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e-news June 21, 2017
 
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The Weinberg Foundation has a lot of news to share! We hope you will take a few minutes to read our latest e-news. Also, we invite you to like the Weinberg Foundation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

 
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Weinberg Foundation announces new board chair

 
 
Robert T. Kelly, Jr.On June 1, 2017, the Weinberg Foundation announced that Mr. Robert T. Kelly, Jr., who has served as a trustee of the Weinberg Foundation since 2006, has been elected as chair of the board for a three-year term. Mr. Kelly succeeds Mr. Barry I. Schloss, who joined the Foundation in 2004 and most recently served as the chair of the board for the Foundation for a three-year term that concluded May 31, 2017.

Mr. Kelly is a founding partner of the Scranton, Pennsylvania law firm of Myers, Brier & Kelly, LLP, where his practice focuses on tax-oriented operational and transactional planning for individuals, closely-held businesses, and tax-exempt organizations. He spent the early years of his legal career as an attorney with the Philadelphia law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP. Prior to entering law school, Mr. Kelly spent several years as a Certified Public Accountant with Price Waterhouse, in New York and Washington, DC, advising entrepreneurial, financial service, and tax-exempt clients.

The Weinberg Foundation’s leadership structure is dictated by its charter, which was authored by Harry Weinberg before his death in 1990. The Board of Directors of the Foundation currently includes Donn Weinberg, Alvin Awaya, Robert T. Kelly, Jr., and Ambassador Fay Hartog-Levin. Rachel Garbow Monroe serves as the President and CEO.

 
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Weinberg Foundation marks Israel Mission trip milestones

 
 
Before and After

As part of its overall funding strategy, including support of the Jewish community, the Foundation provides approximately $12 million in grants each year to nonprofits in Israel. In addition to helping at-risk populations in Israel, the Foundation seeks to educate prominent community members about the complex realities of life in the Middle East. It does so by bringing public and private sector leaders primarily from Maryland (but also from Northeastern Pennsylvania and other areas) to visit the State of Israel each year. Participants meet with Israeli political and community leaders, including social service agencies that benefit from Foundation contributions. While the Jewish community of Baltimore sponsored this trip since 1981, the Foundation began funding the Mission in 2001 and has been solely running and leading the trip since 2007.

This year’s Israel Mission, which departed on Saturday, May 6 and returned on Monday, May 15, marked the 10th anniversary of the Weinberg Foundation solely running and leading the trip and the 16th anniversary of the Foundation’s funding of the Mission program. Here are just a few highlights of this year’s trip, which included 26 participants from Baltimore, New York, Chicago, and Hawaii:

  • Briefing on security matters with Col. (Ret.) Miri Eisin, overlooking Gaza
  • Visit to Ramallah and meeting with Dr. Mustafa Barghouti
  • Seminar with Avi Melamed on the balance of power on Israel’s northern border
  • Shabbat celebration and dinner with several distinguished guests, including Israeli lone soldiers
  • Dialogue with Tal Becker on the macro-view of Israel in the Middle East arena
Before and After

During this year’s Mission trip, President and CEO Rachel Garbow Monroe, Ambassador Fay Hartog-Levin (Ret.), Director of Community Affairs (Hawaii) Corbett Kalama, and Program Director Rafi Rone had the opportunity to attend and celebrate the grand opening of a newly renovated dormitory at the Meir Shfeyah youth village, a Weinberg Foundation grantee. This agricultural youth village, serving more than 650 students ages 12 to 19, includes a winery, an award-winning dairy farm run entirely by the students, and an herbal oil/soap factory. The Foundation has supported the renovation of dormitories at more than 60 youth villages, serving at-risk youth throughout Israel, as part of a national program in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Naor Foundation. Youth villages emphasize the cultural and economic diversity of students and often provide a career-focused curriculum.

Thank you to all of this year’s participants for making our 2017 Mission trip so meaningful and memorable!

 
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Help us spread the word of summer learning opportunities for Baltimore City youth!

 
 
Summer Funding Collaborative

Weinberg Foundation partner—the Maryland Out of School Time Network—has created a list of summer learning programs that will operate this summer, including programs supported by the Summer Funding Collaborative. Please help spread the word out about these summer learning opportunities for Baltimore City youth!

Twelve of Baltimore’s largest charitable funders, including the Weinberg Foundation, now support the Summer Funding Collaborative, an initiative to fund high-quality summer learning programs that serve low-income Baltimore City youth. These programs focus on literacy; early childhood and STEM education; youth employment; college and career readiness; and enrichment such as sports and the arts.

 
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Summer is here and that means SummerREADS at Library Project schools!

 
 
SummerREADS

This summer, the Weinberg Foundation, in partnership with the Baltimore Elementary and Middle School Library Project, Baltimore City Public Schools, and Young Audiences, will host its 4th year of SummerREADS—a free, hands-on, drop-in program geared toward students, kindergarten through grade three (though all students are welcome to attend).

Every Monday through Thursday from July 10 through August 17, students will have the opportunity to check out books, earn prizes for reading, participate in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities, and interact with local enrichment partners at seven Library Project schools. In addition, a healthy and well-balanced breakfast and lunch will be served daily.
 
This year’s program will operate at the following schools:

  • Arlington Elementary/Middle School
  • Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School
  • George Washington Elementary School
  • Harford Heights Elementary School
  • Moravia Park Elementary School
  • Westport Academy Elementary/Middle School
  • Windsor Hills Elementary/Middle School

The goal of SummerREADS is to provide students with safe and welcoming spaces, in which they are able to continue developing their reading skills during the summer months. Research confirms that reading on grade level is an important indicator for future academic and life success. Students from kindergarten through grade three are especially susceptible to “Summer Slide”—learning loss over the summer months—and spend much of the following school year trying to recover lost reading skills.

 
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More than $10 million in additional new grants announced

 
 
The Weinberg Foundation awards grants through seven areas of giving.

Older Adults

The Foundation supports organizations that help low-income and vulnerable older adults to age in their communities with independence and dignity. This is the largest single area of grantmaking by The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.

Covenant Place Foundation
St. Louis, MO
$1,000,000 capital grant to support the construction of an affordable housing development for older adults, including an integrated resource and services center that will serve older adults and residents in the surrounding community.
http://covenantplacestl.org/

Elderhelp of San Diego
San Diego, CA
$400,000 program grant over two years ($200,000 per year) to support the Concierge Club, a program that provides comprehensive, membership-based homecare solutions for older adults and their families.
http://www.elderhelpofsandiego.org/

CHAI: Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
$360,000 program grant over two years ($180,000 per year)
to support the expansion of the Supportive Community Network, which will enable more than 1,200 older adults to age in their communities with maximum independence.
https://www.chaibaltimore.org/


Workforce Development

The Foundation supports organizations that are committed to helping people help themselves by obtaining and retaining employment, preferably on a career track. Grants are directed to organizations that provide job training, placement, and retention for unemployed or underemployed individuals.

Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst
New York, NY
$1,000,000 capital grant to support the expansion of this organization’s facility, which will include additional classrooms and office space for workforce development programs, as well as an outdoor intergenerational recreation area.
http://www.jchb.org/

Upwardly Global
New York, NY
$525,000 operating grant over two years ($275,000/$250,000) to support the general operations of this organization that provides job search and placement services for highly-skilled unemployed or underemployed immigrants and refugees.
https://www.upwardlyglobal.org/

Cara Program
Chicago, IL
$500,000 operating grant over two years ($250,000 per year) to support the general operations of this organization that helps homeless individuals secure and sustain employment.
http://www.thecaraprogram.org/

Jane Addams Resource Corporation
Baltimore, MD and Chicago, IL
$500,000 operating grant over two years ($250,000 per year) to support the general operations of this organization that provides job-training and placement services in the manufacturing sector for Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinists and welders.
http://jarcbaltimore.org/

http://www.jane-addams.org/

The Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers (ABAG)
Throughout Maryland
$150,000 program grant through the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative to support the Jacob France Institute’s efforts to collect data of local workforce grantees with the goal of tracking their long-term impact.
http://www.abagrantmakers.org/

Olim B’yahad
Herzliya, Israel
$120,000 operating grant over two years ($60,000 per year) to support the core program "Employment, Empowerment, and Leadership for Ethiopian Israeli University Graduates and Students," which assists Ethiopian Israeli graduates and students in finding high-quality jobs.
http://www.olim-beyahad.org.il/en/

Economic Empowerment for Women
Haifa, Israel
$50,000 operating grant to support the general operations of this organization that provides Israeli women with the confidence, skills, and support needed to run a small business and achieve self-sufficiency.
https://www.womensown.org/

Housing Forward
Maywood, IL
$50,000 program grant over two years ($25,000 per year) to support employment readiness programs that provide job-training and placement services for individuals facing a financial or housing crisis.
http://www.housingforward.org/


Education

US - The Foundation supports organizations that ensure children are ready for kindergarten; achieve grade-level academic performance in reading, math, and science; and graduate from high school prepared for college and the workplace. This portfolio includes an emphasis on early childhood development, STEM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Math) literacy, out-of-school time, and child and family safety.

Israel - The Foundation supports primarily capital projects in early education and for youth at-risk including early childhood centers, shelters for women and their children who are escaping intimate partner violence, and youth villages for youth at-risk without family support.

Teach for America * Baltimore
Baltimore, MD
$1,200,000 operating grant to support the general operations of this organization that provides recruitment, selection, training, and ongoing support for college graduates who teach pre-kindergarten through grade 12.
https://www.teachforamerica.org/

Martha’s Table
Washington, DC
$500,000 capital grant to support the construction of a new headquarters for this organization that will provide early childhood education, after-school programs, parent support, and access to healthy food.
http://marthastable.org/

Building Science Technology and Education Partnerships (Building STEPS)
Baltimore, MD
$110,000 operating grant over two years ($55,000 per year) to support the general operations of this organization that provides high school students with the tools needed to enroll in and graduate from college through STEM-focused (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) seminars, paid summer internships, college access workshops, and alumni services.
http://www.buildingsteps.org/

Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women
Baltimore, MD
$100,000 capital/program grant ($70,000/$30,000) to support technology upgrades and new furniture for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) labs, and to support professional development for STEM teachers and out-of-school time STEM programs.
http://www.blsyw.org/

Friends of the Poor
Northeastern Pennsylvania
$50,000 program grant to support a summer program that provides a STEM-focused (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum for 65 students, pre-kindergarten through grade six.
http://friendsofthepoorscranton.org/

Wilkes-Barre YMCA
Northeastern Pennsylvania
$50,000 program grant to support the Power Scholars Academy, a summer program that provides academic instruction, camp-like enrichment activities, field trips, and family engagement events for students, kindergarten through grade eight.
http://www.wbymca.org/

Baltimore School for the Arts Foundation
Baltimore, MD
$25,000 program grant to support HelloTWIGS!—a program that works to make after-school and weekend instruction accessible to 75 additional students in need of transportation.
http://www.bsfa.org/bsa-foundation/overview

McGlynn Learning Center
Wilkes-Barre, PA
$100,000 Small Grant over two years ($50,000 per year) to support the general operations of this organization that provides educational, cultural, and academic outreach programs for children and their families.
http://www.mcglynncenter.org/index.html


Disabilities

The Foundation supports organizations that respect and promote independence, integration, and individual choice as the preconditions for a good life for children and adults with multiple disabilities.

Exceptional Minds
Sherman Oaks, CA
$400,000 program grant over two years ($200,000 per year) to support a three-year vocational program that provides young adults on the autism spectrum with customized instruction and hands-on experience in the fields of multi-media, computer animation, and post production.
http://exceptionalmindsstudio.org/

Housing Unlimited
Montgomery County, MD
$390,000 capital grant to support the purchase and renovation of six homes that will provide permanent, affordable, and independent housing for up to 15 adults with psychiatric disabilities.
http://www.housingunlimited.org/

Aspire of Illinois
Hillside, IL
$300,000 capital grant to support the construction of the Aspire Career Academy, a simulated learning lab that will provide job-training and placement services, in the culinary, hospitality, office, retail, and warehouse sectors, for adults with developmental disabilities.
https://www.aspirechicago.com/


Basic Human Needs & Health

The Foundation supports organizations that meet the basic needs of individuals, families, and communities. These include programs in the areas of homeless services, economic assistance, food security, and health.

Empire Homes of Maryland
Baltimore, MD
$500,000 capital grant to support the construction of Restoration Gardens 2, 42 units of permanent supportive housing for young adults, ages 18 to 24, who are homeless or at-risk for homelessness.
http://www.ehmaryland.org/

The Open Door Shelter
Norwalk, CT
$250,000 capital grant to support the renovation of this organization’s facility, which will include affordable housing, a health clinic operated by a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), and an education and job-training program for individuals who are homeless or at-risk for homelessness.
http://www.opendoorshelter.org/

Paul’s Place
Baltimore, MD
$200,000 operating grant over two years ($100,000 per year) to support the general operations of this organization that provides an array of services, including case management, after-school and summer programs, and health and wellness programs for residents in the Pigtown, Washington Village, and surrounding Southwest Baltimore communities.
https://paulsplaceoutreach.org/

CASA of Baltimore County
Baltimore County, MD
$40,000 Small Grant over two years ($20,000 per year) to support the general operations of this organization that works to place abused and neglected children in safe, permanent homes.
https://www.casabaltco.org/


Veterans

The Foundation supports organizations and programs committed to ensuring military members and their families effectively reintegrate into their communities. Grants made within this portfolio emphasize programs focused on workforce development, physical and mental health, and the elimination of barriers to a variety of services.

Connecticut Veterans Legal Center
West Haven, CT
$150,000 operating grant over two years ($75,000 per year) to support the general operations of this organization that helps veterans overcome legal barriers to housing, healthcare, and employment.
https://ctveteranslegal.org/   


General Community Support

The Foundation supports major Jewish and greater community development efforts as well as philanthropic investments that support low-income and vulnerable families. This area largely includes major leadership and multi-service organizations which do not fit into other specific areas of focus for the Foundation because their missions, while focused on low-income populations, are broad and diverse.

The United Way of Central Maryland
Baltimore, MD
$700,000 capital grant to support the relocation of this organization’s headquarters to Montgomery Park, a location that is more central to the community it serves, and to support technology upgrades.
http://www.uwcm.org/

Scranton-Lackawanna Human Development Agency
Lackawanna County, PA
$400,000 program grant over two years ($200,000 per year) to support a series of renovation projects for 60 families with homes in need of remediation work as part of this organization’s weatherization program.
http://www.slhda.org/23-literacy.html

Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Berwick
Berwick, PA
$375,000 capital grant to support the completion of a capital campaign for this organization that works to strengthen the community with programs that focus on building a healthy spirit, mind, and body.
http://www.berwickymca.org/

 
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