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HEART offering no-cost programs to promote humane education and service learning

HEART offers no cost after-school and summer programs designed to promote humane education and service learning initiatives to agencies and organizations that work with youth. The primary goal of our out-of-school programs is to inspire the active engagement of youth in local community issues. Humane education focuses on leadership and character development, environmental ethics, animal protection and human rights issues--helping students discover the important connections among these diverse areas, and see that they can take non-violent, meaningful action to impact significant community needs. Much of our material is specifically designed to address issues that inner city students experience, and to help them develop the kind of personal and social skills that they need to succeed.

We provide a fully trained staff at no cost to participating groups, and we tailor a targeted after-school, summer camp or comprehensive humane education service program to meet the specific educational or direct service goals of your organization. Our program combines content instruction with activities that introduce and practice consensus decision making, active listening and other personal development skills that help groups work effectively together and create win/win collaborative projects. Our goal is foster compassion and respect for all living beings and the environment, and to teach the basic skills that youth will need going forward to fully participate as citizens in their communities.

Out-of-school venues provided a wide range of creative, hands-on opportunities for children to engage in service projects and interactive learning. This past year at HEART there have been a range of student-driven projects. Here are just a few examples:

  • In response to the tragic oil spill in the Gulf Coast, students took action to try to help solve the problem by contacting local hair salons and dog groomers to collect hair to send to Matter of Trust, an organization that collects discarded hair and fur and uses it to help clean up oil spills.
  • Students committed to raising money to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti and provide scholarships to young girls in Nepal. They engaged in direct service, hosting a very successful and well-attended fundraising concert, regular bake sales at their school, and fair-trade reusable bag sales.
  • Students, focusing on the human/animal violence link, made pro-social buttons, magnets, bookmarks, flags, and T-shirts that they sold to collect donations to the American Humane Association and Child Welfare Organization Project in NYC. Many wrote letters to the Mayor about their concerns about bullying and animal abuse, requesting stronger animal protection laws and more funding for educational programs on anti-bullying and animal care.
  • Students created a ‘Healthy Choices’ menu, describing a particular issue relating to factory farming, its impact on our bodies and our environment, and generated a list of alternative choices that support a healthy diet and planet. They also created posters about their topics and a map of local, fresh and organic greenmarkets that offer a good alternative to large-scale food production.

All of our out-of-school programs are customized to meet the specific needs of the students and agencies we serve. Please contact Meena Alagappan, Executive Director of HEART, if you are interested in learning more about our programs at 212-744-2504 or meena@teachhhumane.org. Please also visit our website at www.teachhumane.org.

Taproot offering FREE capacity-building service grants

The Taproot Foundation is a nonprofit foundation that specializes in providing capacity-building Service Grants to New York City nonprofits. They engage teams of business professionals in pro bono service through Service Grants valued at $45,000 to $70,000 in the areas of marketing, IT, HR and strategy management. These essential operational tools can have large costs, yet nonprofit organizations need them to thrive. The Taproot Foundation is dedicated to helping nonprofits close these gaps in their core infrastructure. During a time of economic difficulty, pro bono work that supports strategic decision-making and fundraising work can have a strong impact on helping an organization meet its goals. They believe that the right capacity-building Service Grant, at the right time, can greatly enhance the ability of an organization to serve its constituents.

Taproot offers services in four areas including:

Leadership Development & Strategic HR
Strategy Management
Marketing
Information Technology

Visit their website at www.taprootfoundation.org/npo to check out a full catalog of Service Grants.

They are about to head into their September, 2010 grant round. Applications are now being accepted for either of two upcoming deadlines: August 16th and September 1st. They encourage you to apply for the August 16th deadline as they will review, take action, and notify applicants of next steps on those applications prior to those received on the September 1st deadline!

Please evaluate our basic application criteria and eligibility prior to applying. The application is completed online and can often be finished in a couple of hours.

If you have further questions about your organization's eligibility or the Service Grant process, please do not hesitate to contact Allie Hallock at 212.522.1073 or by email at allie@taprootfoundation.org.

CRE Leadership Caucus

The Robert Bowne Foundation supports a limited number of slots in the Leadership Caucus. Interested leaders can contact Mohan Sikka (msikka@crenyc.org) or Jeff Ballow (jballow@crenyc.org) to set up an initial assessment. The purpose of the meeting is to explain the program and check if the offering is appropriate to your needs.

The caucus is targeted towards Executive Directors in their position 1-3 years (occasionally up to 5 years), and senior managers with significant supervisory responsibilities. The program is about 7 months in duration and starts this fall (dates in the attached calendar are tentative). Limited slots are available

Why the Leadership Caucus

CRE’s Leadership Caucus strengthens the leadership capabilities of the next generation of CBO leaders by providing early career Executive Directors and Senior Managers with a stimulating forum to:

  • Discuss that most challenging leadership and management issues in today’s environment of increased accountability
  • Reflect on the impact of their executive practices on the effectiveness and growth of their organizations, and act on changes they want to make
  • Support the application of principles and tools from current thinking in leadership and management to their own organizations

What You Will Experience

A robust 7-month leadership development opportunity, CRE’s Leadership Caucus is enriched by the use of multiple, interactive learning experiences that complement each other:

  • Issue-based discussions of leadership topics identified as high priority
  • Action learning sessions in small teams focusing on participants’ change initiatives
  • 360 feedback and coaching in an individualized setting to discuss leadership practices
  • Management simulation in which participants lead and manage "a day in the life" of a CBO

Peer exchange is a key feature of the Caucus.

Total time commitment is 7 days over 7 months.

What You Will Take Away

Participants leave the caucus with deeper insights about vital leadership issues and a change plan. The insights come to life from peer and expert-led discussions on:

  • Leading Organizational Transformation
  • Moving beyond managing to leading
  • Managing change
  • Creating and Strengthening Alliances
  • Partnering with the Board
  • Building and sustaining strong staff teams
  • Creating a Culture of High Performance
  • Using data as a management tool
  • Using time and talent wisely

At the last session, participants share their Personal Leadership Statements which capture their key insights and change plans.

Click here for more information (.pdf file).

Children's Pressline

Encourage young journalists to join the FREE Summer 2010 Journalism Program at the NY Daily News!

Youth journalists come 2-4 days each week from 11:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m., July 6-August 13, at the Children's PressLine Newsroom inside the NY Daily News: 450 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001. Training/info session: June 19th, TBD

Children's PressLine is a free, non-profit youth journalism organization for kids, ages 8-18. Youth news teams investigate, interview and write articles on important youth-related issues for mainstream newspapers

To sign up or ask questions, please send us an email or call 646-789-4432 with your name, age and contact information. Visit www.cplmedia.org for more information.

NYSAN Resources on Global Learning in Out-of-School Time

CLASS CHATS
ClassChats.com is a start-up online social network for educators. ClassChats.com contains a forum for connecting across the country, audio/video chat functionality, shared resources, an interactive whiteboard, blogs, and more. There is a special forum for afterschool providers who wish to set up video chats or e-pen pal programs between their program and others around the state, country, and world! This site provides a terrific opportunity to support digital literacy and build relationships across the country and globe.

GLOBAL PARTNERS JUNIOR, MAYOR'S OFFICE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
Global Partners Junior is an award-winning student exchange program that connects New York City youth, ages 9-12, with students around the world through the internet. This unique program fosters global awareness and develops practical technology skills for middle school youth. From October to June, students communicate online about topics relevant to all cultures using an original curriculum. Students post and read messages to one another and share media projects, video greetings and research facts about their communities. New York City Global Partners offers this program to after-school providers and schools seeking to offer technology and global awareness programming to youth enrolled at their sites. For more information please visit http://nyc.gov/globalpartners or contact Thea Williamson, Program Director at twilliamson@cityhall.nyc.gov.

INTERNATIONAL YMCA GLOBAL TEENS
Serving over 10,000 people annually from across the globe, the International YMCA’s mission is to bridge the differences which divide people, whether they are differences of language, race, religion, or national origin. Our goals remain the same whether our participants are separated by oceans, continents or subway lines. YMCA Global Teens is a leadership development & service learning program which engages teens in the powerful adventure of global exploration. Program elements include meaningful service projects locally and overseas, youth to youth interaction, home stays, and a deep awareness of the cultural and social issues facing our communities and world. Teens serve as cultural ambassadors to their host country and are asked to communicate their experiences to their local communities upon returning home. If a teenager outside of NYC is interested in this program, they may be able to participate through their local YMCA. Click here to learn more or contact Chad Nico Hiu (Program Director) at chiu@ymcanyc.org or 212.727.8800.

PEACE ONE DAY
Jeremy Gilley founded Peace One Day in 1999 to document his journey to establish an annual global Peace Day. Peace One Day's FREE online USA Peace Education Resource contains 21 lesson plans with accompanying teaching materials. Topics include ending-bullying, conflict resolution, sustainability, intercultural cooperation, and global citizenship. Working in conjunction with the DVD The Day After Peace, the Resource includes a variety of embedded media, student centered and engaging activities, as well as printer-friendly worksheets. From May of this year, our Global Education Resource will be available in all six official languages of the United Nations.

Online access and use of film make the Resource ideal for use in afterschool programs, summer camps, and youth and community development projects. Please visit here to complete the short registration process; from there you can access the Resource as well as view the 32 minute version of the documentary.

High School Apprenticeship and Summer Internships Available

Kids Creative’s mission is to provide arts education programs in which children collaborate to create original works of art based on their own ideas. Their child centered, collaborative approach to arts education helps children realize their own individual creative potential and the power of a peaceful community working together to achieve common goals.

Each apprentice will be assigned to work with a Teaching Mentor, aveteran teacher, during an after-school class once a week. They will get first hand experience working in the program, get a chance to utilize the skills they are learning in their trainings and receive mentoring by one of Kids Creative's master teachers.

To apply to become apprentice go to: www.kidscreative.org/pages/apprenticeship.

New NYSAN Professional Development Event Listing

NYSAN is pleased to announce the launch of a new professional development event list. All of the listings on this page are directly related to afterschool and school-age child care; take place in New York State; and are open to anyone who would like to attend.

The event list is available in two places:

  • NYSAN Website, Professional Development page
  • NYSAN Twitter homepage (To receive instant updates on professional development opportunities, follow us!: @NYSAN)

If you are organizing a local or statewide professional development event designed for afterschool providers that you would like listed, please email Jen Siaca.

New Foundation Center Map Guides Nonprofits to Stimulus Dollars and Other Resources

The Foundation Center, the nation's leading authority on organized philanthropy, has collected an extensive array of resources on how nonprofits may be able to access stimulus package funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The Center's new MapShot: Best ARRA Funding Resources by State provides a state-by-state display of funding opportunities and other pertinent information. The new map guides visitors to a wealth of annotated links about ARRA, such as:

  • Detailed lists of "shovel-ready" projects in every state, submitted in the 2008 U.S. Conference of Mayors report
  • "New Opportunities for Michigan Nonprofits," the first in a series of briefings prepared by City Connect Detroit related to funding opportunities through the ARRA
  • "State of Hawai'i's HI-Way to Recovery," official state web site on the economic stimulus package
  • "What Stimulus Means to Texas Health Care," preliminary information from the Texas Medical Association on major health and human services allocations for Texas

"America's nonprofits are fighting for their piece of the stimulus pie, and this mapping tool gives them a running start," said Bradford K. Smith, president of the Foundation Center.

Also informative is the Center's PhilanTopic blog post, What Do Nonprofits Need to Know About the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?.

MapShot: Best ARRA Funding Resources by State is available at the Center's Focus on the Economic Crisis web page, which offers a variety of resources to help nonprofits and foundations deal with the challenges of the unstable economy.

Lawyers Alliance for New York

FREE nonprofit legal information is just a phone call away!

Call the Hotline at (212) 219-1800 x 224 to leave a message with your nonprofit legal question. A staff member will return your call within 48 hours with the answer you need or a helpful referral.

Click here to ask your question by email. Please include a phone number where you can be reached during regular business hours (9:30 am - 5:30 pm).

New CRE Executive Director Hotline:
(917) 344-6678

  • Are you a Nonprofit Executive Director in need of an immediate answer to a management problem?
  • Do you need a quick coaching tip on a sensitive HR issue?

Call the Executive Director Hotline at (917) 344-6678!