By Terri Lee Freeman
President, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region
Over the course of this week (January 9 – 13) I had the opportunity to participate in two very thought provoking forums that evoked the name and the spirit of Dr. King. The first was a screening of a film, The MLK Streets Project, hosted by the Black Philanthropic Alliance. The second was the annual meeting of the Consumer Health Foundation where Angela Glover-Blackwell, founder and CEO of PolicyLink presented equity as the new economic growth model.
The MLK Streets Project was developed by Straight, No Chaser Productions and One Common Unity. With a group of young people in tow, they toured many Streets, Boulevards, Avenues and Ways across this great country, named in honor of Dr. King. Regrettably, many of these streets are in a state of disrepair and generally found in segregated communities. Do they embody Dr. King’s “dream?” Absolutely not! You see, Dr. King’s “dream” wasn’t simply about judging people based on the content of their character, but achieving economic parity across racial, ethnic and gender lines. Thus providing the perfect segue to Ms. Glover-Blackwell’s definition of equity. Equity, as she defines it, is just and fair inclusion that allows everyone to reach their full potential. In the District of Columbia the lowest hourly wage of the wealthiest resident is approximately $58 per hour versus the highest hourly wage of the poorest resident, at little more than $9 per hour. Based on that piece of data alone, I don’t think we’ve achieved equity. Neither have we achieved Dr. King’s desire for economic security for all people.
So, where do we go from here? Well, for starters, how about engaging in the civic discourse and investing in the people and the places that many seem to want to forget. We can encourage our public officials to include everyone in discussions/decisions that impact our communities. I believe Dr. King would have been encouraged by the Occupy Movement and its message of economic inequality. But, he would implore those involved to define the desired outcome and set a path of action that would lead to success. This leads to my final point. Dr. King was not a dreamer, but a man of action. His goal: just and fair inclusion that would lead to economic stability.
Where do we go from here? We can either begin to create economic opportunities that allow a much larger group of people to participate and succeed or we can promote an American caste system that will surely cost more in the long run.
Where DC Spends Its Workforce Development Dollars: A Resource Map
Today, DCFPI is releasing a “resource map” of workforce development services in the District of Columbia. This project, a culmination of nearly two years of effort, offers a visual way to see how our city spends its resources on services to help residents get and retain jobs. We hope it’s a policy brief that would make the character Rod Tidwell—“Show Me The Money”—in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire proud.
Many states assemble similar resource guides every few years to help elected and appointed officials set strategic workforce policy. The map shows what the District spends on workforce development, what services are offered and who is served. Accompanying the map is additional information—where it was made available by agencies — on grantees including non-profit organizations, colleges and for-profit training providers.
A copy of the map is here. Over the next few days, we will go into some detail to explain it.
Today, we’ll share a few general notes on the map and how it was put together. The map reflects spending in Fiscal Year 2010, the most recent year in which we could obtain accurate information, though we include Fiscal Year 2011 dollars for the University of the District of Columbia Community College to reflect its evolving size and mission. We contacted every DC agency we thought is likely to have workforce development services, in our effort to obtain the most accurate picture of services offered and money spent. We also worked with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the mayor’s budget office, and various advocates involved in workforce development.
The map is intended to be a snapshot of funding and services not a precise audit of dollars.
What are a few big takeaways from the map? First, the Department of Employment Services isn’t the only agency involved in workforce development in DC. The map shows that there are a dozen agencies involved in helping residents enter and re-enter the workforce. The Department of Employment Services plays a big role, but agencies including the Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Superintendent also have significant funding.
What doesn’t the map speak a lot about? Very simply, outcomes. How many residents get employment after engaging in these programs and services? There is very little information available on that. Given our limited resources, it is valuable to know what services are most effective. We hope our elected and appointed officials will improve the data on outcomes and build in accountability measures in upcoming years.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about the major federal funding sources in workforce development and how they are deployed to help DC residents.
Another Year of Giving: A Look Ahead to 2012
By Terri Lee Freeman
President, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region
As a new year begins, my thoughts turn to the many nonprofit organizations in our region who feed the hungry, house the homeless and care for the sick—the groups that make up our safety net. These are the food pantries, homeless shelters, community health clinics and other groups that provide basic human services to individuals and families in our community. Since the recession began, demand for their services has far exceeded their capacity. In fact, in my many years as President of The Community Foundation, I’ve never seen anything like this.
Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services in Fairfax County, Virginia, is one of those groups. Good Shepherd provides affordable housing and financial counseling to low income families. The group also offers monthly emergency grants of up to $350 per household to prevent evictions and utility disconnections, and to help cover the security deposit or first month of rent.
A decade ago, those emergency funds would last the entire month.
Three years ago, at the start of the economic crisis, the funds would last two to three weeks before being depleted. Fast forward to this September when a month’s worth of emergency funds were distributed in a single day. In other words, families who showed up or called Good Shepherd’s offices on September 2, or any day that month, had to be turned away. October and November weren’t much different.
Good Shepherd’s clients are working people doing everything they possibly can to support their families, yet they simply can’t make ends meet. Many of them have never asked for help before.
But wait. It gets worse. On the first of December, as people poured into the waiting room, as the phones rang off the hook and email referrals from the County arrived as quickly as the calls, the staff of Good Shepherd did what they do every month of the year: they patiently helped clients fill out applications and answered questions from anxious parents as their young children played nearby with donated toys.
And do you know what happened on December 1, in a small office building on Richmond Highway in Alexandria, Virginia?
Good Shepherd’s funds ran out in one hour.
If that’s not a barometer of where we are in the economic crisis, I don’t know what is.
Last month Good Shepherd was able to help 30 families. They turned away many more. Imagine what it means to be the 31st person. Imagine what it feels like to be the 31st person. That person may be your neighbor. Or your family member. That person may be you.
In this new year, let’s all step in to help at least one family—the 31st family—by supporting the nonprofit organizations that provide a safety net for those who need it most. More information on how you can help those who need it most is available on our website.
Happy New Year.
Giving D.C. Youth a Chance
By Julia Irving
Community Outreach Coordinator, Sixth District-Metropolitan Police Department
2011 Linowes Leadership Award Winner
To read about all four 2011 Linowes Leadership Award Winners, click here.
“Wow, are you really from DC the actual city? You don’t have a baby? Are you serious, you graduated from public schools in Washington, DC?” So, have you ever shot anyone?” I could fill an entire page of all the negative comments and perceptions my peers in undergrad had of me once they learned I was from Washington, DC and not a suburb of DC. Ironically, many of my close male friends fit this stereotype and I always wondered why and how, but to have those same identifiers placed on me perplexed me because we were obviously different. Those negative comments coupled with an in depth study of the “Miseducation of the Negro” propelled me to focus on giving back to residents of DC and working to dispel the negative stereotypes associated with youth from the area.
Always the trench worker, I was fortunate to become a Director of a Reentry Program East of the River and quickly learned, the true leader of the program were each of the members of the team. Each day tirelessly giving of themselves and personal resources to improve the economic self-sufficiency of consumers my team members taught me a lot about life, the program, our services and most importantly, the consumers. Transitioning into my current position as an outreach coordinator, I remember the tenactity of their work and each day aim to partner with an individual or organization, share trade secrets without fear of someone “taking my idea”, explain the obstacles and brainstorm solutions, and always be cognizant of the voice of the voiceless residents and communities I serve. When a residents says, “thank you, the issue was resolved,” or a youth from Youth Court says,” Youth Court saved my life and gave me a second chance, I really learned a lot,” or a senior is overjoyed because the Commander of the Sixth District delivered a Thanksgiving basket to her home, and even when an officer says, “wow, there are some good kids in this neighborhood,” it makes me want to work a little harder and be a little more creative in my approach. “Allowing myself to be lead and inspired by others, aids me in becoming a better leader.
Why We Fight: A Personal Reflection on World AIDS Day
By J. Channing Wickham
Executive Director, Washington AIDS Partnership
Today is World AIDS Day – a time when people in our region and around the world unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and commemorate people who have died. For many of us, World AIDS Day is a time of reflection. For me, it serves as a reminder of why I started doing the work I do today.
Twenty years ago, I was running a Washington, D.C.-based crisis hotline. One of my closest friends at that time was a man who was well known throughout the region, not only professionally, but for his kind and generous spirit. He was a wonderful friend. We frequently went running together and often enjoyed playing tennis.
I recently came across his Washington Post obituary from 1989. It lists the cause of death as pneumonia. He was 54. My friend took his secret – that he had AIDS – to the grave.
Looking back, it breaks my heart to know how ashamed he was of his diagnosis – so embarrassed he couldn’t even talk about the illness with his closest friends. I was shocked to learn, after he died, that he was afraid that if he revealed that he had AIDS he might lose his business and worried that his employees would be out of jobs.
That was my moment. That was when I decided to turn my attention to the fight against AIDS. At the time, I knew a great deal about running a nonprofit organization. I knew how to raise money and how to manage a staff. But when it came to the world of HIV/AIDS, I was a total novice.
Twenty years later – 17 of which have been spent as Executive Director of the Washington AIDS Partnership – I still have much to learn. But in those two decades I have seen the first glimmers of hope that we can get ahead of this terrible disease if we stay focused and if everyone does his or her part – individuals, foundations, businesses and the government – and we do what science and research tell us we need to do.
Making treatment available to people living with HIV means helping them get medical care if they are too afraid or overwhelmed by the healthcare system. It means providing HIV testing anywhere and everywhere and being honest about sex and sexuality. And it means remaining true to that one person who inspired us to get involved in the first place.
