VanEd Newslog

Colorado REALTORS® for Education Grant Program awards Spring 2008 Grants

The Colorado REALTORS® for Education board of directors met last week to determine the Spring 2008 grant recipients. This was the third cycle of the Colorado REALTORS® for Education Grant Program.

The board awarded $11,429 to the collective recipients. The grants will fund books and equipment, classroom projects and new instructional materials in classrooms across Colorado.  Awards were made at each of an elementary, middle, Junior High and High schools.

The online GRI - Graduate REALTOR® Institute program in Colorado funds the Colorado REALTORS® for Education program and Van Education Center proud to be a supporter of this worthy effort in conjunction with the Colorado Association of REALTORS®. Visit the program page online at www.vaned.com/charity and learn more about the program, including when the next cycle for grant requests will open and to see a list of the recipient schools from this cycle.

Van Education Center celebrates our 10th Anniversary!

Today Van Education Center (www.vaned.com) celebrates our 10th anniversary, and we wanted to take just a moment to thank all of our students, members, association partners, affiliates and YOU! You have helped make VanEd a nationwide leader in distance education for real estate, appraisal and mortgage brokers.

VanEd opened in 1998 as the first online real estate pre-license school in Colorado, and was one of the first online real estate education providers in the country. VanEd followed by teaching Continuing Education online. The next few years saw the online Appraisal program develop and VanEd became the online home to the Colorado Association of REALTORS® GRI, Graduate REALTOR® Institute program.

Today VanEd offers courses in more than 30 states, and is a recognized leader in online education. We  are proud to have been able to serve the industry for the past decade, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead. We will continue to provide the highest quality education and service to the highest caliber students.

And from all of us who have had the privilege of assisting our students over the years, we thank you for your support and look forward to the coming decade. And remember, whether you are currently a student or are planning a career in real estate, appraisal or the mortgage industries, we want you to know that our commitment to you remains the same. As always, we are here to help!

Fun Run/Walk to support the Colorado REALTORS® for Education Grant Program

The Colorado Association of REALTORS® announced that the Fun Run/Walk that is a CAR Summer Conference tradition will for the first time benefit the Colorado REALTORS® for Education grant program. The Run/Walk will be held in Keystone on Tuesday, June 17th 2008.

The grant program has just completed a grant cycle, and recipients of the more than $11,000 available during this current cycle are to be announced soon. The program is designed to help support teachers who desire to run additional unfunded projects in the classroom. The program is funded by online course sales from the Graduate REALTOR® Institute online course sales and donations, and was created as a joint venture between CAR and VanEd.

For information on the CAR summer conference, visit the CAR website. For more information on the Colorado REALTORS® for Education grant program, visit www.vaned.com/charity.

Colorado REALTORS® for Education Charity Grant program application deadlines approaching

The Colorado REALTORS^® for Education Charity Grant program Spring grant cycle applications continue to be accepted online. Teachers interesting in applying for a grant can find more information and may apply online at www.vaned.com/charity. The program is built with cooperation between CAR and VanEd and is funded from the online GRI program. Private donations and matching funds are also accepted.

The grant cycle will run through February, but teachers are reminded that each application must be verified by an administrator prior to being eligible for review by the board. Applicants should allow enough time to meet all application deadlines, and get the administrator approval.

Application Deadline -            Administrator Approval Deadline -

For questions about the program, visit www.vaned.com/charity or email Mark Gavin at CAR

Colorado REALTORS® for Education Charity Grant program opens Spring cycle today!

The Colorado REALTORS^® for Education Charity Grant program opens the Spring grant cycle today, and applications are now being accepted online. Teachers interesting in applying for a grant can find more information and may apply online at www.vaned.com/charity.

The grant cycle will run through February, but teachers are reminded that each application must be verified by an administrator prior to being eligible for review by the board. Applicants should allow enough time to meet all application deadlines, and get the administrator approval.

For questions on the process or the deadlines, visit www.vaned.com/charity or email Mark Gavin and CAR.

Colorado REALTORS® for Education board awards second round of grants

The Colorado REALTORS® for Education board of directors met last week to determine the second set of grant recipients. This second cycle saw a slightly higher numbers of applications but a record amount of funds requested from the foundation.

The board identified and funded 27 grants, awarding $18,640 to the collective recipients. The grants will fund books and equipment, classroom projects and new instructional materials in classrooms across Colorado.  Awards were made at each of an elementary, middle, Junior High and High schools.

The online GRI - Graduate REALTOR® Institute program in Colorado funds the Colorado REALTORS® for Education program and Van Education Center proud to be a supporter of this worthy effort in conjuction with the Colorado Association of REALTORS®. Visit the programs page online at www.vaned.com/charity and learn more about the upcoming cycle for grant requests beginning in January.

   >>> NOTE: The board of directors is seeking applications for two open seats. Information is available on the VanEd Philanthropy page online. If you have any questions, email Mark Gavin at CAR.

Today is the last day to submit applications for the Colorado REALTORS® for Education Charity Grant program

Teachers across Colorado who have not yet applied for a grant from the Colorado REALTORS^® for Education Charity Grant program have only through today to get those last minute applications submitted online. The program, now in only its second grant cycle, will stop accepting applications on Halloween. Then the Board of Directors will begin the difficult work of sorting through the applications and awarding grants.

The board of directors will be working in November to complete the review process and select the recipients.

VanEd is proud of our work to help establish this program and invite you to visit the programs donation page online at www.vaned.com/charity. Here you can find the online applications or make a donation to the program.

CARHOF set to raffle off a house at CAR Convention

The CARHOF Raffle ends this week and the odds of winning are fantastic! The drawing will be October 24th at the CAR State Convention. VanEd will have a booth at the convention, so stop in and say hello!

This years Grand Prize in the CARHOF raffle is a new home built by Sanctuary Homes valued at $300,000. The winner may also choose to take $200,000 in cash. Only 10,000 tickets were scheduled to be sold in the raffle at $100 a piece. However, at this time CARHOF is reporting that only around 2000 tickets have been sold so far. This means that with ticket sales ending this week (the drawing will be held in Colorado Springs on October 25, 2007) the odds of winning the house are now even better! And CARHOF directs 50% of the profits from ticket sales back to the local associations around the state to support local communities through grant cycles and programs.

For more information you may online to the CARHOF Raffle page. Need tickets? Contact a local REALTOR® or the association office in your area or purchase tickets online using the following link - Purchase Tickets Now!

CARHOF gets ready to Raffle the Grand Prize ~ A New Home!

The 2007 CARHOF raffle will again benefit the Colorado Association of REALTORS® Housing Opportunity Foundation, which works to promote affordable housing opportunities in Colorado.

This years Grand Prize is a new home built by Sanctuary Homes valued at $300,000. The winner may also choose to take $200,000 in cash. Only 10,000 tickets were scheduled to be sold in the raffle at $100 a piece. However, at this time CARHOF is reporting that only 1700 tickets have been sold so far and only 4400 tickets have been distributed. This means that with ticket sales ending in just over a month (the drawing will be held in Colorado Springs on October 25, 2007) the odds of winning the house are now even better! And CARHOF directs 50% of the profits from ticket sales back to the local associations around the state to support local communities through grant cycles and programs.

For more information you may online to the CARHOF Raffle page. Need tickets? Contact a local REALTOR® or the association office in your area or purchase tickets online using the following link - Purchase Tickets Now!

Colorado REALTORS® for Education program opens Fall application cycle today

The Colorado Association of REALTORS® and Van Education Center (VanEd.com) are proud to announce their combined effort aimed at assisting Colorado's classroom teachers. The REALTORS® for Education Foundation is a non-profit program designed at making direct grant donations to classroom teachers in need of funds to run classroom programs.

Fall Grant cycle applications are now being accepted! The open application period begins today, September 10th, 2007 and will run through October. The application is available for teachers and will be submitted online. $3,000 dollars is the limit for each grant application in this grant cycle. For more information and to make application teachers should visit http://www.vaned.com/charity.

VanEd is proud to be a part of this fantastic partnership with the REALTOR® community.

Donations to the fund may also be made online, and the not-for-profit foundation awards 100% of all donated funds in the form of grants. Know a teacher in need of funds to run a classroom project? Have them apply for a grant! The Foundation board of directors will award grants in November. Click here for more information or to donate to the fund!

You can also view and print an informational flyer regarding the program online. Click here to view the flyer!

Colorado Association of REALTORS® Housing Opprtunity Foundation to fund programs statewide

The Denver Business Journal reported Friday that the CAR Housing Opportunity Foundation announced that it will be issuing over $480,000 in grants to 80 nonprofit affordable-housing programs throughout Colorado.

CARHOF uses funds collected from donations and interest on real estate trust accounts to support organizations that provide housing and related services to low- or moderate-income residents. Each local association is allowed to determine the recipients of the grants.

Learn more about CARHOF by clicking here.

Registration open for Volunteer activities at NAR Annual Conference in Las Vegas

After a successful volunteer effort in New Orleans last year, REALTORS® again have the opportunity to volunteer in the community at the NAR Conference and Expo in Las Vegas. NAR will provide a portion of attendee registration fees to local Habitat for Humanity efforts and for improvements to a children's shelter in Las Vegas. Join REALTORS® from across the Nation in this wonderful effort.

Volunteer space is limited so attendees are asked to begin registering early. You can register now for the conference by clicking on the image or visiting the NAR conference web site.

2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo provides volunteer opportunities for agents

Sunday, November 11 and Monday, November 12 at the annual NAR convention in Las Vegas REALTORS® will again have the opportunity to volunteer in the community. A portion of attendee registration fees will go to the local Habitat for Humanity and a children's shelter in Las Vegas. Members are again urged to continue their good works started in New Orleans and carry those over to this years host city, Las Vegas. Read more using the link below!

Volunteer space is limited and attendees are asked to begin registering after August 1st on the Conference Web site. We will post the link here beginning August 1st. You can register now for the conference, however, by clicking on the image or visiting the NAR conference web site.

Colorado REALTORS® for Education program delivers checks to recipients

The checks have started being delivered to the first ever recipients of the Colorado REALTORS® for Education grant program awards.  VanEd Director and program Board member Vann Hilty (left) along with Boulder Area REALTOR® Association President Chris Welch (right) delivered a check to Darrell Billington (middle), a teacher at Fairview High School in Boulder. His award will help fund a GPS program at the school, which exemplifies the kind of expanded thinking and long term project that is being funded by this program. Without the support from the Grant Program, this project might never reach its full potential.

In Denver, Don DiFiore, CAR Metro District VP (on the left) along with Cheri Long, President of the Aurora Association of REALTORS (on the right) presented a check to Angela Harrant, a teacher at Meadow Point Elementary school (middle). The Colorado Association of REALTORS® and VanEd, along with all of our members hope that the grant program continues to benefit teachers across Colorado for years to come. Congratulations and Thank You from all of us at VanEd to all of the recipients and to all of the REALTORS® and CAR staff, as well as the Program's Board of Directors for donating their time and energy to help make the program a reality and a success. http://www.vaned.com/charity and you can view all the posts and updates on the NewsLog by clicking on the Philanthropy link on the left.

VanEd is proud to be a partner with the Colorado REALTORS® for Education grant program.

You can learn more and donate directly to the fund by visiting http://www.vaned.com/charity.

Boulder Area REALTOR® Association receives Ambassadors for Cities award for Affordable Housing project

The National Association of REALTORS® announced that BARA, the Boulder Area REALTOR® Association, and the Affordable Housing Project "Southern Lights" was one of the 2007 designees for the REALTOR® Ambassadors for Cities Initiative, whose goal is to bring Mayors and REALTORS® together at the local level to promote homeownership and create affordable housing opportunities in their local areas.

This year, the Southern Lights community at the "People's Clinic" in North Boulder was selected as one of the recipients of the award. The site will be home to four families in the two duplexes that are being built now with an expected occupancy of June. Use the links to view the other recipients, and congratulations to them all!

You can read more about the project through previous articles posted on this subject, including in the Daily Camera - REALTORS® Going Affordable by Greg Avery, and CAR has an announcement on their website. To read an account from a member of BARA's Project Home committee, Lisa Wade, visit her post on YourHub.com and to view the BARA page on the Southern Lights project, including photos, visit www.BARAonline.com. NAR has also dedicated a section on-line at www.Realtor.org for the Ambassadors project, which included brochures and information on all the winners.

Colorado REALTORS® for Education program awards first grants

The recipients of the first grant cycle from the REALTORS^® for Education Grant Program were notified this past week. There were 162 applications received in this first cycle and over $25,000 was awarded. Grant recipients will be receiving funds over the next few weeks.

VanEd Director and REALTORS^® for Education board member Vann Hilty is incredibly pleased by the response and excited about the future of the program, a result of two years of work between VanEd and CAR, the Colorado Association of REALTORS^®. The program will offer a second grant cycle in the fall at the start of the school year in most areas around the state, and begins in September. Members may make contributions directly to the fund on-line, or after completing most on-line GRI courses. 100% of funds are donated directly into the teachers hands to support the programs and needs that would either go unfunded, or be paid for by the teachers directly.

An example of the recipients in this first cycle include backpacks and school supplies, a wall mounted Smart Board, laptop computers and partial funding for a breakfast program for underprivileged students at an alternative campus.

REALTORS® for Education board of directors determines first award recipients

The REALTORS^® for Education Grant program board of directors met on Wednesday March 28th at the Colorado Association of REALTORS^® Denver offices to determine the first grant recipients from the new foundation. The board, made up of members from each of the states 6 association districts, staff and educators will award 27 grants during this first ever grant cycle.

VanEd Director and program board member C. Vann Hilty, CRS, worked for over two years to get the program off the ground. Board Chairman Susan Plage has also worked since November along with CAR staff to ensure that the program is a success.

The 27 grant recipients will be informed in early April and CAR member representatives, CAR staff and VanEd will visit as many of the recipients as possible during the month to present checks to the recipients.

REALTORS® for Education board to meet to award grants

At the first of the year, the Colorado Association of REALTORS^® and Van Education Center teamed up to launch the REALTORS^® for Education Grant program. This program was designed to make grants directly back to the educators in the grade schools who would otherwise have to front the money themselves in order to run a classroom program.

After an overwhelmingly successful grant cycle, The REALTORS^® for Education board of directors will be meeting this week to determine the recipients of the current round of grants. The program generated over 150 applications from teachers all over the state, and the board has been working overtime to review these applications. Tomorrow, Wednesday March 28th, the Board will meet in Denver at the CAR offices to determine the recipients of the individual grants.

The Board of Directors is made up of one REALTOR^® member from each of the states districts, CAR staff and an outside educator appointed by the President. VanEd Director C. Vann Hilty was also named to the board. You can read more about the grant program and upcoming grant cycles on-line in a previous VanEd Newslog Post.

CARHOF's 2007 Raffle underway ~ House to be Raffled off!

CARHOF President Amy Dorsey announced the 5th annual CARHOF raffle in an open letter (click here to read).  The raffle will again benefit the Colorado Association of REALTORS® Housing Opportunity Foundation, which works to promote affordable housing opportunities in Colorado.

This years Grand Prize is a new home built by Sanctuary Homes valued at $300,000. The winner may also choose to take $200,000 in cash. Other prizes include trips all over the world. Only 10,000 tickets will be sold in the raffle at $100 a piece. Of the profits, CARHOF directs 50% back to the local associations around the state to support local communities through grant cycles and programs.

For more information you may view the flyer for the CARHOF Raffle - Download RaffleFlyer07.pdf. Need tickets? Contact a local REALTOR® or the association office in your area!

Good Neighbor Award applications due May 25th

The NAR Good Neighbor Awards recognize those REALTORS® that make a commitment to their communities through volunteer work. For 2007, 5 winners will earn $10,000 each in grants for their favorite charities.

There are many awards given to agents all across the country, but the Good Neighbor Awards are only given to those REALTORS® who make "extraordinary commitment to improving the quality of live in their communities." You can learn more about the Good Neighbor Awards, view past winners and even receive guidance on becoming more involved with your community using the Good Neighbor Tool Kit by visiting the Good Neighbor Home page on REALTOR® Magazine on line.

To learn more about the application and view it on-line, click here.

To learn more about how VanEd gets involved in our communities, visit our Philanthropy page on line. You will even have the opportunity to get involved by telling us about a teacher in your area that may need our help. Visit www.vaned.com/charity to learn more.

Team Colorado REALTORS® rides in July

CAR President Kit Cowperthwaite announced that he will captain Team Colorado REALTORS® first public outreach event, the 2007 MS 150 bike tour on July 7-8. The tour will be a two day ride beginning and ending at the Broomfield Events Center. All levels of riders are encouraged to attend, and Team Colorado REALTORS® will work to enhance the event with shirts, water bottles and fun.

The ride benefits the Colorado Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and includes an overnight stay in Ft. Collins, meals, plenty of rest stops, and of course bike mechanics. Information on the ride and the cause can be found on the CAR web site by clicking here.

REALTORS® for Education Program launched in Colorado

The Colorado Association of REALTORS® and Van Education Center (VanEd.com) have launched a combined effort aimed at assisting Colorado's classroom teachers. The REALTORS® for Education Foundation is a non-profit program designed at making direct grant donations to classroom teachers in need of funds to run classroom programs.

A recent study showed that the average schoolteacher spent over $450 of their own money each year purchasing items to be used in the classroom for the benefit of Colorado's school children. VanEd and CAR hope that by offering grants the state's REALTOR® and Real Estate Education organizations can both offset the expenses that a teacher may have, and to increase individual programs availability to more students throughout the state.

Many districts and programs face financial challenges every year due to the combination of lower revenue and higher expenses. We at VanEd are proud to be a part of this effort. School Director Vann Hilty is a member of the REALTORS® for Education Foundation board, and began the discussions with CAR to create this program over a year ago. As a past President of his association, a CAR Director and board Director for two terms, Vann has seen the value that the REALTORS® can bring to their communities both locally and for the state at large. You can read more about this online in an article posted by the Denver Business Journal.

Working with the Association, the program will be funded through the online GRI, Graduate REALTOR® Institute program. Additional donations may also be made both online and by contacting CAR directly. The Foundation will have two grant cycles, January 10th - February 28th and again September 10th - October 31st each year. To find out more about the program, who is eligible and how to nominate a teacher or program, visit www.coloradorealtors.com/education and look for the REALTORS® for Education link. There is also an announcement and information available online by clicking here.

For questions about the program, you may contact either Mark Gavin from CAR or Curtis Hilty with VanEd.