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What has WAMO Been Able to Accomplish?
The City of Las Vegas donated the first dump site to Las Vegas Jaycee WAMO graduates to build a park upon. Funding, donations, and sweat equity were developed and the first phase of park development was completed.
A private citizen was killed in an act of heroism on Las Vegas' Interstate freeway. A WAMO graduate sent in a grant proposal to the Carnegie Hero Fund that resulted in over $200,000 in funds and in-kind donations for the hero's widow and children.
A block grant was identified to be available at a state level. The program helped City of Las Vegas personnel write a successful proposal to capture $82,000 if the City would match the amount for use to improve the Jaycee Park. The City committed to match the $82,000 match grant, and $164,000 was developed for the park improvement project. Those grants were further leveraged and matched creating over $400,000 to create park improvements including exercise stations and a jogging track, which increased the park usage by 14 times.
A land patent from the Bureau of Land Management was attained by an Act of Congress to create a mobile home park for low income senior citizens in Clark County, Nevada (the 80 acres of prime real estate are located in the middle of Las Vegas and are valued at $55,000 each...$4.4 million). A $321,000 grant was successfully attained from the Federal Home Loan Bank. Likewise, a $100,000 grant was attained from the County of Clark. A consortium of six local banks was mobilized to create a $6.2 million low-interest C.R.A. loan to build the mobile home park (the loan will be retired in 25 years with funds produced by the rents). The County Housing Authority guaranteed the loan and served as the management entity. This WAMO project is a perfect example of mutual cooperation between the private and public sectors requiring no support from the taxpayers, utilizing "dead" and otherwise useless BLM land, plus mobilizing the community to solve a pressing problem.
A Jaycee chapter with 22 members in Reedpoint, Montana sponsored a WAMO workshop in their small community. They developed a plan and created a tax-exempt foundation to raise over $1.2 million needed to construct a school complex with a basketball gymnasium.
The Vacaville, California, Chamber of Commerce sponsored a WAMO workshop in their small community 40 miles from Sacramento. They wanted to raise over $1.3 million to restore a historic library and convert it into a new home for the Chamber of Commerce. In the course of the workshop, they actually secured a grant from a local CIF (Community Involvement Fund), plus they learned how to develop the funding to completely rehabilitate their degrading downtown area and create a new and vital business environment.
The Palo Alto Jaycees sponsored a WAMO workshop which resulted in the development of over $950,000 to restore a donated Police and Fire Building to be used as a Senior Center, housing senior-serving agencies from the entire county so they could be centered in the densest area of senior population. During their workshop (not after), they actually secured a grant and deposited it into a newly-created endowment account (on a Sunday).
A WAMO graduate wrote a single grant proposal which resulted in a grant for cardiac monitoring equipment.
A WAMO graduate wrote a grant to fund an emergency trauma vehicle for his county. Three years later, a trauma team in "his" trauma truck saved the life of his sister.
A WAMO graduate wrote a series of grants to fund a therapeutic horse-back riding program for physically and mentally handicapped youngsters. Using her funding experience, she went on to become Nevada's Director of the Wild Horse Foundation.
A WAMO graduate wrote a single successful $900,000 grant proposal which made possible the relocation of the Las Vegas YMCA to a new and more effective facility. |
