News Category
Making a Difference: Filling Basic Needs for a Struggling Mother
(Written by Sarah Clyne, Executive Director of Joyce Preschool)
Joyce Preschool launched its home visiting program in spring 2011. Our Parent Outreach Coordinator, Amy Smith comes to us with a rich background in the social work field. Her capacity to work with families and sensitive issues has proven invaluable. The following story captures the intricacies of her work and the importance of the strong home-school connection.
Earlier this winter, through conducting home visits, Amy discovered we had a family with some very serious personal needs. The family includes the mother and her five children ranging in age from newborn to sixteen years old. The three-year-old daughter currently attends Joyce’s two day/week class. In previous years, when an older daughter attended Joyce, the family appeared to be stable, but the situation has changed since then. The mother shared with Amy how she is struggling with everything from housing to the challenges of driving her children to school. She is currently on unpaid maternity leave from her job and it is uncertain whether or not she will be able to return to her position at the end of her leave. With no income and a father that is in and out of the children’s lives, the mother has been facing many challenges.
Amy wanted to find ways we could help this family. The mother, who is fairly resourceful, had been able to find an organization to assist with securing housing. We brainstormed additional ideas and resources and as a result were able to connect the family to three food shelves and Toys for Tots. We also decided it was time to do outreach to our supporters, including past donors, current families, and the SVP partners’ network. We made an ask that included specific items for the children such as diapers, baby wipes, toiletries, furniture, winter clothing items, and gas cards.
The response from the community was astounding and assisting this family in fulfilling many basic needs has been amazing. The family was overwhelmed by the generosity of the Joyce community and is very grateful for the support we were able to give. In addition, it spurred us to start an on-going emergency fund to support additional Joyce families.
New Partner: Welcome Jeff Werbalowsky
We’re happy to introduce Jeff Werbalowsky from Houlihan Lokey. Be sure to introduce yourself to Jeff at the next Partner Meeting. In the meantime, learn a little about Jeff here:
Why did you choose to join SVP?
I had attended a number of the local programs as an invitee of Terrie Rose (of Baby’s Space). I liked the concept, the group, the efforts being made by very sharp people, and what appeared to be a constructive process for philanthropic leaders. I wanted to play some small part in those beneficial activities going forward in my life.
Tell us more about yourself.
I am Co-CEO of Houlihan Lokey, an investment banking firm with offices around the world and a small office in Minneapolis, and I enjoy a whole range of sports including squash, tennis, swimming, SUPping, scuba, golf, and skiing on water whether or not it’s frozen.
My wife Mary is very active in a number of environmental and educational charitable endeavors. My daughter Sarah is 22 and a recent graduate of UCSB working in PR in Santa Barbara, my son Ryan is 19 and is working while taking courses at Normandale, and my son Ethan is 15 and goes to Edina High School.
If you could change one thing in the community and had unlimited resources at your disposal, how would the community be different?
There is an increasing danger of the development of a self-perpetuating underclass in our local and national communities, and breaking this devolutionary spiral would be a huge benefit to that putative underclass and society as a whole.
Partner Spotlight: Colleen & Fritz Ebinger
Colleen and Fritz Ebinger joined SVP in 2009. Colleen is president of a strategy, policy, and communications consulting firm that works with social-purpose organizations, including the Twin Cities chapter of the Social Enterprise Alliance, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Minnesota Department of Health, and Carmen Pampa Fund. She began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras and later directed the government practice of a national consulting firm.
Fritz owns and manages his namesake law practice that focuses on land use and agricultural law matters. Previously, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama, an employment counselor at CLUES, a migrant labor advocate with Iowa Legal Aid, and as a judicial clerk in Minnesota’s Third Judicial District.
Colleen is Lead Partner for Crisis Nursery and Fritz for Joyce Preschool. They have a two-year old son, Ben, and newborn daughter, Cora.
Celebrating Success, Planning for Greater Impact
From the Desk of Brad Brown, Executive Director -SVP MN
As we look back on 2011, we see a year of success and celebration. In 2011, SVP Minnesota contributed approximately $572,950 in cash and in-kind services to the community. This includes an estimated value of $199,600 in capacity building for our Investees. Congratulations – each of you should be very proud of the part you played in our success through giving of your time, talents and money.
We recruited thirteen new partners to the partnership, each of whom brings their own special talents and passions to our work. EPCON marked its fourth year of promoting the practice of engaged philanthropy, and we added a second grant making cycle in the spring of 2011. The spring and fall grant cycles introduced Joyce Preschool, Rock Star Supply Company, and The A-List to our portfolio, all dynamic organizations with great potential.
We celebrated the ‘graduation’ of two of our most successful investees – Genesys Works and Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF). They have exceeded all of our expectations for both their growth and the great impact they have on the students they serve. Although Genesys Works and STLF join the ranks of our alumni investees, we are fortunate that Irene Fernando, Brian Peterson, Josh Reimnitz, and Jeff Tollefson will continue to be part of our community as partners.
Three objectives for the new year
The new year is a pivotal one for SVP because 2012 is the year we celebrate our 10-year anniversary. To mark our anniversary we have set three strategic objectives for the year:
- Build SVP’s capacity. Just like our investees, we need to build our organizational capacity so that, as we grow, we can continue to deliver on our promises to our partners and investees.
- Tell the SVP story. SVP partners and investees have interesting, powerful stories to tell. Thanks to our new MarComm Plan, we will be able to capture and tell those stories in much more compelling ways to more people.
- Grow the partnership. We will recruit new partners and make the partner experience more engaging and satisfying.
Foundational to achieving all of these objectives is finding new ways to tap into the reservoir of talent, ideas, and energy that exists within our partnership. Toward this end, we are creating new committees in which our partners can participate. The committees and their charters are:
- Recruiting Committee - Bring more people into our community of engaged philanthropists.
- Retention Committee - Ensure a great partner engagement experience.
- Marketing and Events Committee – Tell the SVP story to our audiences.
- Investment Committee – Set policy on what we will invest in and how we invest.
This is where you come in. We want you to become more engaged. We need your talents! As you start 2012, how will you get more involved in helping SVP further its mission? Learn how you can help, and make a commitment to become more engaged today!
And now for SVP’s next frontier: SVP as a catalyst for education reform.
Perhaps the most exciting new direction in 2012 is SVP’s entry into the education reform arena. There are two things I find particularly exciting about this initiative. First, it was originated by a small group of partners who are passionate about education reform in Minnesota. In the entrepreneurial spirit that is the best of the SVP culture, Ron Anderson and Chris Smith, later joined by Rob Albright and Al Fan, conceived of a network of education funders and leading edge nonprofits working in the education space.
The network will direct funding from multiple funders toward those programs, schools, and policies that are gaining measurable gains in student outcomes. Second, this initiative allows SVP to not only support innovative social entrepreneurs in the education realm, but also to effect change across the entire educational system in which our investees operate.
You will receive more information on the education reform initiative in the near future and learn about ways that you can participate in this exciting work.
I’m very excited about the year ahead and I look forward to working with each of you to make an even greater impact in 2012!
Partner Spotlight: Phil & Margie Soran
Like all SVP partners, Phil and Margie Soran, lead busy lives. Despite their hectic schedules, the Sorans continue to give generously of their time, talents, and resources in support of SVP and the non-profits we serve. Take Genesys Works, for example. Through his initiative and sponsorship, last fall Phil was able to help secure a $100,000 cash grant and 100 new laptop computers for Genesys Works from the Dell Corporation. This was the largest grant ever received by Genesys Works in the Twin Cities and will allow the organization to train a class of 200 underprivileged high school students in IT and professional skills this summer.
In December, Phil organized a “lunch and learn” for 50 Dell employees in Eden Prairie to increase awareness of the Genesys Works program and to highlight the work of two students, Dillon Madsen and Christian Garcia, who currently work as interns at Dell. This event not only showcased what today’s urban youth are capable of when provided with meaningful opportunities, but will hopefully lead to more internships being made available for Genesys Works students in the year to come. You can read more about the Dell Event on Genesys’ blog.
In addition to leading the SVP Teens program, Margie has unselfishly given of herself to the youth of Genesys Works. Over the course of just two weeks last August, Margie found herself helping outfit students in professional clothing at the annual Suit-Up event one week and then answering a cry for help from a Genesys Works student needing a ride to college in Iowa the next. Read Margie’s account of this incredible journey.
Phil and Margie Soran epitomize what it means to be an SVP partner. Thank you for sharing your abundant gifts with those in need in our community and for all that you do to make SVP a more effective giving organization. Well done!