In The News …

DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (WUSA9: Brightwood): “Councilmember Mary M. Cheh and colleagues [joined] the [Catalogue non-profit] DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on the steps of the John A. Wilson Building for a press conference to highlight the continuing challenges the District of Columbia faces with teen pregnancy and its effect on the economic well being of our residents and the city at large. […] Due to the work of groups like the DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the District of Columbia has recently seen a reduction in the rates of pregnancies for teenage women aged 15-19 years old; however, rates in the District far exceed the national average.” In DC, the rate is 67 out of every 1,000.

Michael on Being Down for Da Struggle (People’s District): Michael, a poet, vividly desribes how Catalogue non-profit Free Minds Book Club & Writing workshop made a critical difference in his life. He recounts, “I eventually started getting into trouble with the law. Which also lead to me going to prison more times than anyone would ever want to. [Free Minds] really helped me become more diverse and more open minded. I started to do a lot of reading; also, I became very intrigued by poetry […] Every Friday, I would get up early to prepare to go to the book club because it was a way to free my mind. Free Minds Book Club gave me a positive outlet to express myself and has opened several doors for opportunity and success.”

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In The News …

Go Big on Education: Five Big Ideas for the Senate to Put in Federal Education Law (Center for American Progress): “Next week the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is scheduled to vote on a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act” and CAP here outlines “five big policy ideas the Senate should put in its bill to ensure the next ESEA is big and bold enough to improve the education system, and thus our nation’s economy.” The fifth and final recommendation? Encourage and reward bold thinking by educators, authorizing “competitive programs such as Race to the Top, the Investing in Innovation Fund, or the Teacher Incentive Fund, to spur states and districts to innovation.” Do you agree?

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In The News …

DC-Area Apartment Rents Rise, Vacancy Second Lowest in the Country (Urban Turf via DCentric): “… rents in the DC area for Class A and B apartments have risen 3.6 percent over the past twelve months while vacancy rates sit at 2.8 percent, the lowest for any metro area in the country except for New York City.” For Class A apartments (primarily large buildings constructed after 1991), the vacancy rate is just 1.6% and rental rates “averaged $2,582/month, up from $2,448/month in September 2010.” So not only is affordable rental housing difficult to locate in the city, any rental housing is not easy to come by — and the search alone can require both funds and time.

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In The News …

DC parents raise concerns about middle schools (Washington Post via Greater Greater Washington): “Middle schools are the latest hot spot in DC public education. With preschool and elementary enrollment ticking up for the first time in decades, parents and policymakers are scrutinizing the lack of attractive middle-grade options with increasing urgency […] Without dramatic improvement in middle school quality, the long-term prospects for reform are bleak.” Back in March, we commented on a New York Times piece on the development of middle school pedagogy. Arguably, the “middle years” are neglected nationwide as much of the attention goes towards elementary school (formative years) or high school (pre-college years). Has the same been happening here?

Dismal DCPS Statistics Shared at Council Hearing (DCist): “[Tuesday] afternoon, D.C. Public Schools chancellor Kaya Henderson and other officials appeared in front of the DC Council’s Committee of the Whole to talk about middle school education […] Among the figures that Henderson and DCPS officials quoted: 18.4 percent of DCPS middle schoolers have missed classes because they didn’t feel safe traveling to school; 13.9 percent of middle school students were afraid of being beaten up at some point in the last year; around 40 percent of DCPS ninth graders repeat the grade, while one in three DCPS ninth graders fail algebra.” In other words, many of the most dire problems in DC middle schools have little to do with academics. Schools need to be effective, absolutely, but they also need to feel safe and protected.

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More In The News …

(We’re doubling up on the news-front this week. Comment away with any additions.)

Soaring Poverty Casts Spotlight on ‘Lost Decade’ (New York Times): “Another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the United States last year […] and the number of Americans living below the official poverty line, 46.2 million people, was the highest number in the 52 years the bureau has been publishing figures on it […] Joblessness was the main culprit pushing more Americans into poverty, economists said. Last year, about 48 million people ages 18 to 64 did not work even one week out of the year, up from 45 million in 2009.” And when it comes to the jobs bill, could these bleak figures make a case for or against it? Continue reading

In The News …

Obama’s Jobs Bill: Ready to Take a Chance Again? (Nonprofit Quarterly): Wondering “which parts of the president’s plan are most relevant to nonprofits, and what effect are they likely to have on the sector?” NPQ’s intricate piece walks through both the President’s “track record on nonprofits” and six points of interest to nonprofits in the jobs bill (#4: “Are there any parts of the American Jobs Act that appear to take advantage of the unique skill sets and missions of nonprofits?”), and concludes that “the American Jobs Act must do a better job than ARRA did in involving and including nonprofits of all stripes in its implementation.”

How do we make cities greener? Start by growing smarter?(Greater Greater Washington): Continuing on the green cities theme of yesterday’s article, check out this post on GGW: “a fixed set of people is more sustainable the fewer acres they collectively use. At one point, some viewed the ideal sustainable lifestyle as one where a small bubble of trees and grass surrounds each household. But instead, that just means a lot of heating and cooling energy is wasted to that bubble, and we spend far more energy moving among them […] The way we grow in the future is likely to be the most significant factor in how sustainable a region we have for generations to come.”

Washington economy grows 3.6% (Washington Business Journal): “Washington’s gross domestic product grew 3.6 percent in 2010, reaching $425.2 billion, the fourth-largest metropolitan economy in the nation. Washington also ranks as the third-fastest growing metropolitan economy” behind Boston and New York. For some additional positive news, metropolitan economies across the country grew in size by 2.5% in the past year, whereas they declined by that same percentage in the previous year.

In The News …

How Sept. 11 changed charity in America (CNN Money): “Americans donated a record-breaking $2.8 billion to help the victims of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy […] Four years later, after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and the Deep South, Americans pulled out their checkbooks once again. Donations to help the survivors of Katrina outpaced September 11 charity by 90%.” According to Dr. Una Osili, director of research for the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, an incredible 66% of households in the US donated to survivors of Katrina and September 11. Is this a truly new phenomenon? Or have the developments in technology in this decade simply enabled more Americans to act upon their desires to give?

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In The News …

Can job training help solve the jobs crisis? (Washington Post Blogs): “In the southern US, 51 percent of current job openings are middle-skill, but only 43 percent of the region’s workers are trained to that level, according to a recent study by the National Skills Coalition […] In a major speech next week, [President Obama]’s expected to propose support for job training as part of his renewed push for job growth, focusing especially on the 6.2 million Americans who’ve been out of work for more than six months.” In other words, the current jobs crisis is two-fold: too few entry-level jobs and too few workers for middle-skill opportunities. For some innovative solutions right in DC, check out Catalogue non-profits Byte Back (where adults can access Advanced Certification training and mentorship in technological fields) and New Course Restaurant and Catering (where the kitchen staff all receive comprehensive on-the-job training in commercial food preparation and customer service). Or learn about one our newest non-profits, the DC Students Construction Trades Foundation. Continue reading

Post-Hurricane

Whoa. That was some weekend. For those still without power — “more than 30,000 customers in the District […] 150,000 in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties and 100,000 in Anne Arundel County” as of last night — we are hoping that it returns quickly and lastingly.

You can find out about the Red Cross’ relief operation here; the storm also “caused the cancellation of more than 50 blood drives, adding up to a loss of approximately 1,500 blood donations. If you would like to sign up to donate, you can call 1-800-RED CROSS. Washington Post Local also has a list of emergency contact numbers, including Prince George’s County’s non-emergency hotline, which should stay active until the afternoon. You also should check out the Post’s list of (safe) clean-up tips here.

Most DC Public Schools will be open tomorrow, as will the Montgomery County schools with electricity. Just as a reminder, now is a great time to support one (or more) of our non-profits as they ensure that all area students have what they need for a strong and healthy start to the school year. Check out the Wish List right here. And if you happen to do some shopping at DC metro area Staples in the coming week, you can take part in the Staples for Students: Do Something for Kids in Need national school supply drive, which will benefit Catalogue non-profit Neediest Kids.

Have a good and safe week, Washington!

In The News …

Hope everyone is doing all right in the earthquake aftermath!

Teens Find a Safe Haven: Alternative House provides homeless students shelter (Great Falls Connection): “[Aliyah] Jones is part of a growing number of teens in Fairfax County who are considered homeless or ‘unaccompanied’ — without parents, guardians or reliable shelter — but remain in the school system. In 2009, according to [Catalogue non-profit] Alternative House, there were 104 homeless or unaccompanied students; in March 2011, Alternative House counted 225 such students. ” Since 1972, Alternative House has evolved into a dynamic system of services designed to keep young people off the streets by offering safe and accessible places where they can get help. (You can help out here!) Continue reading