In The News …

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Spur Local

Profile: Matthew Wheelock, founder of Live It Learn It (Washington Post: Schools Insider): “A decade ago, the next logical career move for Matthew Wheelock was to head overseas to work in his law firm’s Tokyo office. Instead, aiming to make a difference in the city where he grew up, he became a fourth-grade teacher at the District’s Walker-Jones Elementary School …” Looking for new ways to motivate students, many of whom were living in poverty, Wheelock found the answer outside of his classroom. Three years later, Wheelock founded Catalogue nonprofit Live It Learn It — “a nonprofit dedicated to making sure disadvantaged kids get access to hands-on field trips […], a model that draws plaudits from teachers and principals.”

Oxon Hill town meeting focuses on financial literacy (Gazette): “Financial literacy and investment experts stressed at a meeting last week the need for Prince George’s County residents to have access to financial training, but added that perhaps even more important is the need for teens to get the same education.” At a town hall meeting last week, John Hope Bryant (chairman of the Underserved and Community Empowerment Subcommittee) pointed out that “financial literacy courses are key to encouraging teens to aspire to be entrepreneurs and small business owners;” however, not all schools offer such courses. You can explore Catalogue’s life skills and employment-focused nonprofits here; for example, at Cakes for Cause, youth learn to work in a bakery and handle their own earnings.

Helping Children Soar With Educational Advocacy (Huffington Post): “As the country and the District debate what goals we should set for student achievement, [10-year-old Sky Stringer] reminded me that a failure to invest in all of the children in our community will rob us of the talents and skills of those we leave behind,” writes Judith Sandalow (executive director, Children’s Law Center) Two years ago, Sky was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. However, “the school didn’t want to give Sky special education services;” so the Children’s Law Center took her case to court to see that she received an “individualized education program (IEP), and intensive services.” Considering this case, how else can we ensure that children (in all grades and schools) have an advocate when they need one?

Catalogue Milestones: 2004

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Spur Local

By Marie LeBlanc, Community Partnerships Coordinator

As we approach our celebration of the 10th Catalogue for Philanthropy, we look back to see how the Catalogue has grown and evolved over the years. In 2004, its second year of publication, the Catalogue continued to grow — in size, in geographic scope, and in dollars raised for network nonprofits:

– The Catalogue featured 51 new nonprofits in the print, up from 31 in the inaugural edition

– Catalogue also expanded its scope to the Greater Washington region, featuring nonprofits from DC, Maryland, and Virginia

– The Catalogue partnered with an additional corporate sponsor in 2004

– From 2003 to 2004, Catalogue increased the amount of money raised for and by our nonprofits by 14%, with an annual total of $548,830 in donations.

The following nonprofits, originally featured in 2004, were selected to be re-featured in the 2012 print Catalogue:

– Academy of Hope: adult students gain real world skills in math, reading, and writing

– Alternative House: a dynamic system of services designed to keep young people off the streets

– Arlington Free Clinic: free health care to some 1,400 Arlingtonians a year

– Borromeo Housing: structure, stability, and security that teen parents need to provide for themselves and their babies

– Brainfood: an after-school program that gets at-risk students off the streets and into the kitchen

– Calvary Women’s Services: where 150 women find “a safe, caring place for tonight; support, hope, and change for tomorrow”

– Coalition for Smarter Growth: coordinators of the campaign for a better way to grow in the greater DC region

– Falls Church-McClean Children’s Center: a full-day, early childhood education program for 2-5 year olds

– GALA: home of the National Center for Latino Performing Arts and only performance space in Columbia Heights

– Homestretch: two full years of transitional housing, budget counseling, job skills training, and placement assistance

– Horton’s Kids: a second family to over 1,500 children from the Ward 8 housing projects

– Thrive DC: generous portions of food, along with help and hope, to Washington’s hard-to-reach homeless

– Top Banana Home Delivered Groceries: simple and user-friendly grocery shopping and delivery for 500 elderly and disabled people

– Washington Youth Garden, Friends of the National Arboretum: garden science is the medium and life skills are the message

– Women Thrive Worldwide: focus on women in developing countries; advocate for change in US international assistance and trade policies

And the following nonprofits, originally featured in 2004, were re-certified to remain on the Catalogue website this year:

– City Arts: beautiful murals and mosaics created by local, inner-city youth

– TrailsforYouth.org: mountain biking that introduces inner-city youngsters to the natural world and its life lessons

– Washington Jesuit Academy: rigorous, local middle school for boys with 75 students and a devoted team of educators

Hot and Cold on Homelessness

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Spur Local

By Amanda Andere, Executive Director of FACETS

Originally published in the Huffington Post; reposted in full with permission from the author.

Summer’s scorching days keep families throughout the D.C. metro area planning ways to avoid the heat, such as swimming, vacations and evening cookouts. At FACETS, these dog days mean it’s time to plan for the cold.

In fact, we recently held a planning meeting for our Hypothermia Prevention and Response Program, so that we’re ready to help the homeless in our community survive the winter weather. It requires a lot of planning and coordination among partners to help homeless individuals and families weather the cold.

Every year, FACETS offers safe places to sleep and nutritious meals to men and women who are homeless through our Hypothermia Prevention and Response Program. This program is one of five operated across Fairfax and Falls Church in partnership with the Fairfax County government and approximately 40 faith communities.

The purpose of the hypothermia prevention program is just that: to prevent weather-induced illness and death. However, it’s now more than that. For the third year in a row, FACETS offered personalized case management services and life improvement seminars to all guests who wanted to participate. Last season, nearly 40 percent of all hypothermia program guests chose to take advantage of these services, resulting in many adults moving off the streets and into permanent housing.

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Back On Their Feet

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Spur Local

By Jill Carmichael, Neighbors First Division Director
Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place

The day our staff found out that the Department of Veterans Affairs chose Friendship Place as a recipient of a $1 million Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grant, the excitement in our office was off the charts. As the director of our Veterans First program, I of course am thrilled about our newly expanded grant to work with Veterans and their families. It’s so gratifying to think about how many people we will be able to help get back on their feet.

We launched our Veterans First program at Friendship Place about nine months ago, and in that time our staff learned invaluable information about working with this population. We now know what homeless Veterans’ unique needs are, and we’re using that information to tailor our expanded Veterans First program to be as effective and efficient as possible.

I’m particularly looking forward to rolling out our new specialist positions. Our Housing Specialist, for instance, will be fully trained in tenant rights and will create partnerships with landlords throughout the DC Metro Area. This will allow us to rapidly rehouse the people we?re working with while serving as a liaison between client and landlord.

The VA wants us to do our best to move our clients into housing with employment opportunities on the horizon. Our Employment Specialist will continue to expand upon the great employment services that Friendship Place already provides. This position will focus on job development as well as marketing to potential employers the special skills that Veterans bring to the table. We’re also creating specialist positions in benefits and outreach/intake.

Above all, we want to make a lasting impact on Veteran homelessness in DC. We are dedicated to working to prevent homelessness and to house those experiencing homelessness. This grant couldn’t have come at a better time — when the need for services continues to rise in our community. But in my eyes, seeing the dedication of my staff and the willingness of places like the VA to fund these efforts, I truly believe that we’re getting one step closer to ending homelessness every day.

What the Coffee Means

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Spur Local

By Matt Bright, Earth Sangha’s Tree Bank Coordinator

Earth Sangha Tree Bank / Hispaniola is a partnership with a group of small-holder farmers who live along a section of the Dominican Republic-Haiti border. Our goal is to create a system in which tropical small-holder farming is more compatible with native forest. Such a system, we hope, could one day benefit small-holders in the many parts of the rural tropics. This guest post is an excerpt from First Hand, a series of essays and videos intended to show you what it’s like to do small-scale “green development” in a rural, developing-country context.

Our Rising Forests Coffee is, to our friends in the DC area, the most visible and tangible achievement from our work in the Dominican Republic. Drinking our coffee is not just a delicious way to start your morning (now available in dark roast: order here!); it’s also an important way to support our conservation efforts. Our coffee supports our Tree Bank, provides much-needed income to our farmers, and encourages conservation.

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Teaming Up: Black Benefactors & the Catalogue (Part II)

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Spur Local

By Tracey Webb, Founder, The Black Benefactors

In January, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation published the report, “Cultures of Giving: Energizing and Expanding Philanthropy by and for Communities of Color,” which confirmed something that I already knew: African Americans are more inclined to give than other races. I know this because philanthropy and charitable giving have been mainstays of the African American community for centuries.

In my previous GoodWorks post, I shared how my giving circle, The Black Benefactors, used the Catalogue to identify a grantee for our Black History Month grant awards. In doing so, I learned that we were in the minority. Although many of the nonprofits featured in the Catalogue serve low-income and under-represented communities — often which include African Americans — the majority of donors who use the Catalogue to identify nonprofits to support in the DC region are white. With the help of The Black Benefactors, I hope this will change.

Now that we know African Americans are more likely to give, there are two issues that are essential: ensuring that our giving is strategic to achieve maximum impact, and making sure that we’re represented as volunteers and board members with nonprofits that serve communities of color. It’s important that the clientele served by nonprofits see staff, volunteers, and board members who look like them. The Catalogue is an ideal vehicle to address these issues.

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It’s Possible!

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Spur Local

By Sveta Wilkson, Development & Communications Manager at Horton’s Kids

Share the experience of a lifetime for a nonprofit (publicity on a national television show) but also the challenges that come with it. For more information about Hortons Kids on Restaurant Impossible, check out the show’s site.

This winter, Horton’s Kids received the phone call that every nonprofit fundraiser dreams about — a production company was scouting organizations for Restaurant: Impossible, a reality show on the Food Network. The show, which usually focuses on improving failing restaurants, wanted to renovate a nonprofit space in a special episode featuring First Lady Michelle Obama.

Two days after the phone call, our staff members met an associate producer and led her on a tour of our Community Resource Center, then a four-room apartment in the children’s neighborhood. Three weeks later, filming and construction began, and the completed episode finally aired this month. The past few months have been a whirlwind for everyone at Horton’s Kids. And our development team learned quite few lessons along the way!

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Teaming Up: Black Benefactors & The Catalogue

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Spur Local

By Tracey Webb, Founder, The Black Benefactors

During a recent convening in Washington, DC that focused on issues impacting the black community, a panelist stated, “Black people are more philanthropic than other communities, but we’re not strategically philanthropic.” After reading that comment on Twitter, I thought back to the many conversations I’ve had with my peers who echo the same sentiment. As the founder of The Black Benefactors, a giving circle that provides grants and support to nonprofits that serve the African American community in the DC region, I hope that my giving circle will address this issue, and to date, we have.

How we give back is simple: Members pool our monies and time, and then we decide collectively where to give them away. Since 2007, we’ve granted $11,500 to six organizations that provide mentoring, youth development, college readiness and the arts. Research has shown that members of giving circles give more, give more strategically, and are more engaged in their communities. Specifically, research found that giving circle members are more likely to conduct research to help decide which nonprofit to support, support general operating expenses in addition to or instead of specific programs, check organizational performance data, take into consideration cultural differences and race, class and/or gender when making funding decisions, and make multi-year gifts. These are all hallmarks of strategic giving, and we incorporate these practices into our own grantmaking. So how does the Catalogue for Philanthropy fit in to this?

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Tenant Profile

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Spur Local

By Housing Unlimited, Silver Spring, MD

Steve Lindstrom, 47 years old, born in Los Angeles California, moved to the Montgomery County area at age 5.

Lindstrom’s therapist helped him apply to Housing Unlimited, and shortly thereafter he received the call. “Life before HUI to life now has been a big change. Before I was living in a program-type of environment, and to live independently has been very positive.” With his family close by, Lindstrom has been living in his particular Housing Unlimited home for close to two years.

He expresses gratitude for his kind housemates, and his comfortable living accommodations. In this quiet Germantown neighborhood, Lindstrom thrives in his independent living situation. “I have been working on some goals of mine … I have been able to overcome a lot of obstacles, working on being the person I want to be … I have been able to quit smoking because I feel so comfortable here. Just before I quit, I sat right here, and I looked at my surroundings and I decided, I could handle it, I am in a safe place, and I was able to quit.”

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