A Region in Flux
In 1969, my family moved from Washington, DC, to Montgomery County. We moved for better schools and affordable housing. We brought our energy and dreams and few demands for services. Fast forward to today, and Montgomery County and virtually all of the other suburban jurisdictions are seeing explosive population growth. These new residents include high numbers of low- and moderate-income families and foreign-born residents who can’t afford to live in neighborhoods in the District and who are often joining family and friends who have settled in suburban areas of the National Capital Region.
Jurisdictions—like Montgomery County, Maryland; Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties in Northern Virginia—that until recently had only small pockets of poverty have seen those pockets grow and become more widespread. In addition, all have seen dramatic increases in the numbers of foreign-born residents. One in four residents in Montgomery, Fairfax, and Arlington counties is foreign-born. This influx of new residents has also brought an increased demand for services. There is a misalignment of the location of these critical and culturally competent social and health services and the people who need them.
Venture Philanthropy Partners, through our work with the 12 investment partners in our first portfolio, has seen firsthand this misalignment of services. Almost all of the investment partners have grown; nearly half have expanded from their home base in the District where they were founded to Montgomery and/or Prince George’s Counties, one organization has expanded in Northern Virginia to neighborhoods of great need in Alexandria and Arlington, and others have grown to meet unmet needs in their jurisdictions. The reason is simple; they were asked to come.
When organizations such as Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care, the Latin American Youth Center, Asian American LEAD, and CentroNía were founded, their clients lived primarily in Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, and Adams Morgan in Washington, DC. In recent years, these organizations have found that their clients have moved out of the City in search of more affordable housing, jobs, and better educational opportunities. Yet, these clients still want to receive high-quality services from social service and health care providers they trust, often traveling many miles and spending many hours in the process.
To better understand what trends will continue to shape the populations served by these organizations, VPP asked Greater Washington Research at Brookings to examine a variety of demographic data. The result is two reports: “Demographic and Economic Trends in the National Capital Region and their Effects on Children, Youth and Families” and a companion analysis, “Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts: A Regional Perspective on Changing Demographics, Part I.”
Released this week, the reports not only confirm what our investment partners have been living but point to how rapid and sweeping the changes have been and likely will continue to be. As the data clearly shows, the region is growing, decentralizing, and becoming more diverse with increasing minority and foreign-born populations. Washington, DC, is today ranked seventh among the top 10 gateways for immigrants. Between 1990 and 2007, 50 percent of the region’s population growth was among immigrants. Among the region's youth population, the numbers are even more dramatic: 60 percent of the region’s youth population was non-white compared to 53 percent of the total population. Since 2000, the Asian and Latino shares of the youth population have increased from a combined 20 percent to 27 percent. These changing demographics alter the already complex racial dynamics in the region.
This growth in low-income and foreign-born populations has put tremendous pressures on suburban social and health service providers that often don’t have the capacity to meet the increasing demands. Not only are they struggling to serve more people, these agencies and providers find they must also adapt their services to support a wide range of people, many of whom don’t speak English. In the past, having multilingual programs meant Spanish, but, today, because no one nationality dominates in the region, social service providers must be equipped to offer services in languages such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, French, Amharic, and Urdu.
The current economic downturn has led to a skyrocketing demand for services at a time when funds and other resources to meet the demand are scarcer. Agencies that were barely keeping up before the economic crisis now find it even more challenging to meet pressing needs.
Another point raised by a joint report from the Federal Reserve Board and Brookings is that an unintended consequence of housing policy has resulted in the geographic isolation of low-income children and families that could be described as racial resegregation.
All of this data tells us something we already know but find hard to do: as a region we must work together in new and different ways. We need to develop cross-sectoral, multi-jurisdictional, people-based strategies that fundamentally alter the life opportunities for children and youth of low-income families instead of holding fast to our silos and borders. The investment partners in VPP’s portfolio are facing these challenges in real time as they grow to serve increasingly diverse communities and navigate new neighborhoods and jurisdictions.
The families who are moving to the suburbs around the region today are doing so for many of the same reasons my family did—opportunity and a chance to better their children’s future. The only difference is that along with their dreams, many bring greater needs for social and health services to their new locales. The overall health and well-being of the entire region depend on all sectors working together to address the very real challenges facing these most vulnerable residents. When we help children and families on the bottom economic rungs obtain the education, life and job skills, housing, and social supports to improve their lives, all of us benefit. As Mary’s Center Maria Gomez put it on the day her clinic opened in Silver Spring, MD: “We are always a safer and healthier community when all boats rise to the top at the same time.”
- Carol Thompson Cole
Rumi Forum Honors Patricia Smith Melton
On December 9, 2008, in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill, the Rumi Forum honored Peace X Peace Founder and Board President Patricia Smith Melton with its prestigious 2008 Peace Award. Peace X Peace Executive Director Patricia T. Morris presented the award.
“Your struggle to bring peace to women and individuals all over the world has moved us greatly,” said Rumi Forum Director Jena Luedtke. “Your achievements of peacebuilding through founding Peace X Peace and your recent work 60 Years 60 Voices are truly awe-inspiring. … Your tireless dedication as a fountain of peacemaking remains the inspiration to honor you with the 2008 RUMI Peace and Dialogue Awards’ Peace Award.”
Other 2008 awardees included Sally Quinn of the Washington Post, Sulayman Nayang of Howard University, Akbar Ahmed of American University, and two members of the US Congress. Past awardees have included His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey; His Excellency Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain; Dr. John J. DeGioia, President, Georgetown University; Dr. John Esposito, Director, The Prince Alwaleed Bin Jalal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University; Dr. David Smock, Vice President, Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution, United States Institute of Peace; and Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett, American Public Media.
Smith Melton’s book 60 Years 60 Voices: Israeli and Palestinian Women had its US release on November 19 at The House of Sweden in Georgetown. It is a collection of interviews, printed in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, and photographic portraits of 30 Israeli and 30 Palestinian women. The women are remarkable for their diversity. They range from a Knesset member to a Bedouin sheepherder turned community leader, from a martial arts instructor to a standup comic to the widow of a Hamas leader, from a Gypsy leader to a rabbi to a teacher of the disabled. And they all believe in the possibility of peace. The book highlights solutions created by women that have already gained traction on and across both sides of the Wall.
“The foundations for lasting peace in the Middle East are embedded in the voices of these women,” says Mariane Pearl, documentary filmmaker, journalist, and author of A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl. “If we listen, there is hope.”
60 Years 60 Voices commemorates the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel and the impact of that event for the Palestinian and Israeli people. It is a natural progression from Smith Melton’s years of work in the peace process and her impressive ability to gain the trust of women on both sides of a conflict. A poet, playwright, filmmaker, and photojournalist, she is the founder and board chair of Peace X Peace, the Washington DC-based not-for-profit that multiplies the power of women by the power of the internet.
Copies of the coffeetable-sized book can be requested with a donation to Peace X Peace. For more information, visit http://www.peacexpeace.org and http://www.60voices.org.
VPP Releases Two Reports on Changing Demographics in the National Capital Region
Rapid and sweeping changes in demographics in the National Capital Region have created a misalignment of the location of vital social and health services and children and families who need them most. As a result, nonprofit and local government agencies are having to rethink how and where they provide services to better meet the growing and changing demand, according to two reports released this week by Venture Philanthropy Partners.
The first report, "Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts: a Regional Perspective on Changing Demographics," analyzes the impact and implications of these profound demographic shifts on nonprofits providing critical services to children and youth of low-income families drawing on hard data and VPP's direct experiences working with 12 nonprofit organizations over the past decade. The second report, "Demographic and Economic Trends in the National Capital Region and Their Effects on Children, Youth and Families," presents a variety of demographic and economic data compiled for VPP by Greater Washington Research at Brookings. The data provides a picture of how the region has changed and grown in the past decade.
"What the data and VPP's own experience show is that the nonprofit agencies that support low-income families and children are under enormous strain, and they need a great deal of help to navigate the changes that they and their communities are facing. Local government and philanthropists will need to reexamine the ways they support and fund nonprofits, especially now as the current economic tsunami engulfs both communities and the nonprofits who serve them," said Carol Thompson Cole, President and CEO of Venture Philanthropy Partners.
New Development Team Member Joins VPP
Venture Philanthropy Partners welcomes Danielle Leahy to the development team this month where she will serve as Director of Investor Development. In this position, Leahy will assist driving the resource development and investor relations initiatives for VPP. Her responsibilities include continuing to build an engaged community of investors, developing a network of funders and relationships to secure ongoing investment capital for VPP, and increasing co-investment funding for VPP's investment partners and for special initiatives related to VPP work.
“Danielle’s extensive experience in development, sales background, and strong people skills makes her an outstanding addition to our investment development team. Her strong success in large campaigns and major gift acquisition will greatly enhance VPP’s capacity. She will extend and deepen our efforts to continue growing and nurturing a diverse and committed community of investors,” said Carol Thompson Cole, President and CEO of VPP.
Leahy comes to VPP most recently from Children’s National Medical Center where she has worked in development since 2000, first as a major gifts officer and finally as a director of development. In this role, she partnered with the Research Institute’s Board of Trustees to advance the fundraising efforts of the Institute, raising $7.5 million in major gift donations in 2008 alone. She has extensive experience in individual major gift fundraising with expertise in donor strategy, cultivation, and solicitation. She also excels at managing volunteer leadership and leading volunteer committees.
Before her time at Children’s she served as the capital campaign director at the Community Counseling Services Co. where she organized and managed capital campaigns for nonprofit organizations, including securing gifts of more than $6 million in one year. Previously, she was the director of development at Easter Seals in New York where she solicited individual and corporate gifts. With a Bachelor of Arts from Miami University of Ohio, Leahy also studied abroad at the Imperial College of London.
Programs & Services
 LAYC Celebrates Holidays 2008, Looks to 2009
Thanks to Lori Kaplan, Executive Director, for this update.
The Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) ended 2008 by celebrating. The LAYC served community Thanksgiving Dinner to about 500 youth and their families. At Christmas time, Santa, Columbia Heights Best Buy General Manager Robert Delissio, and Mrs. Claus, Lisbella Lopez from El Zol, had dinner, took pictures, and gave gifts to more than 750 children and youth. These special times would not have been possible without the help of many people funding the event, donating gifts, their time and energy. Support from the Inter-American Development Bank DC Solidarity Program, Big Louie La Fianza, Covington & Burling Staff, the George Washington University Office of Community Service, the Hispanic Bar Association of DC, El Zol, Best Buy, and many others including LAYC staff members made the holiday season extra special for the youth and families in the community.
In 2009, the LAYC will serve youth and their families through existing programs, as well as several new ones. The LAYC will open new bilingual residential apartments for teen moms and their babies. This site will also house a Mind, Body, and Wellness Center which will allow young people to participate in yoga and other positive stress-relieving activities.
Another program is Muévete/Move It that encourages physical fitness through exercise and healthy eating. Using a curriculum designed by the Washington Sports Club, LAYC will offer circuit training at MacFarland Middle School during lunch periods. While the emphasis is on encouraging youth to associate physical fitness and fun, callisthenic and strength drills have been carefully designed to help increase cardiovascular conditioning, balance and stability, agility and coordination, and more. After evaluation of this pilot, LAYC hopes to bring the program to other DC public schools.
The Workforce Investment Program at LAYC’s Maryland Multicultural Center will also begin this year under a contract from Prince George’s County. With the addition of this program, the LAYC will now be providing these services in all of its locations—Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and Washington, DC.
Awards & Recognition
 CentroNía Cited as Model Early Childhood Program
Thanks to Brenna Casey, Communications Manager, for this update.
CentroNía was cited as a model early childhood program at a December press conference held jointly by the DC State Board of Education and the DC City Council. The press conference, an opportunity for officials to release the results of their 0-3 Needs Assessment, revealed that some 6,500 infants and toddlers from low-income sectors of the city are on waiting lists for quality child care like that offered at CentroNía.
“The first time [these children] have formalized education is in kindergarten so they are already behind their peers,” said Lisa Raymond, a member of the State Board of Education. Raymond went on to highlight CentroNía as an exemplary program that helped bolster school preparedness and social development.
“The District has led the way for Pre-K education through its legislation and commitment to Universal Pre-K,” said BB Otero, CentroNía President & CEO. “Now that we are able to use this Needs Assessment Report as a guidepost, we need to make that same commitment for children ages 0 to 3. This is a major step in the city’s recognition that the first five years of a child’s life are the most pivotal.”
DC City Council Chairman Vincent Gray echoed Otero’s concerns about early education. “On special education, in total, we spend about 320 million dollars,” he said, “and many of the children who require these services are children we could have intervened with earlier. We could have avoided this.”
Announcements of Note
 AALEAD Student Leader Testifies Before DC Council
Thanks to Rick Chen, Manager of Development and Communications, for this update.
Imagine that you are a high school student doing a study abroad program. It is lunchtime and your friends, also from your native country, gather for a nice relaxing meal. Before you have a chance to take that first bite, you are suddenly distracted by voices of students coming from the next table. While you have difficulty understanding the exact words being shouted, your language proficiency is enough to realize that their intent is hostile. As you try to ignore the barrage of insults, ranging from “foreigner” to “go back to your own country,” it is obvious that the taunts will not stop unless they are confronted. You approach the table, not knowing exactly what to say, but try to assemble your message the best you can tell them to stop. Unfortunately, not only do they refuse to listen, but blows are thrown in your direction. In self-defense, you engage in physical combat. Shortly after, you are escorted to the principal’s office and given a week’s suspension from school, the same consequence as the instigating students.
While the above scenario takes place in the context of another country, it is based a true incident in a DC public school. Recently, however, AALEAD and its students had an opportunity to address this issue through a special youth hearing held by the DC Council and televised on Channel 13. Every second Saturday of the month, the DC Council offers DC youth the opportunity to voice concerns and receive assistance on how to resolve outstanding issues.
AALEAD student leader Hong Qian Zhu accepted the opportunity to testify. With the help of the Council and in cooperation with DC Public Schools, Zhu is introducing and implementing a diversity workshop for all students at her school. The initiative will also include recommendations for an improved appeals process that will take into account language translation services to ensure that each student’s position is accurately represented. She plans to attend next month’s hearing to update the Council on her progress. Her recent testimony can be viewed online.
 University of Maryland Professor Commits 25 Years to CFNC
Thanks to Ryan Smith, Manager of Grants and Major Gifts, for this update.
Twenty-five years ago, Dagobert Soergel, a University of Maryland Professor, wrote a newspaper ad that offered someone a chance to make a difference in the life of a child. That year, 17 children from the Cameron Valley housing project in Alexandria had failed kindergarten. The mothers of those 17 children were determined to provide their children and others from low-income families with the preschool experience they needed to enter kindergarten prepared to learn; however, they needed help to hire a preschool teacher.
As a member of Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill, an Episcopal Church in Alexandria, in the early 1980s, Soergel along with two other members proposed that the church needed to do more to address the needs of the community. On a motion passed at a parish meeting, the vestry authorized a special fundraising effort to raise money to support new outreach programs; one of these programs was to help the group of mothers whose children had failed kindergarten. With the funds the church raised, they were able to hire a young preschool teacher, Barbara Mason, who answered Soergel's ad. Mason started in 1984 with six children in one room of the Cameron Valley housing project. Over the next 25 years, Soergel and Mason would work together to grow The Child and Family Network Centers, a nonprofit organization that today provides free nationally accredited preschool and comprehensive family support and health services to nearly 200 families in Virginia. Mason today serves as CFNC's Executive Director.
The pivotal role played by Soergel in the organization's growth over a 25-year period was recently part of an interview that appeared in the September issue of Real Simple magazine. The piece features a conversation between Mason and Soergel that illuminates Soergel's work behind the scenes to help CFNC develop into a nationally accredited organization. Over the years, much of his labor on behalf of poor children has come in the form of thankless acts, from writing grant proposals in the early years when the organization could not afford to hire a grant writer to transporting children to and from school after a housing project was demolished, forcing some of the families to move away from the preschool site. At one point during the interview, Soergel revealed another thankless act he had kept secret for over 20 years: "In CFNC's second year, there was a workshop through High/Scope, an educational research foundation renowned for its preschool approach. I knew Barbara wanted to go, but CFNC didn't have the money. I found an organization to pay for half. And Barbara doesn't know this, but I contributed the other half." Implementing the High/Scope curriculum was an essential ingredient in CFNC's achievement of recognized high-quality education and propelled the organization's success.
In April, Soergel will celebrate 25 years of service as CFNC's treasurer and member of the board of directors which evolved from a committee of Alexandria Episcopal churches he had founded. Soergel also continues to spearhead an annual Adopt-A-Family program through which several churches and private citizens provide educational toys and other gifts for children and their families during the holidays. Reflecting on his years working with CFNC, Soergel concluded, "I think that along with inspiring students to become innovative information professionals and researchers, working with CFNC was the most important thing that I did in my life. It was immensely satisfying to see CFNC grow, always stretching to the limits, always living at the edge trying to help as many children as possible hoping that by the end of the year the money would come in to cover it all."
Case Foundation Launches Online Civic Engagement Campaign
With the election over and the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States just around the corner—individuals are asking “What’s next? How can we get involved in helping government solve some of the most pressing issues of our time? More importantly, how do we see ourselves as a part of this change?”
The Case Foundation, created by VPP investors Steve and Jean Case, is a champion of efforts that provide individuals the opportunity to connect with their neighbors, decide what matters most to them, form solutions, and take action. The Foundation believes in the collective ability and power of individuals to effect change in their communities and around the world.
On December 23, the Case Foundation launched an online civic engagement campaign—“Change Begins With Me”—that calls on Americans everywhere to “be the change.” People across the nation are invited to make a personal pledge to “be the change” in 2009. By finishing the sentence “Change begins with me…,” individuals can share their commitments to change their neighborhood, community, or the world in 2009. One lucky participant (and guest) will be selected to come to Washington, DC, to attend the Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and related Inaugural festivities. And, in the spirit of giving and active civic engagement, this person will also be part of the Washington, DC Martin Luther King (MLK) Day of Service.
The campaign is simple and easy. There is no idea too big or too small. Whether it’s shoveling a neighbor’s sidewalk or helping to eradicate malaria in a foreign country, everyone has a role to play in making our communities and our nation a better place.
How It Works
Individuals are asked to think about what they can do to help their community
• Participants go to casefoundation.org/change to share their commitment to change
• Participants submit their commitment for a chance to participate in the 2009 Presidential Inauguration festivities and MLK day of service project in Washington, DC.
What You Get
The exclusive inaugural package includes the following:
• Two round trip tickets to Washington, DC
• Three nights hotel accommodations
• Participation in Washington DC’s MLK Day of Service
• Two tickets to the Hawaii Inaugural ball
• Two tickets to the Inauguration
• A Flip cam to record the experience!
Timeline
Participants can enter to win their trip to the Inauguration anytime between 3pm EST on December 23, 2008, through 3pm EST, January 12, 2009.
Who Can Participate?
Anyone with access to the Internet, a willingness to try something new, and the desire for change can participate. Again, there is NO idea too big or too small. The only caveat? Participants must be at least 14 years of age and a legal resident of the US states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico.
What's Next
The "Change Begins with Me" campaign is the beginning of the Case Foundation’s year-long effort to help transform inauguration excitement into community action. In the coming months, the Case Foundation will connect commitment makers with ongoing opportunities to serve, provide a venue for discussion and networking, share inspirational stories, invite participation with our innovative civic-engagement programs, and catalyze action through mini-grants and other incentives.
For more information, or to find out how your organization can get involved, contact Megan Stohner at 202-467-2048. or megans@casefoundation.org.
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