Nonprofit News and Comment

HUMAN SERVICES

“Arkansas: Bill Targeting Planned Parenthood Advances.” New York Times. April 9, 2013. The State Senate voted 19 to 11 Tuesday to approve legislation that would prohibit Arkansas from awarding grants to abortion providers, a move aimed at cutting off money that Planned Parenthood receives for sex education. Planned Parenthood officials say the bill, which now heads to the House, could affect doctors and entities like rape crisis centers if they refer women to abortion providers.

“Building Better Halfway Houses.” Editorial. New York Times. April 12, 2013. With corrections costs exceeding $50 billion a year, federal and state officials are understandably eager to make sure that the hundreds of thousands of people released annually from prison get the drug treatment, job placement and support services they need to have a chance at crime-free lives. Halfway houses, which typically receive prisoners near the end of their sentences, are supposed to provide these services for less than it costs to keep a person in prison. But many fail to provide quality services or prevent ex-convicts from ending up back behind bars. Pennsylvania is one state that has confronted the problem. A groundbreaking study issued earlier this year led the state to overhaul its contracts with the private companies that run the houses. The study found that 67 percent of the inmates who were released from prison to halfway houses were rearrested or sent back to prison within three years, compared with 60 percent of the inmates who were released directly to the streets. It also found that nearly two thirds of all reincarcerations within three years of release from prison were not for new crimes but for technical violations, like missing appointments with parole officers. The Pennsylvania results are consistent with those of other studies showing that halfway houses are often haphazard operations where services, record keeping and client assessment are poorly managed. This is grim news, given the billions of dollars the federal government and the states have spent on halfway houses in recent years. Pennsylvania’s overhaul effort creates a new incentive-based system. The halfway houses that actually cut recidivism will be eligible for an increase in state financing in subsequent contracts. Those that have higher recidivism rates will receive warnings, and they can lose their contracts altogether if the problem persists. The purpose, a good one, is to persuade the managers of these facilities to provide the counseling and other services that help inmates make the transition to the world outside.

HUMAN SERVICES

“Zidells donate $150,000 to school food pantries, challenge others to help fight child hunger.’ By Larry Bingham. The Oregonian. February 13, 2013. The Zidell family, owners of Zidell Marine, Zidell Yards and Tube Forgings of America, donated $150,000 Wednesday to the The announcement came on the 100th anniversary of company founder Sam Zidell’s arrival from his birthplace in the Ukraine. His granddaughter, Charlene Zidell, made the announcement at Shaver Elementary School in the Parkrose community. The donation will be seed money for expanding a two-year-old food pantry program that exists in six Multnomah County low-income schools. The donation, and challenge for other businesses to join the campaign, could grow the program to 24 more school-based food pantries in counties served by the Oregon Food Bank. “Together we can, and we must, end child hunger in Oregon,” she said. Oregon’s “child food insecurity rate” is 29 percent, one of the highest in the country. More than a third of the people who eat meals from emergency food boxes are children.

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“Proposed L.A. boardinghouse crackdown worries shelter operators; A law sponsored by Councilman Mitchell Englander would impose stricter controls on group homes to improve safety, but critics warn it would hurt programs that aid the needy, ill and homeless.” By Laura J. Nelson. Los Angeles Times. January 29, 2013, From a shelter in Boyle Heights, 18-year-old Abraham Magana dreams of Stanford. Magana has been homeless for more than six months. Since he moved out of his family’s house in August after escalating conflicts with his sister, he’s lived in a shelter run by Jovenes Inc., a nonprofit that gives young homeless men a place to sleep. Magana will graduate from high school in June. Then he hopes to earn straight A’s at Santa Monica College, get elected to the student government and apply to transfer. When he reaches Stanford — to him it is when, not if — he will get degrees in mathematics, engineering and business. “It’s proof that you are somebody,” Magana said. Knowing he has somewhere to sleep makes school that much easier, Magana said. But the housing, counseling and support the nonprofit provides to Magana and more than 100 other young men each year could be in jeopardy, Jovenes officials say, if the L.A. City Council passes a set of controversial regulations scheduled for a vote Wednesday. The proposed law, sponsored by Councilman Mitch Englander, includes stricter controls on boardinghouses and group homes intended to rid neighborhoods of illegal, dangerous and overcrowded facilities. How to accomplish that has been debated for nearly two years. But resolving the question took on new urgency in December after four people died in a shooting at an unlicensed Northridge boardinghouse. Critics warn that the restrictions would hurt shelters, sober-living houses and other programs that help an array of needy residents, including thousands of homeless people in L.A. County.

“Nonprofit puts seniors to work helping other people.” By Megan Woolhouse. Boston Globe. January 31, 2013. Since high-tech entrepreneur Alan Greenfield retired, he has filled his days with trips, dance classes, and volunteer work. Yet the engineer with a degree from MIT is most excited about his new $10-an-hour job helping low-income families file their tax returns and maximize their refunds. “Help when you can, that’s my personal philosophy,” said Greenfield, 65. And it was “nice to find something that paid a little bit of money, too.” Greenfield is among the first in Boston to find work through ReServe Inc., a nonprofit that puts adults age 55 and up to work in schools, government offices, and community agencies. ReServe, which opens its doors in Boston Thursday, matches people — often recent retirees or unemployed older workers — with part-time jobs, paying them $10 an hour for their help. Foundations and private donors have funded the concept in seven cities — including Miami, Milwaukee, and now Boston — because it is a unique way to capitalize on the skills and energy of an aging baby boomer population in an era of reduced public funding for social programs. “It’s a simple idea, but a powerful one,” said Christine McMahon, ReServe’s chief executive. “It’s adding value to infrastructure that already exists but has been weakened in these economic times. So we’re leveraging what we have.” ReServe began in Brooklyn in 2005 when two entrepreneurs, veteran New York Times editor Jack Rosenthal, who had covered older Americans’ efforts to stay active, and social service advocate Herb Sturz came up with the idea for the program and opened its first office. Since that time, ReServe has placed about 3,000 workers, known as “ReServists,” in more than 350 organizations. Participants may work as tutors in schools and libraries or act as college counselors helping low-income students track down and apply for scholarships in schools where staff may be overburdened with other duties. Other ReServists might work in a hospital setting, McMahon said, helping patients and hospitals navigate new federal health care rules.

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“Aid Group Harnesses Heartbeats and a Song to Fight Child Mortality.” By Jane L. Levere. New York Times. January 1, 2013. SAVE THE CHILDREN has enlisted the rock group OneRepublic to write a song that incorporates the actual heartbeats of young people and serves as the centerpiece of a public service advertising campaign. Meant to gain financial and political support for the organization’s efforts to reduce child mortality, the campaign — called “Every Beat Matters” — was created by the New York office of the BBDO ad agency, part of the Omnicom Group, for Save the Children and the Advertising Council. OneRepublic’s song, called “Feel Again,” was released in August on iTunes and will be featured on the group’s album, “Native,” to be released in March. The campaign is BBDO’s second for Save the Children, based in Westport, Conn., and the Ad Council; its first was introduced in 2010. Both campaigns were created to support the newborn and child survival efforts, primarily overseas, of Save the Children. According to Unicef data, about seven million children a year die before their fifth birthday, mostly from preventable and treatable causes like pneumonia, diarrhea and neonatal complications. Newborns account for 40 percent of those deaths. Ms. Conlon said the intended audience for the campaign was “people who care about international childhood mortality, who are likely to be more involved with charitable work.” She added that it was the first time the Ad Council had relied heavily on the contributions of a pop music group in the creation of a campaign. Mary Beth Powers, chief of Save the Children’s newborn and child survival campaign, said Mr. Tedder’s involvement “certainly brings new, younger audiences to the issue of child survival.” She also said Save the Children hoped the new campaign would inspire Americans to tell elected officials that “they can’t balance the budget” — which has in the past contained financing for foreign aid programs — “on the backs of women and children globally.”

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“Midcoast’s only homeless shelter abruptly closes; no reason given.” By Stephen Betts. Bangor Daily News. December 10, 2012. The only homeless shelter in Knox County has closed its doors with no notice, leaving area churches and service providers scrambling to meet the needs of those without a place to live.
The Mid-Coast Hospitality House closed within the past few weeks although the exact date and circumstances surrounding the closure are not being revealed.
“No comment,” said Samantha Mank on Monday at city hall, where she works as general assistance director for Rockland. Mank and her husband Gordon Mank Jr., had run the shelter since 1999. Papers dissolving the nonprofit corporation were filed on Nov. 27 with the corporation bureau within the Maine Secretary of State’s Office. Former Hospitality House board member Kathie Carrigan of Camden said Monday that she first learned of the closure recently when she received telephone calls from volunteers who were bringing cooked meals to the shelter and found it closed. There are no signs posted at the shelter announcing its closure. The telephone number of the shelter is out of service.

“To Tell Its Story, Red Cross Goes to Those It Helped.” By Jane L. Levere. New York Times. December 12, 2012. The American Red Cross has commissioned a new public service advertising campaign to raise money in the holiday season by showing how the organization helps people facing problems other than major disasters like Hurricane Sandy. The Red Cross identified people it had helped — who, for example, had experienced home fires or floods, or were reunited with loved ones in the military — and gave them video cameras to film their stories. Twenty-five of the 300 films that were shot ultimately were chosen to be part of the new campaign. Three of the 25 also were selected to run on television as public service spots. Called “The Red Cross Stories Project,” the effort is the third consecutive year-end fund-raising campaign by the organization. Last year’s campaign, by the New York office of BBDO, part of the Omnicom Group, used a Claymation figure named Fred to encourage giving. Peggy Dyer, chief marketing officer of the American Red Cross, said the group decided the Claymation concept was inappropriate in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. “It didn’t feel right,” she said. “There was a disconnect between what people were experiencing and feeling in the aftermath of Sandy and the whimsical approach used last year.” The American Red Cross and BBDO decided to speed up editing of the storytelling videos — which were commissioned this year and were originally intended for release in early 2013 — and run them in place of the Claymation spots. “We wanted to tell the story of the Red Cross through the people we serve, while at the same time demonstrating the breadth of our mission,” Ms. Dyer said. Linda Honan, senior creative director of the New York office of BBDO, said the concept for the storytelling campaign was inspired by a trip agency executives took to Alabama in March 2011, before they won the Red Cross account, to watch the organization in action after a tornado.

“Wish Book: Silicon Valley nonprofit makes home repairs to keep the elderly safe.”

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“Loan program to help nonprofits hurt by Sandy; The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City and the Ford Foundation have created a $26 million loan program for groups most affected by the storm.” By Theresa Agovino. Crains New York Business. November 27, 2012. The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City and the Ford Foundation, along with several other funders, have initiated a $26 million loan program to help nonprofits that were hurt in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The NYC Nonprofit Recovery Loan Program is one of several initiatives announced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday as part of an effort to help organizations rebound from the effects of the storm. The loan program will be administered by the Fund to Advance the City of New York and will give out interest-free loans ranging from $5,000 to $100,000. Priority will be given to organizations that have suffered the most severe losses and/or are operating in the worst affected areas. The loans will be made against expected claims to be filed with the nonprofits’ insurance firms, payout from FEMA, contracts and grants. Capital One Bank, the Robin Hood Foundation and The New York Community Trust are also supporting the fund. “In the days after a disaster like Hurricane Sandy, the City relies more than ever on nonprofit partners for help,” said Mayor Bloomberg in a statement. But they too are struggling in the wake of this disaster and the NYC Nonprofit Recovery Loan Program will help them rebuild as they help the city rebuild.” Luis A. Ubinas, President of the Ford Foundation, said in a statement, “By helping the nonprofits people rely on most get back on their feet, this fund will go a long way in restoring communities. If we learned anything from Katrina, it is that the road to full recovery is long, challenging and painful in the places that have been most severely affected.”

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“Food Bank feels Sandy’s strain; The charity released a report on Monday showing that it has 25% fewer soup kitchens and food pantries in its network than it did five years ago.” By Ali Elkin. Crains New York Business. November 19, 2012. Even before Superstorm Sandy, the Food Bank for New York City was struggling. On Monday, the nonprofit issued a report saying it has fewer resources and faces higher demand than it did five years ago. Since 2007, the number of food pantries and soup kitchens in the organization’s network has dropped to 742 from 989, a 25% decrease. Food Bank leaders said the recession is mainly to blame for that loss. But more recently, the perception that a recovery was underway may have lessened the flow of donations. Meanwhile, more than three quarters of group’s food pantries and soup kitchens reported increased volumes of visitors over the last 12 months. And that was all before Hurricane Sandy increased New York City’s need exponentially. According to the report, the Food Bank has delivered about 500,000 meals to affected areas so far. In some of the hardest hit areas, few, if any, food pantries and soup kitchens are operating. On the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, for example, neither of the area’s two soup kitchens is open and only five of its 14 food pantries are open. Staten Island and the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Red Hook and Coney Island are facing similar shortages. The burden of feeding the needy has fallen to other soup kitchens and food pantries, which are bringing some of their already-stretched resources to the affected areas.
Related story:
“Food Banks Face Emptied Larders.” Wall Street Journal. November 22, 2012.

“San Jose soup kitchen made homeless by another homeless program.” By Bruce Newman. San Jose Mercury-News. November 21, 2012. Loaves & Fishes, the San Jose soup kitchen that has done a lot with a little to feed the city’s homeless for 33 years, was preparing to perform its annual holiday miracle last month when the nonprofit agency learned that it, too, was about to become homeless. Its landlord was giving the organization less than 30 days to stop serving 1,000 hot meals a week, a deadline that would effectively sideline Loaves & Fishes for Thanksgiving, and possibly Christmas.”Shutting down a soup kitchen whose biggest day of the year is Thanksgiving, a week before Thanksgiving,” said the organization’s executive director, Christina Egan, “was not a smart move.” But when Egan chose to publicly name the downtown drop-in center’s landlord at the Montgomery Street Inn, whom she believed was being hard-hearted with Loaves & Fishes, it triggered an uncomfortable war of words and emotions in the local nonprofit world. That’s because the move-out order was coming from a longtime ally: one of the biggest homeless providers in the Bay Area. In an open letter to Loaves & Fishes supporters, Egan identified the culprit as the newly merged InnVision/Shelter Network, and its CEO, Karae Lisle.Recounting the phone call during which Lisle allegedly delivered the eviction notice, Egan wrote in the Loaves & Fishes holiday newsletter, “I was shocked.” She went on to lay the cold, hungry holidays now facing 250 people at the unwelcoming doorstep of InnVision’s new leader.

“Ohio Republicans seek to cut off Planned Parenthood funding in lame-duck session.” By Meteor Blades. Daily Kos. November 21, 2012. Republicans in the Ohio legislature are determined to gut funding for Planned Parenthood in this year’s lame-duck session. A bill to carry this out has already cleared a House committee on a party-line vote: The measure will reprioritize how state and federal family planning funds are administered, bumping Planned Parenthood providers to the bottom rung of eligibility. The bill states that priority for the funds should go to state, county, or local government entities. If “all eligible public entities have been fully funded,” then some of the money can go to private groups, but those are also ranked to put Planned Parenthood providers dead last. This would replace the current competitive grant process. It isn’t the first time the legislature has tried this. First introduced in July 2011, the bill hadn’t moved since a hearing in May. Democratic Rep. Nickie Antonio told Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones she had hoped “that cool heads would prevail, and people would maybe take a step back and think about what they’re hearing from the people of Ohio. The people of Ohio are not clamoring for less availability of reproductive healthcare for women.” That makes no never mind to the forced-birther crowd, of course. And even though pro-choice Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown won a tough, well-funded race against him and the majority of Ohioans voted for Barack Obama, both houses of the legislature emerged from the election still firmly in Republican hands. At risk if the bill attacking Planned Parenthood is approved, as seems likely, are some $2 million, eight to nine percent of the organization’s funding.

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“JobRaising Challenge Nonprofits Discuss Innovations To Create Jobs (VIDEO).” Huffington Post. November 12, 2012. The JobRaising Challenge returned to HuffPost Live today to feature 3 job-creating nonprofits from across the country that are offering innovative solutions to the jobs crisis. Representatives from CareerGear, Samasource, and Goodwill of Southern California sat down with HuffPost Live’s Josh Zepps and Chief of Staff to Arianna Huffington Daniel Koh to discuss the role of nonprofits in creating opportunity. The organizations illustrated the key role nonprofits play in stemming the jobs crisis. The JobRaising Challenge is in partnership with The Huffington Post, The Skoll Foundation, CrowdRise, and Knowledge Partner McKinsey & Company. Selected nonprofits will have the opportunity to raise money competitively through CrowdRise for a chance at $250,000 in prizes provided by The Skoll Foundation. McKinsey & Company will also select an organization to mentor, independent of fundraising.

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“4 YMCAs shut in north suburbs, Chicago; Aging facilities, drop in membership blamed.” By Jeff Danna, Jennifer Delgado and Lisa Black. Chicago Tribune. October 3, 2012. Three north suburban YMCAs and a fourth in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood have announced their closings because of financial hardship, aging facilities or declining membership. The Lake County Family YMCA will shut its facilities in Waukegan and Vernon Hills on Oct. 31, citing a declining number of members and a growing financial shortfall, said spokeswoman Anne O’Connell. The center operated with a $1.1 million deficit in 2011, according to a financial report. “Like many businesses and not-for-profits in the area, we’ve been adversely affected by the recession,” she said. In a separate move, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago closed its Austin center on the West Side on Monday, citing its deteriorating facility and declining membership, said Jill McDonnell, spokeswoman for the nonprofit. The Metropolitan Chicago group, which oversees 23 centers and five camps across multiple counties, had already shut down a facility in Grayslake. In its 2011 annual report, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago reported $105 million in revenue with what McDonnell called a “planned” deficit of $11 million. She said the organization uses interest from a $138 million endowment to defray the losses in operating costs. nonprofit status.

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“Los Angeles Jewish Home plans seniors facility on Westside; The L.A. Jewish Home, which houses seniors and provides elder care services, buys land at Playa Vista, south of Marina del Rey.” By Martha Groves. Los Angeles Times. September 9, 2012. The Los Angeles Jewish Home, a leading provider of senior housing in the L.A. area, has bought 2.5 acres at Playa Vista and plans to establish its first Westside facility, officials said Saturday. Plans call for developing a senior care community that would become the hub for a network of related services. Now in its centennial year, the Jewish Home opened in 1912 in Boyle Heights to give shelter to five residents. For the next few decades, Boyle Heights — named for Andrew Boyle, an Irish immigrant — served as the hub of Jewish life in the area. In 1975, the home followed the Jewish migration to the San Fernando Valley, selling its Eastside home to Japanese American interests that created what is now Keiro Senior HealthCare. The Jewish Home’s two campuses in Reseda now serve about 2,600 elderly clients each year, including about 1,000 residents and 1,600 clients of clinics and other programs.