Serge Giachetti, a good photographer in his own right and a friend of mine from college, is currently competing for a $50,000 grant from NameYourDreamAssignment.com. Serge has had a few internships with small newspapers, and like me, started as a nature photographer.
Serge maintains a Web site and a blog, but the details and voting page for his proposed project–to photograph the youth of the Blackfoot Nation–can be found here.
Good luck, Serge!