2006 PROGRESS REPORTS

HUMAN SERVICES

Children and Youth | Girls and Women |
Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse |
Health and Aging | Well-Being

Children and Youth

Here is the second spectacular success story of a Catalogue charity: Reach Out and Read (ROR — Cat’98 — [catid: 98382]) promotes childhood reading by distributing books free of charge to families through their pediatricians. The program has simply exploded across the country — since 1998 their budget has increased from $900,000 to $16 million; their staff from seven (five part-time) to 26 full-time; their sites from 469 to 2,900 nationwide, also to Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Last year ROR distributed more than four million books to 2.4 million children. Over 40,000 pediatricians and other healthcare providers are now trained in ROR strategies of early literacy guidance; 90% of all pediatric residents receive ROR training. Here’s what they had to say about being in the Catalogue:

“Our inclusion in the Catalogue served as a significant endorsement of our program and helped transform ROR from a fledgling organization funded primarily by foundations and other private supporters to a vibrant national model for pediatric literacy. ...Fueled by gifts from Catalogue readers (several of whom continue to support ROR) and using the (Catalogue) article to appeal to both new and current donors, donations and commitments grew and ROR began to diversify its donor base, a process which continues today. Soon after our listing in the Catalogue, ROR received the endorsement of the American Academy of Pediatrics and today is widely regarded as the nation’s premier pediatric literacy organization.”

Adolescent Consultation Services (ACS — Cat’99 — [catid: 99481]) works with court-involved kids in juvenile court clinics (JCCs). Their role is to assist judges in understanding cases and advise on their disposition. The problem is that funding for clinics has been frozen since 1998, and at current levels, JCCs can see fewer than 11% of court-involved children. As a result, judges limit their referrals to the clinics to avoid waiting lists and to expedite the most urgent cases. ACS operates the JCC for Middlesex County, but they are also a leader in their field; they formed the Massachusetts Alliance of Juvenile Court Clinics, which is advocating a $2 million increase in funds.

Youth Enrichment Services (YES — Cat’00 — [catid: 00331]) provides inner-city kids with outdoor experiences, mainly winter sports — skiing and snowboarding. Now coming up on their 40th birthday in 2008, they have much to celebrate. In six years since Catalogue listing, they have grown in both size and stature. Their full-time staff has doubled from two to four; budget is up 64% to $643,000; they have increased the number of kids they serve by almost one-third; placed 20 teens at Massachusetts and Colorado resorts as instructors, lift operators, cashiers and rental shop staff; and launched a college scholarship program. YES has been recognized as a model program by the National Snowsports Industries of America and the National Ski Areas Association; YES staff were invited as experts in the field to a Diversity Summit in Steamboat, Colorado. YES has partnered with Winter Kids of Maine, Snowboard Outreach Society of Colorado, and the Snowsports Industries of America in Washington, D.C., to share resources and best practices.

The Young Entrepreneurs Alliance (YEA — Cat’04 — [catid: 04391]) teaches kids in vocational schools entrepreneurship and technical skills by helping them start their own businesses, in the schools as part of their schoolwork. In just two years since listing, they have more than doubled their program, increasing it from two to five businesses in schools. They have more schools than they can handle interested in opening YEA businesses. In response to demand, they are writing a formal curriculum and creating a YEA business kit for schools and community organizations. The kit will include a how-to manual, a video series demonstrating skills more effectively learned by watching and then trying, and a teen business pack that standardizes the way YEA teens keep their business records. YEA will also provide consulting services to these schools and community groups, as needed. The idea is evolving naturally, and has a strong future.

“I’ve been surprised by how much growth and how many successes trace back to the Catalogue. ...It is fair to say that the Catalogue has been central to YEA and our growth. Two years later, we still include our Catalogue description in every fundraising/information packet we distribute. Being in the Catalogue and a member of the Catalogue community is central to YEA’s identity as a respected, evolving and responsible member of the charitable community. As a result of the Catalogue listing, we were contacted by the Boston Public Schools and included in a three-year federal grant that helps to support our work at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf. This is the first of a number of federal grants for YEA in partnership with the Boston Public Schools. The Catalogue provided us with the credibility we needed to be considered as a partner.”

Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Testimonial: Ana* "Ana attends Madison Park Vocational High School in Roxbury. She is 17 and has been in the U.S. for four years. She came to Boston from the Dominican Republic with her mother and older sister. Last fall she joined the YEA document management business that runs out of her Microsoft Office classroom. When I first met Ana, she sat silent and sullen at her desk. She wouldn’t look at anyone and she wouldn’t speak. No amount of eye contact would elicit more than a skeptical glance or a sarcastically raised eyebrow. There was no question, no matter how leading, that would get her to open her mouth. Her teacher told me that Ana worked well independently but kept to herself. She also said that Ana might have a speech handicap because she had heard her lisp and an aide sometimes came in to work with her. One day, I invited a computer expert to the class to teach the teens the $75,000 scanning software that had been donated by a company in Cairo, Egypt. When he started drawing diagrams to explain how the program worked, Ana looked up. The minute he asked the 17 teens to crowd around one computer for a demo, she literally pushed past her classmates to get to the front. She stood right behind the instructor, watching his hands and the computer screen. After a few minutes, he asked for a volunteer to take over at the computer. Before he finished, Ana had slid into the seat. After 15 minutes, we had to insist she let other students have a turn. She stood next to the screen, coaching the other teens on what to do. Ana’s English is excellent. She confided to me that she tries not to speak Spanish outside her home because it’s the only way she can ever be truly fluent in English. She has a lisp but this isn’t what prevented her from speaking; she was genuinely bored and had nothing to say. After the software expert left, she worked on the program for the rest of the school day. She mentored several classmates who were having difficulty understanding the system. By the next day, she had learned the entire software system. This is an enormously complicated program that she mastered. Ana now runs the business. She oversees all the jobs that come in and is in charge of quality control. She has a remarkable business mind, with a range of abilities that most adults find breathtaking. We told Ana that if she performed, we would open the world to her. We gave her a scholarship to attend a weekend coaching workshop for teens in the suburbs. It transformed Ana’s view of herself. She spent every day with affluent suburban teens and discovered that even though they didn’t share the same cultural or socio-economic backgrounds, they had many, many things in common. Ana realized that she can drop the label of “low-income Boston teen” and see herself as a teen leader. This year, her senior year, she plans to apply to college. She knows it will be a Herculean stretch—socially, intellectually, and financially. But then she laughs, saying that her greatest challenge will be pacifying her family: Her mother has decided that she should be a psychologist, and her father, hearing about her success, has written from the Dominican Republic, telling her to become a lawyer.” —Julie Nessen, executive director, YEA *Ana—Not her real name; pseudonym used to protect her identity

Girls and Women

Ten years ago we listed Women’s Express (Cat’97 -- [catid: 97543]), founded in 1988 to empower disadvantaged and high-risk teenage and young adult women through Teen Voices (www.teenvoices.com), a national quarterly magazine produced entirely by, for, and about their population group. They have flourished. A volunteer organization then, Teen Voices now has 12 staff; then a subscriber-based model of giving, they are now an intergenerational membership organization; then all print media, now they are increasing their impact on the web; then solely a journalism mentoring program, now they have expanded to a variety of programs, serving increasing numbers of girls in Boston.

“Thousands of dollars have been raised from donors initially engaged through our Catalogue listing in 1997. In particular one donor, a prominent woman physician and community leader in Boston, became engaged in Teen Voices through the Catalogue’s listing, and has regularly given at the major-donor level since then. A major advocate of both Teen Voices magazine and our programming, she recently co-hosted an intergenerational dialogue with Teen Voices and Boston health professionals, which has yielded both monetary donations and significant collaborations.”

Acre Family Daycare (AFD — Cat’00 — [catid: 00571]) was the bright idea of a University of Lowell undergraduate sociology major, who studied the Acre neighborhood in Lowell. AFD trains immigrant women to run daycare businesses in their homes, so that the children’s mothers can work outside their homes and gain second incomes for their families. The elegance, practicality, and productivity of the model have gained nationwide attention. In 2000 AFD received the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Vision 2000 Model of Excellence Award, which declared the program “a model for the nation.” In 2003 USSBA named the founder, Anita Moeller, the MA Home-Based Business Advocate of the Year.

“As a result of Acre’s Catalogue listing, two family foundations took an interest in us. One gave a $100,000 grant over two years; the other has given us $240,000 since 2001 and continues to fund our programs.”

Center for Women and Enterprise (Cat’99 — [catid: 00561]) provides comprehensive help for women starting their own businesses, with particular emphasis on helping those who are disadvantaged—training, peer modeling, networking, help with access to capital, transportation, day care, etc. They are highly successful and growing; since their listing, their budget is up over 50% to $2.5 million, staff has increased from 25 to 28, with offices in Boston, Worcester and Providence. They now serve over 2,100 women annually.

Women’s Lunch Place (Cat’99 — [catid: 99591]) provides a daytime refuge in Back Bay for poor and/or homeless women, where they can have a nutritious meal in a warm and respectful atmosphere, graced with tablecloths and flowers, without intrusive questions. Since appearing in the Catalogue they have about doubled in size — to a budget of $1.7 million, staff of 17, 350 volunteers, serving 80-125 guests daily. They believe that “the wonderful work of the Catalogue and its website” contributed to their growth, because they have no budget to speak of for promotion or marketing, and their donors from outside Boston have increased significantly. Their 25th anniversary is in 2007. This is all heart, with excellent taste.

When we listed the Elizabeth Stone House (Cat’99 — [catid: 99582]), we said “This is the only program of its kind in the country offering an affordable, residential, mental health program for women with their children.” Immediately thereafter they experienced a marked upswing of financial contributions: total revenues increasing by $200,000 (to $1.5 million), with a $29% increase ($10,500) in major gifts ($1,000 or more) by private foundations and individuals. Suddenly they also found increased visibility and credibility in their field. Of course post hoc is not propter hoc, but similar patterns have been observed with a number of charities separately. A more reliable observation they make is, “What the Catalogue did do is improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the philanthropic process.”

Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse

Charities addressing domestic violence and sexual abuse began to appear only 30 years ago, as women, often victims themselves, decided to open their homes to other victims and their children.

In Massachusetts, Transition House (Cat’01 — [catid: 01432]) in Cambridge, and Respond, Inc. (Cat’01 — [catid: 01433]) in Somerville, were the first to incorporate in 1975, and among the first in the nation. In 1976 the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition (NELCWIT) was born in Greenfield. In 1977 EMERGE in Cambridge was created to help male abusers. In 1979, Independence House (Cat’97 — www.independencehouse.com) was founded to serve the Cape and Islands. And so on. In the next few years many new charities appeared and coalitions were formed: of shelters (1978), of rape crisis centers (1987), and both together (1995).

It became increasingly clear that the problem is ubiquitous—affecting every socioeconomic class and every community. Domestic violence is the number one cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44. Every year agencies receive thousands of calls for help that cannot adequately be answered. Because the field is so new and complex — with medical, criminal, cultural, psychological, educational, juvenile, employment, and other aspects of the problem that need attention — philanthropic, governmental, and corporate responses lag behind its explosive growth.

So the field continues to both broaden and integrate. In 1998 the two main fields of domestic violence and sexual abuse, each represented by a coalition of institutional members, merged to become Jane Doe, Inc. (JDI — Cat’99 — [catid: 02101]) an umbrella group working toward a holistic, comprehensive response. With now over 60 institutional members, JDI is leading a collaborative effort to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for the field as a whole.

One of the strategic issues is that, though the problem is universal, there is uneven provision of services across the state — especially in rural and outlying areas east and west, and among particular population groups.

NELCWIT (Cat’02 — [catid: 02452]) in Greenfield, found that the Catalogue helped:

“Most of our donors live locally or have local ties, and we are outside of most Boston-area residents’ area of focus. The year we were in the Catalogue, however, we had several donations from new donors outside our area, who we think were Cataloguereaders. In addition, being listed in the Catalogueincreases an organization’s credibility. We used your listing as an attachment in applications for funding and other outreach efforts.”

EMERGE (Cat’99 — [catid: 99531]) was the first program in the state (1977) geared to the needs and challenges of men with histories of domestic violence. Since 1999 they have received U.S. Department of Justice funds to provide national trainings on domestic violence danger assessment, held in cities nationwide, attended by police, probation officers, victim advocates, prosecutors and child welfare workers. Their Danger Assessment Training Project produced a DVD showing how to conduct danger-assessment interviews with victims and perpetrators, and how to do safety planning with victims.

“The year we were in the Catalogue we definitely had an increase in donations from individuals, and the nice thing is that some of those people have made annual donations since then! This experience prompted [us] to think of additional ways of building a membership; so we expanded our website and published a monthly newsletter sent to supporters, and created a number of membership expansion programs.”

In sum, this is a field that needs to grow as a field. Philanthropy needs to multiply, if our responses to it are to approach adequacy. Here again is a case in which philanthropy and government need to collaborate as partners. You can help.

Health and Aging

“Health and Aging” emerged as a philanthropic field for the early Catalogue because so many health issues are age-related, and so many charities deal with both. As our numbers of charities increased, and last year we discovered the total number for the field (roughly 406, or 30% of the entire Human Services field), we have considered several other ways to list them.

A donor factor that concerns us is children’s diseases, especially congenital defects, which are crippling or eventually fatal. Parents and relatives of these children desperately seek help, but federal medical research funding flows in other directions — generally, to conventional research on diseases afflicting the largest numbers of citizens. Philanthropy is needed, but the relevant charities are small and not broadly visible to the donor community. We learned this first-hand when a father came to us for help, and in working with him, we experienced the impediments and felt his frustration in trying to find philanthropic possibilities. We believe a good solution would include Catalogue-type systems to spotlight Children’s Health as a field, to raise its profile for charitable giving.

Another reason to restructure the health philanthropy market is that many researchers who believe that unorthodox approaches might solve problems, find the NIH funding structure too hidebound and inhospitable to innovations. Frequently these pioneer researchers create their own foundations to raise philanthropic funds for their research. Because these are not broadly visible to the donating public, nor politically attractive for government funding, the result is weak philanthropy. We suggest that a better solution would be Catalogue-type structures to illuminate fields for the broad donating public, who we have found are interested in funding cutting-edge medical research.

Listing alone, however, is not enough. These smaller, less visible but compelling fields, once identified, could be convened to collaborate on projects promoting philanthropy to their fields, not just to themselves individually. For them the traditional paradigm of individual charities reaching out to individual donors through personal networks, and vice-versa, is inadequate and should be superseded. In this era of communications revolutions, there has to be a better way, and perhaps we can help find it. If there are donors out there willing to help, let us know. The system must change.

Neurofibromatosis Inc., Northeast (NF — Cat’99 — [catid: 99611]) shows what can be done when philanthropy gains traction for a small medical-research charity. NF, once known as “Elephant Man’s disease,” is a genetic disorder causing uncontrolled fibrous tumors along the nerve system, producing disfigurement, deafness, blindness, brain tumors, cancer and death. NF Inc. has been instrumental in mobilizing broad and powerful support addressing all aspects of this problem. In the process, their budget and staff have doubled. They provided the impetus behind creating a Center for Neurofibromatosis and Allied Disorders at Harvard Medical School, the first of its kind in the world, to facilitate access to tissues and genetic material, to coordinate human studies across several institutions, and to test new diagnostic procedures and therapies. They lobby Congress, and provide scholarships to NF children for summer camps — a safe environment where disfigurement is understood and self-esteem can be built. Listing in the Catalogue attracted a major donation, media publicity and accreditation for other fundraising.

The Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation of New England (Cat’02 — [catid: 02391]) “is dedicated to brightening the lives of seriously ill and hospitalized children and their families through programs that empower, educate, and entertain. By blending entertainment, technology, and pediatrics, we enable children and their families to address the social, emotional, and medical aspects of living with a serious illness.” These folks tell us their entire structure and operations were transformed by their Catalogue experience. They received several thousand dollars from new donors, volunteer inquiries, and an offer of in-kind support of a space on the Vineyard for hosting “Great Escapes.” But more importantly, “... as a result of being listed in the Catalogue, our board was exposed to other local, small organizations. This made them ‘take stock’ of what we did, how we did it, and if we were being run efficiently in comparison to other charities our size — it was a great eye-opener for our volunteer board.” Dramatic reforms ensued: a merger with a national sister organization; development of donated rather than purchased supplies for kids; increased reliance on volunteers rather than paid staff; giving up wish-granting as too costly and done better by others; serving groups rather than individuals (for the cost of five wishes they created an adolescent lounge at Boston Medical Center for thousands of children every year); and generally applying cost-effectiveness criteria to everything they do. Their staff is reduced, their budget has more than doubled, the number of hospitals they serve has doubled, and of children helped has nearly tripled.

The Trauma Intervention Program of Merrimack Valley (Cat’99 — [catid: 99642]) is a group of specially-trained volunteers called by police, firefighters and hospital personnel to provide emotional and practical support to victims of traumatic events and their families in the first few hours following a tragedy. Since listing, their volunteer staff has more than doubled, their budget has modestly increased, their funding sources and call volume have more than doubled. “Increased visibility in the Catalogueenabled us to gain recognition in and beyond Massachusetts. We received a number of donations as a direct result.” Their activities also increased; they have published three children’s books, which have been translated into Spanish; and they now offer courses in “Emotional First Aid.” They have helped over 13,000 children.

Lovelane Special Needs Horseback Riding Program (Cat’03 — [catid: 03571]) was listed in the Catalogue just as they were starting a $4 million capital campaign to build an indoor arena for their first-rate hippotherapy program. “The support we received was extraordinary — from kids who contributed their allowances and birthday gifts, to a number of major gifts, and hundreds of gifts in between. Some came directly from first-time donors who learned about Lovelane in the Catalogue. It is hard to know the full extent of the impact of the Cataloguein helping us successfully to reach our goal.”

Camp Starfish (Cat’04 — [catid: 04432]) told us, “As a result of the generous donations from families who learned about [us] through the Catalogue, seven children who could greatly benefit from Starfish’s services were able to attend the program.”

Well-Being

The Food Project (Cat’97, ’01 — [catid: 01151]) is a great success story, thanks to inspired and inspiring leadership. Since 1997 their budget increased 550% (to $2.7 million); staff 650% (to 26); programs have expanded from summer to year-round; volunteers tripled to 1,200; farmed acres nearly quadrupled. Their community-supported produce serves 300 families per week, and earns $170,000 in revenue. They have been transformed from a small, local, grassroots organization to a national leader in youth development and food systems — disseminating the model through two books, a series of manuals, and a 22-minute video. They have launched a national youth network of 200 teens from 20 youth gardening, food and agriculture programs. They told us this Catalogue story: “When we were first listed we gratefully received $5,000 in new donations from donors with major-giving potential. Then nearly a year later, a donor called and asked for a meeting, based on our Catalogue listing, which was still in her living room. She has become a strong and active partner, with a significant impact on our work in time, energy, and generous donations.”

Summer Search (Cat’99 — [catid: 99452]) provides life-changing experiential summer education programs to at-risk but promising inner-city youths — kids who have demonstrated leadership, caring for others, and character in overcoming adversity. It works: 100% of the students graduate from high school; 93% go on to college; 89% are on track to graduate from college, as against a national average of 30%. As a result, Summer Search has grown: the budget by 332% to $1.3 million; the staff from three to 10; the students served each summer from 90 to 205.

“This fall, Summer Search Boston received a generous donation from a foundation introduced to us through the Catalogue more than five years ago! That kind of ongoing support reflects the depth of connections that can develop through this powerful resource. Inclusion in the Catalogue not only connected us with consistently generous donors, but also helped establish our place as a respected non-profit in the Boston community. This foundation has enabled Summer Search to do what we expect our students to do — dream big. With the support of donors through the Catalogue and elsewhere, we created a growth plan that we never could have dreamed possible while we were applying to be in the 1999 edition of the Catalogue. We are honored to have the opportunity to be part of this unique community.”

Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project (PAIR — Cat’99 — [catid: 99692]) provides pro bono legal assistance to low-income, asylum-seeking refugees and immigrants. We said they “stand squarely in the grand tradition of American philanthropy’s commitment to political freedom.” Founded in 1989, listed in 1999, and what a different world situation they are in today! In the seven years they have grown — from 260 to 345 attorneys, from 325 to 580 clients, from two to 3.2 staff, from $112,000 to $200,000 budget, from $2.1 to $3 million worth of legal services and costs. They have also matured as an institution, with the board more active in fundraising and a strategic plan in place. But the needs today are greater still.

“Our Catalogue listing was a lovely gift. ...It brought us donors we would never have connected with otherwise. We also benefited from the Catalogue’s excellent description of PAIR — we have distributed it broadly ... it is an inspiring summary of our work.”

In 1997 we listed National Education for Assistance Dog Services (NEADS — Cat’97 — [catid: 01453]), and the photograph they sent us featured 11 “all-American” dogs, seated on stone steps, as if at some Ivy-League institution, more resembling faculty than students. We urged parents to “take some time this holiday season with your family, especially children and grandchildren, and take a trip together through the Catalogue.” Well, they did, and we heard from many of them that every child who saw the Catalogue wanted to “Give to the dogs!” And so they did: 50 new donors, contributing $19,000. One father called and told us that his kids wanted to see the dogs, could that be arranged? Yes, indeed, and they did, and it turned out he became a major donor. NEADS at that point was inexperienced at individual-donor fundraising, but this persuaded them of their charisma, and they have become masters at presenting what they do in entertaining, donor-friendly ways. They have grown apace: budget is up from $470,000 to $1.2 million; staff is up from nine to 21, physical facilities have expanded and buildings multiplied. This is their 30th anniversary, and they have now trained 1,000 assistance dogs and their new owners, who are disabled. Their Prison PUP program, in which prisoners help train puppies, was launched in 1998, and is now in eight correctional facilities in three states, raising over 50 pups annually. NEADS also trains trainers — from Germany, Japan, South Africa, South Korea and Australia.

“Over a dozen of those original Catalogue donors are still some of our most generous and active supporters. That year a Boston company chose NEADS as their charity with $3,000 and special cards to over 500 of their customers. One couple gave $100 initially, now $500 annually, and have hosted a house party sponsoring two puppies.”

Families First Parenting Programs (Cat’99 — [catid: 99432]) teaches parenting — understanding children’s needs and behavior, and how to respond constructively and with pleasure. They were growing fast then, and still are: budget and fundraising have doubled, staff increased from seven to 10. The year they were listed, they received $2,243 in gifts from 10 Catalogue donors, nine of whom were new. More than half of those continued to give in subsequent years, for a total of over $11,000 to date. One started out with a $500 personal gift, then followed it with three grants from his family foundation, for a total of $8,000.

Family to Family Project (Cat’98 — [catid: 98671]) teaches philanthropy well. Started in 1988 by a small group of families, they simply provide a helping hand at critical times, with “flexible dollars” to secure housing. Today they have a network of over 1,000 supporters, and they have helped 7,500 families, with more than $5 million. “Our level of giving increased in 1998 and 1999 following the distinction of our Catalogue listing. In addition, it gave us a reputable tool for creating new friendships and donors.”