Grantee’s Continue to Make Progress – Year 3
Unlike the usual business model where funding is fragmented and funding decisions are made without adequate focus on geographic targeting, CCF pools philanthropic support to provide flexible funding to enable strong organizations in high poverty neighborhoods innovate and integrate their programs and data. We think more flexible funding is needed to build the capacity of our grantees and others like them to change the outcomes in poor neighborhoods. [space_20]
Here are some highlights of what our investments have helped generate:
CHLDC: Improving and Scaling Programs that Work
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| CHLDC’s “Super Saturday” high school participants hear from professionals about their college and career experiences and take part in workshops. |
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CHLDC has a long track record of running successful programs, including two programs partially funded by CCF: College Success and CHAMPION, a sector employment program. CHLDC is working to further improve and expand those programs:
- College Success continues to grow, now serving 273 students; current college students persisted to the next semester at a rate of 87%.
- CHAMPION program has expanded from sectoral based training in transportation to now include food and office service training. [space_20]
CHLDC’s ability to improve and scale programs is getting a boost from their Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) data system. For example:
- New monitoring reports allow staff to see the percentage of participants who achieve particular milestones, such as completing training, gaining employment and earning a promotion. This data is used in program supervision and planning.
- New data tracking that shows the actual percentage per cohort that drops out of program, and identifies the phase at which they dropped out, enables staff to make more appropriate and targeted improvements to programs.[space_20]
Seeing it through:
When M. enrolled at LaGuardia Community College in the fall of 2013, she was told she would need to first complete remedial courses. M.’s CHLDC College Persistence Counselor advised her to apply to LaGuardia’s CUNY Start program, which would allow her to complete the required remedial courses tuition free. M. successfully completed the program and began her spring semester with a full schedule of credit-bearing coursework. M.’s counselor also helped her apply for CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, which provides financial and academic support, renew financial aid every year, and select a balanced course load. M. earned her associate degree last spring and, again with the help of her CHLDC College Persistence team, she applied and was accepted at Baruch College. M. started at Baruch this fall. [space_20]
FAC: Making Collaboration Work & Creating a Nationally-Recognized Data Tracking System [space_20]
Fifth Avenue Committee’s (FAC) CCF-funded program – Stronger Together – is a partnership of four Brooklyn-based nonprofits with deep roots in South Brooklyn. The partnership is built on a collective impact model and demonstrates that collaboration among strong, complementary, community groups can provide an effective ladder out of poverty for hundreds of public housing residents in Red Hook and Gowanus. [space_20]
Currently 71% of program participants are successfully referred to partner nonprofits within the Stronger Together network for vital adult education, employment training, job placement and support services. The partnership expects that rate to reach 80% thanks in part to the FAC HUB, a new customized Salesforce data tracking system built to support Stronger Together. The data hub is so innovative and effective that FAC was recently invited to showcase it at Salesforce’s 2016 Dreamforce Conference.
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FAC presented their data his
the 2016 dreamforce conference.
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The database allows FAC and its three partners, including Red Hook Initiative, Brooklyn Workforce Innovations and Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation to:
- Combine and manage participant records across multiple organizations.
- Share contacts and participant progress across organizations, resulting in more completed referrals.
- Streamline intake and referrals among partners. [space_20]
The system is scalable, so FAC can add more programs and partner organizations as the work expands. [space_20]
Collaboration at Work:
D. came to FAC seeking assistance with her job search. At the time, her household of three had an annual income of $14,000. FAC provided her with employment counseling and assistance accessing public benefits and referred her to Brooklyn Workforce Innovations’ (BWI) NYCHA Resident Training Academy program. While D. was in the training program, FAC helped her secure a part time job to help meet her family’s financial needs. During the final stages of her NYCHA training, D.informed FAC that she had to drop out of the program due to an increased workload. FAC intervened, working with BWI to accommodate D.’s schedule and enabling her to complete the training. She now qualifies for a union job, with benefits and a living wage, at NYCHA. [space_20]
New Settlement: Building on Success
New Settlement Apartments is continuing to build on their long and successful track record in education, housing and community advocacy.
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| One of the many well-attended CASA workshops for local tenants. |
- New Settlement has been the lead community partner with Comprehensive Model School Project 327 (6th-12th grades) since the opening of the New Settlement Community Campus in 2012. That partnership has included New Settlement College Access Center staff providing one to one counseling for high school seniors as well as leading college visits, and financial aid workshops. June 2016 saw the first class of high school graduates. They had an 84% on time graduation rate and 88% of the graduates enrolled in college with 30 having received Advanced Regents Diplomas, 1 receiving an Advanced Regents Diploma with Honors, 60 receiving Regents diplomas and 3 receiving local diplomas.
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New Settlement’s Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) is leading the effort and building incredible momentum for Intro 214, the bill that would establish a Right to Counsel for tenants to defend their homes.
- A new $1.1 million U.S. Department of Labor YouthBuild Award will enable NSA to build upon the work of their Young Adult Opportunity Initiative, which helps young adults complete their education and gain employment.
New Settlement’s Young Adult Opportunity Initiative (YAOI) Pays Off:
When 18-year-old L. enrolled in YAOI, he set a goal of earning his high school equivalency diploma and getting a full time job. Over the course of a year, L. received one-on-one counseling from a youth advisor who helped him navigate TASC/GED classes and a job counselor who first helped him land a part-time and then a full-time job. L. earned his high school equivalency diploma this past April and was referred to a college counselor who helped him apply to CUNY where he will attend starting in the spring of 2017. [space_20]
St. Nicks Alliance: Integrating for Better Results
Thanks to the CCF grant, St. Nicks Alliance is building its organizational capacity on multiple fronts. Perhaps no effort has had more impact on their ability to better serve their participants than the integration of their services. The result is that more participants are getting ALL the help they need to succeed.
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| Kids read aboard St. Nicks’ BK Story Voyager. |
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St. Nicks Alliance integration “system” allows:
- Staff to collect participant information at any point of service entry and share that information across all programs.
- Sharing of information across a central platform that allows staff to be more efficient and effective in providing the services necessary to produce positive outcomes.
- Referrals to be made and tracked across programs and staff. [space_20]
Team Work Wins:
R., a single mother of three, came to St. Nicks for help with past due rent. She was worried about being evicted. St. Nicks housing team helped R. access rental assistance, but then the “team” was brought in to further help R. and her children, better ensuring their long-term success. St. Nicks helped R. access benefits like Food Stamps, apply for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) program, open a checking and savings account, develop a budget, and connect the young adults in her household with employment coaching and enroll them back in high school. The household now has more income stability and a start on the path to income independence.