UA Little Rock Student Uses MPA Skills to Secure $150,000 Grant for Church
A Master of Public Administration (MPA) student at UA Little Rock is putting her education to good use by securing a $150,000 grant to enhance safety and security in her community.
Lenora Jackson-Ayers, who works as a regional team leader and child welfare trainer at MidSOUTH, leveraged the knowledge and training she gained through her coursework to successfully write and receive a $150,000 grant from the Arkansas Department of Public Safety Division of Emergency Management for her church, Evangelist Temple Church in Little Rock, where she is a longtime volunteer.
Her work with Evangelist Temple began when she was pursuing a Master of Social Work degree at UA Little Rock in 2005. She completed a community assessment for the Southwest Little Rock area as part of her program, and her church started an outreach center with a food pantry and Clothing closet in 2005 to help the community.
Fast forward to 2023 and Jackson-Ayers began pursuing a MPA and a nonprofit management certificate, which she will earn in the spring 2025 semester.
“I am a volunteer program coordinator at my church, and my motivation for furthering my education is to learn more about how to run a volunteer program and manage a nonprofit organization,” she said. “I took a grant writing class, and the class helped me learn how to research what grants I can apply for and how to formulate answers for the application. This is only the second grant I’ve ever applied for, and it was so rewarding to have the grant approved.”
The Nonprofit Security Grant provides funding for Evangelist Temple to purchase fencing and security cameras for the church, as well as for church members, and community members to undergo active shooter training. The Nonprofit Security Grant program supports the security and resilience of eligible non-profit organizations that may be at a higher risk of violence by providing financial assistance to improve physical security infrastructure and security enhancements.
“Having the skills to go out and secure grants for my church has been amazing,” Jackson-Ayers said. “I think everybody should have the right to feel safe and secure, and sometimes you can’t do it without external funding. I feel that if I hadn’t had the formal training in the classroom, I might still be trying to figure out how to write that grant.”
This achievement underscores the strength of UA Little Rock’s MPA program in fostering leaders committed to serving their communities with purpose and passion.
“Lenora’s work embodies the mission of the MPA program—to prepare public service leaders who are ready to solve real-world problems,” said Dr. Derek Slagle, director of the School of Public Affairs. “Her achievement showcases the positive impact our students are making in the community every day.”
Additionally, Jackson-Ayers wrote another successful grant for $3,700 from the Arkansas Foodbank that will allow Evangelist Temple to buy refrigerators to store fresh food for use in their food pantry. She remains dedicated to using the skills she’s learned in the MPA program to help secure more grants to help Evangelist Temple continue their work of helping people in Little Rock.
“Growing up in the small town of Helena, Arkansas, where there were not a lot of resources but a lot of people in need was my motivation to want to help others,” she said. “With my acquired classroom skills and training, I feel more confident about my abilities to secure funding to continue to play a role helping to secure financial resources for the church that serves the community. I hope to be able to make a bigger impact in the future.”