Category Archives: In The News …

In The News …

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Good morning! It’s Wednesday news day …

A pattern of HUD projects stalled or abandoned — Many have likely read this already (check out the 1300+ comments), but just in case: the Post recently released the results of an investigation into over 5,1000 housing construction projects across the country, 700 of which have “have languished for a decade or longer even as much of the country struggles with record-high foreclosures and a dramatic loss of affordable housing.” And at a time when demand far outpaces supply, “early one in seven projects shows signs of significant delay.” What is your take? (Do check out the reaction on DCentric too)

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In The News …

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Welcome to Wednesday! Let’s poke though the non-profit-related news …

Arts groups fight proposed ticket tax in DC — And you can too! Mayor Gray has proposed a 6% tax on tickets to arts (theater, dance, music) events in his 2012 Budget. The Washington Post reports that “arts groups say they will lose audience members and revenue with an added tax on tickets [and] it will have a ripple effect on other businesses, such as restaurants.” Check out the above link to learn what you can do.

Despite Recession, Global Giving Abounds — On Monday, PR Newswire reported that “for the first full year of the global recession private giving to the developing world has remained remarkably stable,” according to the new 2011 Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittance from the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Prosperity. For the US, aid to developing nations in fact rose slightly between 2008 and 2009 by about half a percent.

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In The News …

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Welcome to Wednesday! Let’s see what’s in the non-profit and local news …

The US Maternal Health Crisis: 14 Numbers You Need To Know — Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday and at Amnesty International, “we’re honoring mothers by fighting for maternal health.” As an update to last year’s report on maternal health in the US, Amnesty has also released some striking numbers: “49: The number of countries that have lower maternal mortality ratios than the US” and “2x: Women living in low-income areas across the US were 2 times as likely to suffer a maternal death.”

Mapping DC’s Food Deserts — Do look over the US Department of Agriculture‘s map of food deserts (low income areas without grocery store access) published on DCentric yesterday: “About 18,000 DC residents live in food deserts … In one such food desert, 39 percent of residents are children. And although Prince George’s County … has more food deserts, DC’s deserts have a higher concentrations of children.” The article also points out that the health problems are two-fold: “Violence and the perception of violence creates environments in which children and adults are less likely to go outside, walk, bike and generally be active.”

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In The News … (More!)

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Expanding upon yesterday’s post, check out more news coverage for our non-profits!

What do women really want? — Earlier in April, Joan Kuriansky, executive director of Wider Opportunities for Women, contributed this opinion piece to Politico, addressing the unique concerns of women voters in this election cycle. She points out that “female voters, like men, are focused on the economy. But women care about kitchen-table issues — investments in public education, affordable health insurance, protecting Social Security, equal pay enforcement, minimum wage increases and job training … Polling shows women are more concerned than men that family income will not be enough to meet basic expenses.” But has either party addressed those concerns directly?

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In The News …

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Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which “killed 11 workers and sent more than 200 million gallons of oil spewing into the Gulf waters:”

BP oil spill: The environmental impact one year on — As the BBC asked yesterday afternoon, “what environmental impact did one of world’s largest accidental oil spills have on the region’s wildlife and habitats, and has it been as bad as it was feared at the time?” At this point, scientists still cannot say for sure: it is still “too soon for long-term impacts to manifest themselves, such as disruptions to ecosystems’ food chains.”

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In The News …

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Good morning, folks. Here comes Wednesday’s bundle of news items …

Finalists for the Washington Post Award for Excellence in Non-profit Management — Many congratulations to Horton’s Kids, Prince George’s Child Resource Center, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, all of whom were announced as finalists by the Center for Non-Profit Advancement this past Monday. According to their press release, “The Award Selection Committee judges applicant organizations in the areas of fiscal management, information and communication, organizational development, people development, planning, resource development, risk management, and use of technology.” The winning non-profit will “receive a $10,000 grant and a scholarship for one person to attend the Georgetown University Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership?s Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program.”

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In The News …

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Welcome to the first Wednesday of the (hopefully not too) rainy month! We have a bundle of Catalogue non-profit news coming your way …

Congratulations to five non-profit leaders — Last night, the winners of the 2010 Exponent Awards were honored by the Meyer Foundation. And of those winners, four are the leaders of Catalogue non-profits: Jean-Michel Giraud of Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place, Layli Miller-Muro of Tahirih Justice Center, Scott Schenkelberg of Miriam’s Kitchen (check out his “7 Questions” interview!), and Adam Tenner of Metro TeenAIDS. Many, many congratulations! You can also check out the Washington Post’s earlier coverage of the award announcement.

Being Bilingual May Boost Your Brain Power — Check out this cool discussion of bilingual families from Monday’s Morning Edition: “Judy and Paul Szentkiralyi both grew up bilingual in the US, speaking Hungarian with their families and English with their peers. When they first started dating, they spoke English [but] when things turned serious they did something unusual — they decided to switch to Hungarian” for their children. Additionally, several Catalogue non-profits, such as the Latin American Montessori Bilingual PCS, are also strong evidence for the power in bilingual education!

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In The News …

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Welcome to Wednesday, folks! Sending non-profit and local news items your way …

Japan: “Cutting Through the Noise” — At the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at UPenn, yesterday’s post outlines “the questions donors should ask, the capabilities to look for in a nonprofit, and an example of an organization well-positioned to deliver help in Japan now.” While rightly focused on the crisis in Japan, the questions posed (and the answers offered) also provide a good basis?for considering any philanthropic effort in the aftermath of a profound disaster. Key questions to consider include: “What are the most critical needs on the ground?” “What are the gaps in local capacity for meeting these needs?” and “What capabilities are needed to address these gaps effectively?”

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