In The News …

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Julia Cain

Residents Rally Against Cuts To DC Social Service Spending (WAMU 88.5): “They all turned out to a rally on the Wilson Building’s steps Monday morning, calling for Mayor Vincent Gray to spare funding cuts to social service programs and initiatives that help low-income DC residents. The rally was organized by the advocacy group DC Fair Budget Coalition. Mayor Gray is expected to release his proposed budget March 23 [...] Last year, Mayor Gray proposed $187 million in cuts, 60 percent of which were to social services.” According to Janelle Treibitz, campaign organizer of the coalition, Mayor Gray could propose a change to a current DC law (which mandates that all leftover money from the current fiscal year go into the city’s savings) and use half of this year’s budget surplus to prevent future program cuts. What do you think?

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Success Anywhere

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Julia Cain

From the American Graduate series on WAMU 88.5, “Scaling Up Solutions To The Dropout Problem:”

The cheers are a daily ritual at Browne , a struggling K-8 school hosting a group of City Year volunteers as part of the “Diplomas Now” program. The volunteers also interact with students one-on-one. [...]

Researchers and educators continue to design new ways to help improve the success rates of schools like Browne, which has less than 30% of its students reading and doing math at grade level. But one of the biggest challenges is translating those one-off programs into systems that can be successful in any school.

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Connectings

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Julia Cain

“He saw that all the struggles of life were incessant, laborious, painful, that nothing was done quickly, without labor, that it had to undergo a thousand fondlings, revisings, moldings, addings, removings, graftings, tearings, correctings, smoothings, rebuildings, reconsiderings, nailings, tackings, chippings, hammerings, hoistings, connectings.”
– The Town and the City

“I want to work in revelations, not just spin silly tales for money. I want to fish as deep down as possible into my own subconscious in the belief that once that far down, everyone will understand because they are the same that far down.”
– Letter, 1950

– novelist Jack Kerouac, born today in 1922

Around Town: March 9-11

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Julia Cain

Hey, Greater Washington! Where are you headed this weekend?

Free Drop-In Tango Practica with Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (545 7th Street SE)

On Friday from 7:00 to 9:30 PM, tango dancers of all levels have an opportunity to practice, collaborate, and learn in a collective space; free and open to dancers of all levels.

Blackbird by Adam Rapp at District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW)

On Friday through Sunday at 7:30 PM, Barrelhouse Theatre presents this ferocious modern love-story between two troubled individuals who are caught in a continuing loop of bad luck and bad choices; for reservations, call (202) 462-7833.

Heart of L’Arche Tour at L’Arche Greater Washington DC

On Saturday from 10:00 to 11:00 AM, learn more about the people and mission of L’Arche, plus hear what a family member has to say about what L’Arche has meant to them. Please contact Michelle Wirth at (202) 232-4539 for the address.

Wetland Meadow Site Prep with Anacostia Watershed Society (3901 Hamilton Street, Hyattsville, MD)

Help to control dangerous storm water runoff from reaching the river by planting native plants and flowers along the side of the river on Saturday at 11:00 AM. This event is now full.

Taking Care

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Julia Cain

From “Commentary: Mental Health Of DC Youth Needs To Be Priority” by Judith Sandalow, executive director of the Children’s Law Center, on WAMU 88.5:

Health care can be the difference between life and death. I’m not talking about a surgeon performing quadruple bypass. I mean mental health services such as therapy, counseling, and medication. [...]

The human and financial cost of not treating mental health disorders is staggering. Nationally, 67 percent of young people in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosable mental health disorder. Last year, 66 percent of children entering foster care in the District were found to have mental health needs. And last year, more than 200 children were sent to residential programs as far away as Texas because DC couldn’t provide intensive in-home support.

Citing the example of an 11-year-old boy who was treated physically, but never mentally, following a drive-by shooting, Sandalow points out that “literally thousands of the District’s children never get needed mental health services” — and mental wounds, like physical wounds, cannot heal if not promptly detected and treated. Moreover, these same wounds have long-term effects, and costs, for both the individuals and communities; thus spending on preventative medicine is, in essence, an investment for the future.

Often, mental health needs are not instantly apparent — like a broken bone or cold. Realizing, understanding, and ultimately responding to these needs require a high level of engagement that is not present in every child’s life. So how can we ensure both proper care and the engagement that leads to it?

Rather Awesome

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Julia Cain

From “Easy Money” in City Arts Magazine of Seattle, WA:

The Awesome Foundation was founded in 2009 in Boston by a guy named Tim Hwang. He came up with the simple formula of 10 people giving $100 each that is handed out as grants on a monthly basis. It went from the one chapter in Boston to four chapters to 12 chapters. Two years later, it’s at 30 chapters.

The Awesome Foundation does high-frequency, low-stakes grant-making. Most grant-making institutions do high-stakes, low-frequency grantmaking. They often think big about initiatives and form multiyear commitments with their grantees. [...] The foundation’s success has to do with the simple formula. [...] Our trustees know where the money goes. They’re really invested in the success of these small projects.

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Utopia of Life

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Julia Cain

[...] William Faulkner said, “I decline to accept the end of man.” I would fall unworthy of standing in this place that was his, if I were not fully aware that the colossal tragedy he refused to recognize thirty-two years ago is now, for the first time since the beginning of humanity, nothing more than a simple scientific possibility. Faced with this awesome reality that must have seemed a mere utopia through all of human time, we, the inventors of tales, who will believe anything, feel entitled to believe that it is not yet too late to engage in the creation of the opposite utopia. A new and sweeping utopia of life, where no one will be able to decide for others how they die, where love will prove true and happiness be possible, and where the races condemned to one hundred years of solitude will have, at last and forever, a second opportunity on earth.

– Nobel Lecture of Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, born today in 1927

Let It Be Known

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Julia Cain

From “What Donors Want — but Often Don’t Get” in the Chronicle of Philanthropy:

Charities don’t do nearly enough to tell donors how their money will be used. That;s one of the striking preliminary findings from a new survey by the researcher Penelope Burk. This is the fourth year that Ms. Burke, president of Cygnus Applied Research, has conducted an online survey with thousands of donors. (See my article about last year?s findings.)

The survey asked donors “what could unleash your philanthropy at a whole new level?” Nearly half of the donors said that they had more money to give but held back. Many of them said that was largely because they had not received enough information about how past donations had been spent.

Burk’s blog reports that “even in the worst moments of the recession, close to 50% of donors we surveyed agreed that they could have given more money.” One survey respondent explained that the “the thing that could unleash my philanthropy at a whole new level is [...] knowing that the money I give is making a real difference in people’s lives (not just a drop in the ocean of need);” another said that she would appreciate non-profits “giving loyal donors feedback about their accumulative giving to a cause over five, ten or even fifteen years.”

So let us know: what do you do to keep your donors “in the know?” And donors, what do you most appreciate hearing and enjoy leaning about at the non-profits that you support?

Around Town: March 2-4

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Julia Cain

It’s just the second day of March and yesterday sure felt like spring! So consider enjoying the first weekend of the month with one of these DC nonprofits …

Northeast Performing Arts Group (Woodson High School Auditorium, 5500 Eads Street NE)

See how today’s youth overcome the destructive forces of color bias and create hope for humanity in ColorStruck: With the Skin I’m In!, an electrifying dance musical on Friday at 11:30 and 7:00 PM. Come to be entertained and uplifted by performers ranging from ages 3 to 25.

Bowen McCauley Dance (The Kennedy Center: Terrace Theater, 2700 F Street NW)

BMD presents “Le Sacre du Printemps + More” on Friday at 7:30 PM, followed by a Gala Celebration with the artists and fans; nab your gala tickets right here!

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In The News …

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Julia Cain

Unemployment Still on the Rise in DC (DC Fiscal Policy Institute): The District ended 2011 with an average yearly unemployment rate of 10.3 percent, slightly higher than the rate for 2010 and far higher than that for 2007 before the start of the recession. This is a sign that economic weakness continues to affect DC residents.” Workers ages 16 to 24 still have the highest unemployment rate (17.4), but this same demographic also saw a drop from 2010 to 2011 — the only group to do so. On the flip side, the rate for residents with a high school diploma continued to rise: from 9.7 in 2007 to 25.3 in 2011.

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The report concludes that “the economic recovery is far from complete, so it is important to consider policies to support these populations with high unemployment rates.”

The Helen Hayes Awards Nominations Are Announced (Washingtonian Blog): Special congratulations to the three Catalogue nonprofit theater companies that received nominations for their 2011 productions. TheatreWashington, also a Catalogue nonprofit, announced the nominations this past Monday. Synetic Theatre nabbed fifteen nominations for a single production, their dynamic and wordless King Lear. Adventure Theatre received thirteen nobs in total, including nine for A Year With Frog and Toad and three nominations in the Outstanding Production: Theatre for Young Audiences category. And Woolly Mammoth Theatre received eight nominations, including nobs for Director, Lead Actor, and Production for A Bright New Boise.

With Few Other Options, More Low-Income Patients Visit ER for Dental Care (PBS via DCentric): “More Americans are visiting the emergency room because of toothaches and other routine dental problems — at 10 times the cost of preventative care and with far fewer treatment options than a dentist’s office,” according to a new report from the Pew Center on the States. From 2006 to 2009, the number of emergency room trips for dental care went up by 16% and the trend seems to be continuing. And the costs of that trend are high: “a routine teeth cleaning that could prevent future dental problems can cost up to $100, as compared to $1,000 for ER treatment for untreated cavities and infections.” You can learn more about our nonprofit free (and mobile) clinics right here.

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