowledge and experience to qualify for the certification.
Houk is one of just five individuals with the title Grant Professional Certified in the state of Kansas, she said.
“The certification, for me, was to actually show I knew what I was talking about,” she said. “It lends credibility to (Greenbush) and to me. It says I'm aware of the ethical issues and I know the proper procedures.”
Houk lives in rural Girard now, with her husband of 19 years, Brent and their two children, Logan and Morgan. She also shares the family ranch with two cows, about 70 chickens, a three-legged dog and 12 cats, seven of which are expecting kittens any time soon.
She holds a bachelor of science degree in political science with a minor in history from Pittsburg State University. After she joined the staff at the SEK Education Service Center, she earned a master's degree in history, also from PSU.
Houk wasn't originally hired as a grant writer, she said. She quickly discovered she had an aptitude for it though, when then grant-writing specialist John Aiken took her under his wing.
“He really taught me that you're never going to get anywhere if you don't try,” Houk said of her mentor. “You have to put yourself out there. You have to take a chance on innovative things.”
Aiken died in 1995 and grant writing duties were shared by members of the Service Center staff. Houk continued learning the ropes, so to speak, until 1999, when she was transitioned into her current position as grant manager for the facility.
Houk is responsible not only for writing the grants, she's helps coordinate the efforts of other staffers to secure funding for projects. Houk is the only staffer permitted to file applications for federal grants, though. By having one person solely in charge of filing, it avoids the possibility of duplicate applications from the same place for the same grant, which would void both applications, she said.
Over the years, Houk has averaged about a 32 percent success rate with her grant applications. That's a pretty good score, she said, particularly with the number of applications from around the country filed for some grants.
But there's one grant she's particularly proud to have included in the success column. It's a 2005 grant for Rural Utilities Service for Distance Education, totaling about $500,000, she said.
“It was by far the hardest, most detailed, fattest grant I've ever done,” Houk said. “We tried for that grant in 2004 and weren't successful.”
Grants are read by a committee, which assigns points to each section based on the merits of the proposals. It's a very competitive process, Houk said. The Southeast Kansas Education Service Center earned the distance learning grant by a single point.
“It was the power of one point,” she said. “If that doesn't make you really think about every word you write in a grant proposal ... You just never know.”
Over the years, Houk has successfully secured grant funding for everything from classroom technology to educational programs in the state's prisons. It gives her a good feeling when she thinks about all that money and all the lives she's touched through her work.
“The most satisfying thing is that I know that I'm impacting thousands of kids with a project,” Houk said.
“In today's world, with the decreases in budgets and increases in accountability for academic achievement, (schools) need all the help they can get. We're in a technology age. If teachers don't have the resources, how can they teach their kids? And that takes money.”