New coalition unites to fight hunger in New Britain

CCP survey reveals strong community foundation network in state

Investing in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life; watch the video

Documentary debuts on state’s children’s mental health care

Food tastes great while restaurant does good

Travelers Insurance foundations merge

Transitions

State’s foundations and nonprofits prepare for biennial gathering

Health records in cyberspace should guarantee better care, less error, savings

Kresge Foundation $1 million grant challenges homelessness in Portland

First 2008 baby “wins” Alfond Foundation scholarship

Funders offer half million dollars to confront home heating crisis in eastern Maine

Report on the arts in Greater Boston sounds warnings

New study asks: are the nation’s foundations using strategy?

Family foundation pledges $1 million annually for scholarships

The Boston Foundation doubles annual gifts in 2007, nears $1 billion

Two NH foundations underwrite performance of "Wrecked"

Community foundation breaks record in giving, grants, and assets

Sharpe family endows conservation collaboration with $1 million

Bank Rhode Island has “designs” on the environment

Collette Vacations Foundation launches worldwide children’s effort

Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop owners mix work and mission

Montpelier-based fund provides support to nation’s craft artists

New coalition unites to fight hunger in New Britain

Organizations are lining up in the battle against hunger and poor nutrition for thousands of New Britain children and families.

Convened and led by the United Way of New Britain and Berlin, the New Britain Food Security Collaborative will work cooperatively with Foodshare (the regional food bank for Hartford and Tolland Counties), existing emergency food providers and workforce development partners to not only meet the growing demand for emergency food services, but also to develop an effective long-term response.

The Collaborative expects to:

• establish a network of providers,
• work in partnership with Foodshare and others to increase the capacity of service providers,
• help establish community gardens,
• advocate for an emergency food pantry to serve the north side of the city, and
• help provide educational or workforce training.

The Catalyst Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain contributed $10,000 to partially fund a part-time staff position to coordinate the Collaborative’s outreach efforts.

For more information on the Collaborative, contact Jill Thayer at the United Way of New Britain and Berlin at 860-493-1114.

For more information on the Catalyst Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, contact Cheryl Farmer at 860-229-6018, ext.305.

CCP survey reveals strong community foundation network in state

Connecticut’s 20 community foundations held more than $1.4 billion in assets and gave $59 million in grants during 2006, reports a new survey by the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy.

Some of the report’s findings:

• All of the state’s 169 towns are served by at least one community foundation, 41 are served by two or more,
• Assets increased 41.8% during the 5-year period from December 2001 to 2006,
• Community foundations received $66.9 million in new gifts in 2006, and established 240 new charitable funds,
• Sixteen of the foundations have at least one paid staffperson.

Survey results are available at the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy.

Investing in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life; watch the video

In January, Governor M. Jodi Rell and the National Governor’s Association held a summit at Northeast Utilities to introduce the state’s first birth-to-3 policy framework. The Early Childhood Education Cabinet and the United Way of Connecticut coordinated the event.

For more information, or to view the CT-N tape of the event, go to Early Childhood Research & Policy Council website: www.ecpolicycouncil.org.

Documentary debuts on state’s children’s mental health care

A documentary exposing the challenges for children with mental health issues in Connecticut debuted in January on WTNH/News Channel 8. Darkest Hours: The Crisis in Children’s Mental Health Care was sponsored by the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund and The Connecticut Health Foundation.

Darkest Hours was produced and hosted by Christina DeFranco. For the past three years, DeFranco has interviewed Connecticut parents, teens, advocates, and health care providers who all share their personal stories about a “fragmented” mental health care system. Doctors and therapists talk about the need for mental health standards to be equivalent to those of physical standards. Commentary is included from Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, former Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Kevin Sullivan and Connecticut’s Juvenile Justice Department Director William Carbone.

“This is a huge societal problem that infiltrates every town, county and state in this country,” says DeFranco.

For more information or for a DVD of the program contact Maryland Grier at maryland@cthealth.org, 860-224-2200.

Food tastes great while restaurant does good

The Melville Charitable Trust got an unexpected bonus from one of its mission-related investments—kudos from Gourmet Magazine and a “very good” ranking from the New York Times restaurant reviewer.

The Trust opened the Firebox restaurant in its Billings Forge building in the Frog Hollow neighborhood of Hartford, with the hope that it would provide one more source of employment, income, stability, and pride to the struggling community. Since its founding in 1990, the Trust has focused on combating the causes of homelessness.

The restaurant, at least according to the Times, is a keeper. After a mostly positive review, the writer concludes: “There is something appealing about the idea of using food and cooking to nourish a new community. Firebox is a comfortable meeting place for this venture.”

Gourmet Magazine echoes the praise, saying “Hartford never had it so good.”
Read the New York Times review.

To learn more about the Trust’s work in Frog Hollow, visit its website.

To visit the restaurant: Firebox Restaurant, 539 Broad Street, Hartford, 860.246.1222, www.fireboxrestaurant.com.

Trust co-founder Frank Melville passed away in December 2007. See Transitions below.

Travelers Insurance foundations merge

Connecticut nonprofits will be watching to see if the merger of the smaller Hartford-based Travelers Connecticut Foundation with its St. Paul, MN-based twin Travelers Foundation will change the amount of grantmaking to the state. The foundations had remained separate even though their parent companies merged in 2004.

According to the Hartford Courant, the company promised to spend at least the same as last year in Connecticut, about $5.2 million in foundation grants and corporate gifts

Local folks may take it as a positive sign that Marlene Ibsen, president of Travelers Connecticut Foundation, will be CEO of the merged foundations.

Read the Hartford Courant story.

transitions

Maine

State’s foundations and nonprofits prepare for biennial gathering

Every two years the Maine Philanthropy Center brings together the largest gathering of grantmakers who fund in Maine with nonprofit and public sector leaders from around the state.

Notes MPC President Janet Henry, “This day-long event provides a unique opportunity to learn, network, and explore our common goals and interests in strengthening the impact of philanthropy.”

Keynote speakers are Marion Kane, executive director of the Barr Foundation in Boston and Rip Rapson, president of The Kresge Foundation in Michigan.

The conference – entitled Future of Philanthropy: Creating New Traditions-- will be Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at the Samoset Resort in Rockport. The evening before, MPC will host the Funders Forum, a grantmaker reception and dinner. Guest speaker Jan Jaffe, founder of the Ford Foundation initiative GrantCraft, will share some of her 'practical wisdom' for effective grantmaking.

More details on both events are posted at www.mainephilanthropy.org.

Health records in cyberspace should guarantee better care, less error, savings

Maine hopes to be one of the first states in the nation to enable health professionals to access patients’ medical records across a broad electronic network. With more than $4 million raised thus far, the nonprofit HealthInfoNet is beginning a major demonstration phase immediately.

HealthInfoNet reports: “Today, a significant percentage of patient-specific clinical information in Maine is stored in paper-based records. Paper-based records can be cumbersome for caregivers to access--- and very difficult to share, particularly when information is needed on an urgent basis. Through the pilot project, many hospitals, physicians and other caregivers across Maine will---for the first time ever---have access (with their patients' consent) to a more complete and up-to-date clinical profile of their patients.”

Organized as a public-private partnership, HealthInfoNet has received funding support from a wide range of private foundations, provider organizations and state and federal government agencies. Funding for the two-year pilot has come primarily from the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) ($2 million) and $1.1 million that will be paid to HealthInfoNet by Maine's four largest healthcare delivery systems and Martin's Point Health Care.

MeHAF is Maine's largest statewide, independent health care foundation.

For more information, contact HealthInfoNet Executive Director Devore Culver at dculver@hinfonet.org or Project Consultant Jim Harnar at jharnar@maine.rr.com or visit www.hinfonet.org

Kresge Foundation $1 million grant challenges homelessness in Portland

One of Maine’s most innovative nonprofits fighting homelessness has received a major boost from the Michigan-based Kresge Foundation. The latter has awarded Portland’s Preble Street a $1 million challenge grant to build the organization.

This is the second time in four years that Kresge has offered a philanthropic helping hand. In 2003, a $300,000 Kresge capital challenge grant helped to kick-start Preble Street’s $3.5 million fundraising campaign for the creation of its Teen Center and Homeless Health Clinic.

Preble Street is well known for developing Logan Place, a 30-unit apartment building for the persistently homeless, in partnership with nonprofit housing developer Avesta Housing.

Executive Director Mark R. Swann says Preble Street hopes to bring more people “home for good” and is already collaborating with Avesta on new plans for Florence House, a comprehensive center for homeless women that will include 25 efficiency units.

For more information, visit the Kresge website.

First 2008 baby “wins” Alfond Foundation scholarship

Philanthropist Harold Alfond’s widely-publicized scholarship program for babies born in Maine began two hours into the new year, when Gabriella May Frain was born at MaineGeneral. A $500 college savings account was established in her name, as one will be for every newborn at MaineGeneral in 2008 as part of the Harold Alfond College Challenge. The program will expand elsewhere in Maine once the pilot program is completed.

In a nice twist, the Frain family hails from Waterville, the hometown of Alfond’s late wife, Dorothy.

Alfond, who died in late 2007, also had a special connection to MaineGeneral. A longtime cancer survivor, he was the key contributor to the Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care at MaineGeneral Medical Center.

Funders offer half million dollars to confront home heating crisis in eastern Maine

Eastern Maine Funders, a collaboration of 15 private and public foundations, businesses and other funders, has committed $521,000 to launch a second Eastern Maine Funders’ Energy Initiative for home weatherization, furnace maintenance and fuel assistance for the five counties of Eastern Maine.

The group’s first Energy Initiative invested half its funding in emergency fuel deliveries and the other half in weatherizing homes to decrease the need for assistance. The group found that there was a return of up to $5 saved for every $1 invested in home weatherization.

“This time,” says Eric Buch, president of United Way of Eastern Maine, “we are dedicating nearly 80% of funds currently raised toward weatherization so families won’t have to struggle in future years.”

Eastern Maine Funders (EMF) is a project of the Maine Philanthropy Center.

The fund includes gifts from the Maine Community Foundation, United Way of Eastern Maine, The Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, Jasper Wyman & Son, Bangor Hydro-Electric Company, Bangor Savings Bank, JTG Foundation, Francis Hollis Brain Foundation, Leonard C. & Mildred F. Ferguson Foundation, The Betterment Fund, C.F. Adams Charitable Trust, Maine Health Access Foundation, Webber Energy, R.H. Foster Energy and an anonymous donor.

For media assistance, contact Laura Mitchell at lauram@unitedwayem.org or 941-2800. For more information on Eastern Maine Funders, to get involved in the Energy Initiative or to learn more, contact Eric Buch at United Way of Eastern Maine at 941-2800.

Report on the arts in Greater Boston sounds warnings

The Boston Foundation’s latest report Vital Signs: Metro Boston’s Arts and Cultural Nonprofits, 1999 and 2004 praises the arts and cultural sector in Greater Boston while sounding the alarm about the health of the sector. The sector as a whole has seen declines in attendance and a drop in revenue—average revenue for arts and cultural organizations dropped 18 percent between 1999 and 2004.

Particularly at risk are small and medium-sized organizations, the report says.

View the entire report at The Boston Foundation’s website.

New study asks: are the nation’s foundations using strategy?

The Cambridge, MA-based Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) reports foundation CEOs and program officers say one thing about using strategy in their work and do entirely different.

Beyond the Rhetoric: Foundation Strategy examines the current state of decision making at large, private, U.S. foundations.

Through in-depth interviews with CEOs and program officers, the study probes foundation leaders’ views and use of strategy in making decisions. Although most of those interviewed said they used strategy, only a small number used it consistently across their work, the report finds.

This research was supported by the Surdna Foundation and by general operating grants from CEP’s major funders, including the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Family foundation pledges $1 million annually for scholarships

The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation has announced a scholarship initiative to benefit high potential, low income Boston area youth. Once fully implemented, the Foundation expects to grant approximately 80 scholarships per year totaling close to $1 million.

Eligible youth must be participants in and nominated by one of the 30 or so youth-serving nonprofit organizations supported by the Foundation.

For more information contact Laura Sherman at Lsherman@shapirofamilyfdn.org.

The Boston Foundation doubles annual gifts in 2007, nears $1 billion

The Boston Foundation received more than $155 million in new gifts in the 2007 calendar year, more than double the amount in the previous year. The value of the Foundation’s assets rose to $964 million, up from $830 million at the start of the year.

In the same year, over $92 million in grants—also the largest distribution in the Foundation’s history—were made to nonprofit organizations.

For more information visit: www.tbf.org.

Two NH foundations underwrite performance of "Wrecked"

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and the Endowment for Health sponsored performances of “Wrecked” in February. The critically-acclaimed play takes a bold and unvarnished look at substance abuse ¬– especially underage alcohol use – in a way in which both teens and adults can relate. The foundations also hosted a special reception to educate legislators on the issue. The daytime performance - aimed at high school students - sold out the Capitol Centre's 1,300 seats.

Community foundation breaks record in giving, grants, and assets

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation set new records for itself in 2007. The community foundation reports it received new gifts of more than $73 million, bringing total assets close to $490 million. It awarded grants totaling more than $32 million.

Sharpe family endows conservation collaboration with $1 million

People concerned about Rhode Island’s natural areas can rest a bit easier, thanks to noted philanthropists Henry and Peggy Sharpe.

The couple has established a $1 million endowment at The Rhode Island Foundation for the Conservation Stewardship Collaborative, a partnership of seven public and private organizations committed to the long-term protection and stewardship of open space.

The seven are the Rhode Island chapters or offices of the Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, the Land Trust Council, the University of Rhode Island Department of Natural Resources Science, the Natural History Survey, the Department of Environmental Management, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Members of the CSC will advise the Foundation on grantmaking for stewardship projects such as stewardship practices, training in conservation land monitoring, and creating practices to ensure the long-term viability of rare, threatened, or endangered plants, animals, and natural communities.

The Foundation also announced that an anonymous donor had promised to match additional gifts of at least $1,000 to the endowment, up to another $1 million.

For more information visit CSC or The Rhode Island Foundation.

Bank Rhode Island has “designs” on the environment

Bank Rhode Island (BankRI) has launched a contest for a design for its environmentally-friendly tote bags that will be produced and made available in BankRI branches by Earth Day (April 22) of this year.

BankRI’s “Design A Tote Bag” contest calls on established and budding graphic designers to submit entries by March 3 that reflect, in some way, the bank’s support of education, social and environmental causes, the arts and cultural community, revitalizing and restoring downtown Providence and/or sparking economic development. Judging will take place in early March. The first place winner will receive $1,000 and the artwork featured on BankRI’s tote bags.

Contest flyers with instructions may be viewed on BankRI’s website at www.bankri.com by clicking on the “Tote Bag Contest” icon. For more information, e-mail bri@advertisingventures.com.

Collette Vacations Foundation launches worldwide children’s effort

Collette Vacations, a U.S.-based tour operator, has launched a global humanitarian effort to improve the lives of children worldwide.

The Foundation says it will donate $2 million, supplies and manpower - roughly 150 volunteers - to establish and manage projects over the next five years in Australia, China, Costa Rica, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa and the United States (New Orleans and South Dakota).

Even Collette's customers will have a chance to experience the Foundation's work. During their travels, customers will have the opportunity to visit program sites supported by the Collette Foundation. Some programs include:

• The San Gabriel Center in Costa Rica, which provides medical care for terminally ill children
• The Hogar de Molina orphanage in Cusco, Peru, which is supported by the Peruvian Hearts organization
• The Tarahumara Indian Village school in Copper Canyon, Mexico, where the Foundation will support training programs for teachers and new playground equipment

For more information, visit www.collettevacations.com or contact Nicole Sullivan at 401-642-4699, nsullivan@collettevacations.com.

Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop owners mix work and mission

What to do when hundreds of Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop owners get together in Cancun for a little rest and relaxation? The answer was a no-brainer. The group seized an opportunity to show what the ice cream company is made of. So they painted, planted, cleaned, and fixed up a children's school in Puerto Morelos, Mexico.

The small village, just south of Cancun, was the recipient of hundreds of eager hands, which made light work of the sizable task. The real payoff was when the hundreds of smiling students flooded the freshly refurbished school grounds equally thrilled with their new digs and the ice cream social that followed.

For more information, contact Sean Greenwood at 802.846.1500

Montpelier-based fund provides support to nation’s craft artists

The Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), based in Montpelier, distributed more than $120,000 in loans, grants and in-kind assistance to 45 craft artists throughout the United States who suffered career-threatening emergencies in 2007. CERF points out that approximately 30% of the emergency relief went to Gulf Coast craft artists still recovering Hurricane Katrina recovery.

CERF provides direct financial and educational assistance to craft artists, including emergency relief assistance, business development support, and resources and referrals on topics such as health, safety, and insurance. CERF also advocates, engages in research, and backs policy that supports craft artists’ careers.

For more information: www.craftemergency.org.

Connecticut

Michael P. Meotti, president of the United Way of Connecticut, has been named Connecticut Commissioner of Higher Education by the state Board of Governors for Higher Education. Meotti will succeed Valerie F. Lewis who is retiring. The appointment becomes effective March 1.

Frank Melville, first chair of the Melville Charitable Trust, was memorialized as the ‘Friend of the Homeless’ in the December 7 Hartford Courant. Worth re-reading.

The Main Street Community Foundation chose Susan D. Sadecki as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. Susan was the Director of Business Development for Advanced Behavioral Health, Inc. where she was responsible for identifying new business opportunities, leading project implementations, and providing contract administration.

The Hartford Business Journal named Juan A. Figueroa, the president of Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, as one of its 2007 “Health Care Heroes” for his contribution to the advancement of health care in Connecticut.

Figueroa, a former state legislator, civil rights attorney and assistant attorney general, has led the foundation for the past five years. In 2007, the foundation awarded more than $2.5 million in grants for health care advocacy.

Maine

Henry L. P. “Hank” Schmelzer, president and CEO of the Maine Community Foundation, has announced that he will retire at the end of 2008 after nine years in the position. Under his leadership, assets have risen from $78 million to almost $250 million by the end of 2007.

Schmelzer was instrumental in the development of the Maine Compact for Higher Education, a statewide program involving academic, government and community leaders to increase higher education levels in Maine. He also helped launch the Environmental Funders Network and was actively involved in raising support for a Brookings Institution study and report that contained recommendations for promoting sustainable prosperity in Maine. In 2007, he was named Business Leader of the Year by MaineBiz, the state’s leading monthly business newspaper.

Massachusetts

Teen Voices has awarded Amy Segal Shorey, partner at Grants Management Associates and director of Women & Philanthropy, the Intergenerational Activist award for her work to promote funding for girls and women on both the local and national levels. She will be presented the award at the AMPLIFY! Girls Raising the Volume event on Wednesday, April 9, 2008.

Teen Voices provides innovative journalism, mentoring, and leadership development programs for low-income girls of color in Boston. For more information, visit www.TeenVoices.com/Amplify.

New Hampshire

Business NH Magazine named New Hampshire Charitable Foundation (NHCF) President Lew Feldstein one of its ten "Most Powerful" business leaders in the state. Said of Lew: "[The Foundation] has grown to be the state’s most powerful force, not only in philanthropy, but now in social change. Lew has become a New Hampshire icon."

Also at NHCF, Richard Ober has been named to the new position of Vice President for Civic Leadership. Ober comes to the position with 24 years experience in communications, public affairs and nonprofit management in New Hampshire. Since 2001, he has served as Executive Director of the Monadnock Conservancy. Before that, he served 16 years in senior staff positions with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. As Vice President of Civic Leadership, Ober will connect the Foundation to community leaders, elected officials, state agency staff, private sector partners and opinion leaders throughout the state, according to Lew Feldstein.

Vermont

President & CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) Brian T. Byrnes will step down from his post after 4˝ years to become managing director of Tides Foundation and senior vice president of Tides Network in San Francisco.

During Byrnes’ tenure, assets at the VCF grew from roughly $70 million to more than $160 million, and in 2006, it awarded nearly $14 million in grants to nonprofits. In a recent annual report Byrnes noted, however, “We are measured not by what we have but by what we do with it.”

VCF Executive VP for Finance and Operations Faith I. Brown spoke on mission-related investing at the PRI Makers Network’s second national conference in New Orleans in January.

Catherine Kalkstein is the new director of the Vermont Women’s Fund. Kalkstein was director of the Fairfield County (CT) Community Foundation Fund for Women and Girls for five years. She earned her Master’s Degree from Columbia University School of Social Work where she concentrated in social administration. Before returning to school, she spent two years on the development staff at the Domestic Violence Crisis Center in Norwalk, Connecticut and two years as the Director of Development at My Sister’s Place, a program for battered women and their children in Washington, D.C.