Newspapers / Philanthropy Journal of North … / Sept. 1, 1998, edition 1 / Page 4
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Nonprofits mm Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina Helping children succeed Success By 6 invests in children Success By 6 programs in some 200 communities across the country are preparing preschool children to succeed In school. By Patty Courtright Investing in the well-being of children before they enter school pays off throughout their lives. This is the philosophy of Success By 6, sponsored by United Way of America since 1989. Success By 6 programs nationwide advocate fos tering early childhood development, especially for at-risk childi’en and their families, as a key to providing these children with a successful future. The program's catch-phrase is "helping al children succeed for life." Begun in 1988 as an early child hood initiative at the United Way of Minneapolis, Success By 6 pro grams now help preschool children and their families in more than 200 communities across the countrj'. Now, a SIO million donation from the NationsBank Foundation will further expand the initiative. The money, pledged to United Way of America, will support growth of its Success By 6 programs into all of NationsBank's franchise areas — potentially bringing the program into 22 states, including those now served by BankAmerica, NationsBank and BankAmerica are expected to merge later this year. "NationsBank shares with United Way the belief that emphasis on early child development will ensure a blister future tor the entire community and our country;" says Laura Foxx, foundation presi dent. United Way of America will administer the new funds, making them available to local United Ways. Administrators are sending requests for proposals to the 22 states, with plans to announce the new and expanded programs in January. "The contribution from NationsBank marks the first signifi cant (Success By 6) program fund ing that we can put directly into the local communities," says Karen Smiley, director of Success By 6 for United Way of America. How it began "Part of the thinking, when the initiative was being developed, was to make sure kids were ready for schooi when the schools were ready for them," says Byron Laher, man aging director of labor service and community affairs for United Way of Minneapolis. To accomplish this, the Minneapolis United W^y board con vened a group of community leaders — those from the private, nonprofit and government sectors — and posed the question: What was pre venting children from having a suc cessful life experience? "The first thing everyone agreed on was that there was a crisis in early childhood development," Laher says. So the agency began creating pubhc awareness of the problem, first to generate community sup port, then to bring needed services to a lai^r number of people and encourage organizations to work together. The original Sucdfess By 6 initia tive tackled the problems of low Participants in Charlotte's Success By 6 program Charlotte program has family focus Look for SUCCESS, page 9 By Patty Courtright Since 1991, Charlotte’s Success By 6 program has focused on creating a healthy environment for children consid ered at-risk. As a first step, the Johnston YMCA —• a resource for eight nei^borhoods — established a community development pro^am, providing ease management for families with young children who were most in need of additional resources. ‘We intentionally started with the most difficult families,” says Lynn Otzman, director of commu nity investment for United Way of Central Carolinas, “and we did this with lots of partners, using staff time and decision-making input from the community. “Seven years ago, there wasn’t a lot of discussion about early childhood, so the progimm really W’as on the cutting edge of a focus on the development of young chil dren,” she says. “We vvere doing some pioneering.” The theory was, Otzman says, that providing families with young children the things they needed to be successful as a family would, in turn, improve the lives of the chil dren and give them a healthier start in school. “That was our original intent and what we carried out,” 'she says. “The focus is on the whole family, not just the children.” Next, the program focused on health care. In conjunction with Carolina Medical Center, Success By 6 established a clinic in the YhICA building to send a nurse Look for FAMILIES, page 18 September 1998 One-fifth of population faced poverty Welfare changes aren't reflected In the study and several charities say they're caring for as many, if not more, homeless and hungry. By Joan Alford A new U.S. Census Bureau report says poverty usually is a temporary condition. But many charities report they are finding more people than ever are looking to them for long term help. Using data from 1993 to 1994, the Census Bureau study says approxi mately 55 million people — about 21 percent of the country’s population — experienced poverty for a least two straight months. One-half of that number managed to escape poverty in less than five months. But the figures were calculated before Welfare Reform legislation was enacted, so the report may not accurately reflect the 1998 poverty picture, say managers of some groups that help the poor. “With changes in welfare, we’re seeing 10 percent more people seek ing help after being cut off from gov ernment-sponsored programs,” says John Simmons, executiv'e director of Central City Concern, Inc. in Portland, Ore. “There’s a lot of fear and confusion out there.’' - The Portland nonprofit supports 1,100 housing units for those who wnuid otherwise be homeless. It also operates an alcohol detoxification pro gram for about 3,000 people annually. The Cathedral Shelter of Chicago is feeling the crunch of welfare changes, too. Look for POVERTY, page 8 Learning center a collaborative effort Kids, families in public housing get boost Public and private groups are working to provide skills to young sters and families living in public housing. By Todd Cohen Raleigh Nearly 4,000 families, including 8,000 children, or 10 percent of the total enrollment in the Wake County public schools, live in pubhc housing. And, less than 30 percent of children living in public housing graduate from hi^ school. Now; youngsters and parents hving in pubhc housing wih have an easier time learning basic educational and job skihs, thanks to a new' center that is a cohaborative effort inv'olving 15 nonprofit and governmental entities. The Community Learning Center, located at the Heritage Park pubhc housing complex Just south of dow'n- town, features three learning hubs — focusing on technology literacy and tutoring and mentoring. The cohaborative effort is spear headed by the RHA Scholarship Fund, which w'as created in 1989 by the Raleigh Housing Authority to pro vide scholarships to students hving in pubhc housing. The new center wih feature pro gramming provided by the participat ing organizations, says Paige Hohand, the scholarship fund’s exec utive director. “We’h avoid dupheation of ser vices,” she says. Simhar centers are planned at other pubhc housing complexes in Ralei^, and the new center also could be a model tor the development of other centers throughout the state. Hohand says. “I want to have three more up [in Wake County] in the next tw'o years,” she says. The center is located in a budding donated by the Raleigh Housing Authoritj' and equipped with contri butions from local businesses. An adjacent budding wih be budt with $100,000 in public and private funds. In addition, participating agencies wih contribute volunteers and pro gramming w’orth about $250,000 a year. Co-chau's of the center’s steering committee are Raleigli Mayor Tom Fetzer and state Sen. Erie Reeves. Other participating organizations are Arts Together, Capital Area YMCA, city of Raleigh, Communities in Schools of North Carolina, Communities in Schools of Wake County, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, Inter-Project Council, Motheread, Raleigh Housing Authority, Raleigh Jaycees, state of North Carolina, Triangle Family Services, Wake County and Wake County pubhc schools. Cad (919) 836-8070. Food Bonk official resigns Anne G. Arella, deputy direc tor of the Food Bonk of North Carolina, has resigned. Arella, who joined the Food Bank two years ago as direc tor of development and pub lic relations and served as acting executive director earli er this year, will become a consultant to nonprofits on fundraising and public rela tions. Duke nonprofit program John Williams, director of the nonprofit development pro gram for the Mountain Resource Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, has been named senior program coordinator for Duke University's certifi cate program in nonprofit management. names coordinator Williams will handle the pro gram's day-to-day opera tions. For four years, he has been the program's site coor dinator for a 28-county area in Western North Carolina. He will report to Don Wells, the program's director, who is giving up responsibility for day-to-day operations. Fundraising software introduced Nonprofits using the fundrais ing software The RaiseFs Edge™ can get consulting help from software developer Blackbaud. The company will aid both new and longtime users of The Raiser's Edge, software designed to organize and store donor information and giving history. Food bank receives $140,000 The Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina benefited from $ 140,000 generated by the Aug. 11 Lowes Foods Golf Tournament. Since the tour nament was established in 1992, it has raised more than $700,000 for the food bank. Smithsonian Institution considers pitfalls of donor perks The Smithsonian Institution is guarding itself against corpo rate donors who might try to influence the content and exhibitions of the 16-museum complex. Corporate giving made up 41.3 percent of the Smithsonian's $49.5 million in gifts the museums received in 1997.
Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Sept. 1, 1998, edition 1
4
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