United Way of NYC Launches 2012 Community Grants

This January and February 2012, United Way of NYC (UWNYC) is accepting applications for two community grants - Collaboration Grants and Community Leaders Impact Grants.

Collaboration Grants
What: Grant for "support teams of two or more community-based organizations that seek to create or expand innovative partnerships in order to achieve measurable outcomes."
When: Applications will accepted from January 2 - January 31, 2012 (no later than 5:00 p.m.)

Visit http://unitedwaynyc.org/pages/collaboration-grants for more information.

Community Leaders Impact Grants
What: Grant that "will enable emerging nonprofit leaders to obtain professional development training to better address critical issues impacting their organizations."
When: Applications will accepted from February 1 - 15, 2012 (no later than 5:00 p.m.)

Visit http://unitedwaynyc.org/pages/community-leaders-impact-grants for more information

Reconnecting McDowell - Creating a village through partnerships

"It takes a village to raise a child" is an age-old saying that, quite frankly, often seems to be the opposite of what's seen in American society these days.  In fact, a study commissioned by State Farm in late July of last year revealed that only 25% of Americans surveyed knew their neighbors names. This says a lot about the depth of relationships that Americans have with the people that live the closest to them(1).

If McDowell County was one of the few areas that fostered the "village mentality", then Reconnecting McDowell is elevating it to a new level to solve the major challenges in this West Virginia county. McDowell County is ranked last in education in the state and 72% of its students live in households without gainful employment(2). Reconnecting McDowell's aim is to "make educational improvement in McDowell County the route to a brighter economic future"(2). Their approach has been to partner with the business, philanthropic, government, nonprofit, and labor sectors to tackle "poverty, underperforming schools, drug and alcohol abuse, housing shortages, limited medical services, and inadequate access to technology and transportation"(2). Click here to learn more about Reconnecting McDowell.

Reconnecting McDowell has shown just what partnerships can do - create "villages" - a community where everyone feels a sense of responsibility to make sure that the children and adults alike are doing well. In McDowell County, although they face tough challenges, there is hope in collective problem solving. The problems of society cannot be solved alone. Their complexities require collaboration amongst many sectors. Of course, Community Optimization will be paying attention to this effort and share its progress.


References:
(1) CBS Los Angeles. "Love Thy Neighbor? Most Americans Don’t Know Next-Door Names"
(2) Reconnecting McDowell website http://www.reconnectingmcdowell.org/

The Today Show's "Holiday Toy and Gift Drive" works with charities and businesses to make sure kids have gifts to open on Christmas

Now in its 18th year, the Holiday Toy and Gift Drive has raised $285 million in donations since its inception in 1994. The Today Show's Charitable Foundation works with charities and businesses to collect and provide gifts for needy children. This year, they were able to raise nearly $35 million in donations and provide gifts to 200 charities resulting in 4 million children being helped. For more information about the drive, click here to visit the drive's webpage. 

Holiday drives are always good ways to carry out the giving spirit. Many children were provided for this season thanks to the drive and the amazing charities and generous businesses that participated and people that donated. Although I would hope that so many families weren't in need, I'm sure that the 2012 Holiday Toy and Gift Drive will provide more opportunities to give.

The Trevor Romain Foundation and the USO team up to support military children

The Foundation of entertainer and educator Trevor Romain, Trevor Romain Foundation, and the United Service Organizations (USO) have found an interesting way to partner to provide support to military children. The Foundation has developed two kits that help kids in the event of a parent's deployment or the loss of a parent. For every $21 donated to the USO for this purpose, the Foundation provides one deployment kit for one military family.

The partnership between the USO and the Trevor Romain Foundation is a great idea. Every partnership that the USO engages in allows them to provide a broader range of services to our service men and women and their families. I'm sure that the kids appreciate this program.

SeatGeek partners with Bloomberg Philanthropies to enhance New York City's arts

Bloomberg Philanthropies is partnering with SeatGeek, a New York based tech start-up and ticket search engine, to help people enhance their New York cultural arts experience. The Discover New York Arts (DNyA) pilot project utilizes  SeatGeek's search technology to help promote live shows and events from over 30 New York City arts organizations. Here's what Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City and philanthropist said about the partnership, “Our arts program at Bloomberg Philanthropies is driven by a deep commitment to enabling art to be a driving force in enriching communities and providing economic opportunity. This collaboration takes our programs a step further, offering a significant business partnership for our grantees with a leading New York tech company.” You can read the full story at prweb.com SeatGeek Partners with Bloomberg Philanthropies to Unlock New York City’s Great, Undiscovered Arts Experiences

What a great idea for a partnership. It makes it easier to discover shows and other cultural arts opportunities that benefit the community.

Collaboration between the philanthropic, business, and government sectors leads to $30 million in aid in Connecticut

A collaboration of state officials, the business community, and the nonprofit sector resulted in a whopping $30 million in aid. The collaboration sought this funding for economic development efforts in Connecticut's urban areas which have suffered as a result of the recession. For more on this story, which was featured in the Hartford Business Journal Online, click here.

This is one example of how collaborations truly pay off. There is strength in numbers - well in this case expertise and resources.  If you have a goal and you are able to gather everything (e.g. resources, expertise) that you need to accomplish that goal, then you are more likely to succeed because you have everything that you need.

Colossal collaboration between DonorsChoose.org, the Wasserman Foundation, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and Starbucks Coffee to support cash strapped classrooms

The households of LAUSD students (starting this month) and customers of Los Angeles Starbucks Coffee shops (beginning later this winter) will receive gift cards which will be used to fund projects in LAUSD schools’ classrooms through DonorsChooseLA.org. How did this happen you ask?  The Wasserman Foundation, which has a long history of philanthropy in the education arena, donated $4 million dollars over the next 2 years towards the effort. Half will go towards gift cards and the other half will be in the form of a challenge grant in which the foundation will match donations to projects through the DonorsChooseLA.org website.

This idea is a very innovative and will likely bring much needed supplies to LAUSD classrooms. What’s so unique about this partnership, is allowing the community to participate through giving out gift cards. The whole project brings about the much needed “It takes a village to raise a child” mentality, one that has been lacking in today’s society.

Molina Foundation partners with literacy programs and 501(c)3 organizations to promote literacy

The Molina Foundation was established in 2004 to reduce disparities in healthcare and education. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because it was started by Dr. Martha Bernadett, daughter of Molina Healthcare, Inc. founder, Dr. C. David Molina. Since 2003, the Book Buddies™program has been working to increase literacy in children and adults by partnering with other organizations and literacy programs nationally. Through the Book Buddies™ program, the foundation has distributed hundreds of thousands of books and started book clubs at elementary schools.

Molina Foundation’s work through the Book Buddies™ program is a great example of how the health and education sectors can collaborate. What this means for a community and for a healthcare organization is not only less illiterate residents but a decrease in poverty. Literacy status effects a persons life much like the domino effect. Literacy determines our ability to move through the education system and hence our educational attainment (e.g. high school, college degree, graduate degree), what jobs we can get (high or low paying), and ultimately the quality of life we have.