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Our Job - Keeping Kids in School |
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Thursday, 11 December 2008 00:00 |
 Thank you, Gates Foundation. Many of the high school students we work with, and their parents, believe that college is out of their reach today. They believe that they just can't afford it or that the sacrifices would be too great. We work hard with them, helping them complete financial aid forms, looking for scholarships, rehearsing alternative scenarios, but it's easy for us to get discouraged, too. So, thanks for paying attention, Gates Foundation. Thanks for the help.
Gates Grants Aim to Help Low-Income Students Finish College - NYTimes.com: "“The people who survive the best have always been and continue to be the ones with postsecondary education,” Dr. Carnevale said, adding that the unemployment rate for people without a college education was generally four times as high as for those with a two- or four-year degree.
Most of the foundation’s money would go not directly to students but to programs intended to help them make it through college.
The Gates Foundation said that doubling the numbers of low-income students who earned a postsecondary degree or vocational degree by age 26 would translate into an increase of about 250,000 graduates each year.
The goal is attainable, said Dr. Carnevale, whose research shows that each year there are 560,000 students who graduate in the top half of their high school class — and have the test scores that show they could succeed in college — but who fail to earn a two- or four-year degree within eight years of graduating." |
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Reflections on World AIDS Day 2008 |
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Monday, 22 December 2008 00:00 |
 Staff at the NY Center for Interpersonal Development are honoring World AIDS Day 2008. Here we share thoughts from two of our staff.
From Robert Busan, Director of Community Development
In 1992 a gentleman Living With AIDS, Carl DeVaughn and I founded an agency for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, their families and loved ones. We named it Project B.U.I. L.D. (Building, Unity, Independence, Love, and Development), a client centered, all volunteer organization that relies on its members for its continued existence.
At the time Staten Island had no safe, confidential and comfortable place for people with HIV/AIDS to gather and so we created a drop-in center to provide recreation, education, advocacy and a congregate meal to all those who chose to come looking for a place where they would feel free of the stigma and discrimination that comes with having HIV disease.
Little did we know that in those early years we would get between 40 and 80 people in attendance every Thursday evening at the First Presbyterian Church in Stapleton. People were hungry for knowledge, relaxation and a good meal. Unfortunately for Carl he would pass away in January of 03 and only got to see a small sampling of what Project BUILD would do. Sixteen years later Project BUILD continues its legacy of care with the numbers who attend a bit smaller but the need clearly prevails.
My sweet daughter Robyn has been participating at Project BUILD since she was but a few weeks old. She is very much a part of the Project BUILD family and you can say she has grown up there. Robyn knows and understands that the people who come to Project BUILD are not always healthy, are in need and we provide them with assistance and a hot meal. If you ask her what we do at Project BUILD she would say “we help people.” Robyn sometimes helps to prepare and serve the meals. She is also in charge of distributing MetroCards to the program members. All in all she is being instilled with the meaning of volunteerism, of giving of oneself to others as its own reward. When I watch her doing her thing at Project BUILD I am so proud of her. She is truly a chip off the old block….Daddy’s little girl.
Each of us in our own way has this inside of us or we wouldn’t be doing the type of work we do everyday. As I reflect about World AIDS Day, I also reflect about how amazing all of you are! I thank all of you for being part of something at NYCID that is bigger than each of us individually. It is incredible to stop and think about how we all make a difference in people’s lives each and every day.
As I did last year, I am asking and imploring all of you to think about the millions of men, women and children across this great world of ours afflicted with HIV/AIDS and anyone you may know personally living with the illness, anyone who has passed on and their surviving families. In opening up your hearts you can help by not forgetting them and standing up against discrimination in any form. Your kindness, love and attention to this issue matters greatly to me.
Thank you for spending a few moments with me as I share my thoughts on this important day. I hope all of you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday
With sincere gratitude to all of you,
Robert
From Candace Gonzales:
Although I won't be with you on Dec 1st, please know that in my special way I will celebrate the lives of those lost to HIV and AIDS and those that are still suffering. I especially acknowledge those who volunteer to do the wonderful things that you and so many others do everyday and not just on World AIDS Day.
"The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing...not healing, not curing...that is a friend who cares." ~Dutch Christian writer 1932
Candace
Share your thoughts with us in the comments section of this post.
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How To Encourage Your Child's Philanthropy |
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Wednesday, 26 November 2008 00:00 |
Beth Kanter practices what she preaches. She blogs about how nonprofits can use social media, raising money for causes she cares about using social media, proving to the old-school skeptics that it can be done.
Today, she posted about Kids and Philanthropy: Teaching your child to be charitable. I encourage you to read the whole post and I've reproduced her parenting tips here:
Parenting Tips To Encourage Your Child's Philanthropy
- Help Them Learn More About Nonprofits: YouthGive is a site that helps young peole and their families easily donate to charities while learning more about the organizations. The organizations listed are profiled by other young people.
- Let Your Kids Choose: Kayta Andresen from Network for Good has fantastic idea last holiday season, "Give with your kids day" She suggests giving your child or someone else's child $25 to donate to a charity. "You can give them money to spend at Network for Good (which has every charity based in the US) or Global Giving (which has a bunch of international projects). Let them choose how to spend it, either by letting them pick the charity or by designating their donation to a special project. Spend it together online, checking out pictures and project descriptions."
- Offer a Match: Blogger Marion Conway,whose children are now grown, recommended the book Raising Charitable Children by Carol Wiseman. With her children's fundraising projects, she and her husband offered to match what they raised because they both worked for companies that matching gift programs.
- Set up a Spend, Give, and Save Allowance Policy: Celeste for the studio 501c3 blog suggests this piggy bank, with separate slots for investing, saving, spending, and donating is a great way to teach kids about devoting a portion of their income to charity.
- Encourage Them To Give Their Time: Laura Hecht shared a wonderful story about a class project where students made cards for some elderly residents of a group home. They had to work hard to spare the time for the effort, but when the residents wrote moving letters of thanks, the kids felt great. As Laura notes, "This prompted a sincere discussion about giving the most valuable thing we possess - ourselves."
How do you teach your kids about philanthropy?
By the way, if you or your kids would like to support the NY Center's work building relationships and strengthening community, you can use the donate button on the top of the right column. If you choose one of the other methods mentioned, you'll find the NY Center under our legal name - YPIS of Staten Island. |
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