The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Inc. E-News October 2009

WELCOME TO THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE HARRY AND JEANETTE WEINBERG FOUNDATION E-NEWSLETTER

We hope you find the information provided in this newsletter helpful and
informative! There are several exciting initiatives and updates to share.

Weinberg Foundation announces major grant
EBDI (East Baltimore Development, Inc.)

On September 15, the Foundation announced the single most substantial grant awarded in the past year - a $15 million, multi-year commitment to East Baltimore Development, Inc., which is engaged in the largest neighborhood revitalization project ever undertaken in Baltimore, and one of the largest efforts of its kind in North America. The Foundation's investment will support neighborhood residents by strengthening and expanding opportunities for children from birth to 18-years-old, workforce initiatives, and programs for older adults. The East Baltimore Revitalization Initiative is an ambitious plan to stabilize and revitalize East Baltimore by transforming a seriously blighted neighborhood into a healthier, thriving community for families and children. The project will create an estimated 8,000 jobs, up to 2,200 new and rehabilitated mixed-income residential units, a state-of-the-art community learning campus, green space, business and retail opportunities, and recreational facilities.

The redevelopment of East Baltimore is one of the two or three most important projects in this city in the last 100 years. The Weinberg Foundation is proud to provide its name and its finances to the success of this project. The Foundation believes that its investment in East Baltimore will have an impact at least as great as anything else the Foundation has accomplished since Harry Weinberg died in 1990.

Annual Community Gathering - December 2

On behalf of the trustees and staff of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, we are pleased to invite you to:

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Annual Community Gathering
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Hilton Baltimore (401 W. Pratt St.)

Last year, more than 350 community leaders attended this gathering, and this year's gathering promises to be as successful! In addition to helping celebrate a landmark year of charitable giving to assist the poor and vulnerable, you will have an opportunity to learn about the Foundation's recent successes and new initiatives, including results of the Maryland Small Grants Program, an update on the $9 million National Family and Informal Caregiver Support Program, and other news.

Keynote speaker Bret Stephens, an editor for the Wall Street Journal, and former Chief Editor of the Jerusalem Post, will share some of his insights on the current situation in the Middle East.

Please RSVP to this email! Please let us know if you plan to attend by calling 410-654-8500, ext. 210 or e-mail jjordan@theweinbergfoundation.org. We hope to see you on December 2!

Maryland Small Grants Program

In December 2007, the Foundation launched the Maryland Small Grants Program (MSGP). The purpose of the program was to simplify the application process for organizations that may face difficulties with complex application forms, confusing procedures, and long delays waiting for responses when applying for modest philanthropic grants. MSGP requires a simple, five-page proposal and financial information, and is committed to a 50-day turnaround for grant requests. Nonprofits may be awarded grants of up to $100,000 over two years ($50,000 each year for two years). Through August 31, 2008, more than $30 million of grant requests were submitted, and of those, 143 grant proposals, representing more than $8.4 million over two years, were approved. (At the end of the E-Newsletter you will find a listing of recent MSGP grant awards.)

Weinberg Foundation Evaluation

Among the successes of the year, the Foundation is especially proud of the recent external review of the Foundation. The Center for Effective Philanthropy, one of the premier organizations in North America, examined the Foundation's grantmaking methodologies and compared The Weinberg Foundation to hundreds of other Foundations in North America. The results were outstanding. In virtually every instance, The Weinberg Foundation scored above the 75th percentile compared to both all other Foundations surveyed (more than 200 foundations) as well as a peer group of similar sized foundations surveyed (20 foundations). In fact, in a few instances The Weinberg Foundation scored the highest of all foundations. The evaluation provided specific recommendations for improvement in a few areas such as increased communications with grantees. Weinberg staff will be working on implementing several technical changes to the grant process to respond to helpful recommendations. The Weinberg Foundation thanks each nonprofit participant in this research project for helping to strengthen and improve the Foundation's work.

Update On Family and Informal Caregiver Support Program

The Family and Informal Caregiver Support Program will grant up to $9 million over three years to innovative community initiatives that support family, friends, and other non-professionals caring for frail older adults. The Foundation received over 360 letters of inquiry in response to the request for proposals. Fifty-one organizations from all areas of the country were invited in August to submit full grant applications. Grants will be announced in February 2009. For more information please visit the Weinberg Foundation web site.

Weinberg Fellows - Accepting Applications

The Weinberg Fellows Program is accepting applications to the 2009 program through November 7, 2008. Maryland executive directors of nonprofits who serve people in need can apply to the program online at www.weinbergfellows.org.

ANNOUNCING RECENT GRANT AWARDS

Jewish Family and Vocational Services of Louisville, Inc. (Louisville, Kentucky)
A $200,000 grant was awarded to Jewish Family and Vocational Services of Louisville, Inc. to support the new Home Care Opportunities Project (HCOP). HCOP will train low-income individuals, mostly immigrants or refugees, to become home care providers. The project will also subsidize home care services for low-income frail older adults. HCOP addresses two demographic trends: the need for career path employment for immigrants and the need for high quality long term care providers for older adults. Jewish Family and Vocational Services has a long history of serving older adults, immigrants, and refugees, and providing home care training and career services.
www.jfvs.com

The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore (Baltimore, Maryland)
The Foundation has continued funding for the Senior Friendly Neighborhoods Program. This initiative allows the community to proactively offer neighborhood-based prevention and support services to seniors in two neighborhoods with high concentrations of older adults - the Park Heights neighborhood of Baltimore City and the contiguous Milbrook neighborhood of Baltimore County. The Senior Friendly Neighborhoods Program is a "naturally occurring retirement community" or NORC project. The Foundation recently awarded a grant of almost $100,000 to fund the first ever comprehensive evaluation of a NORC project. The evaluation is being conducted by George Washington University.
www.associated.org

Jewish Family and Children's Service of Phoenix (Phoenix, Arizona)
The Foundation awarded $50,000 to support the expansion of programming at Jewish Family and Children's Services' Center for Senior Enrichment. The Center operates under a progressive wellness model to meet the diverse needs of varying categories of older adults. It seeks to enrich the intellectual lives of its clients by engaging them in activities such as courses on Jewish history and other topics, lectures on current events, a chess club, and a writers' roundtable. The Center will use the grant to professionalize and expand the volunteer program; increase social services, especially mental health, counseling, and case management; and expand health, nutrition, and exercise programs among other activities. Phoenix is among the largest Jewish communities in the U.S., and has experienced one of the highest rates of Jewish population gain.
www.jfcsaz.org

Myrtle Tyler Faithful Fund, Inc. (Baltimore, Maryland)
The Foundation is providing up to $500,000 in capital support for the construction of the Zeta Senior Activities Center in the Park Heights community of Baltimore City. This initiative is a partnership between the Myrtle Tyler Faithful Fund, Inc. and the Baltimore City Commission on Aging and Retirement Education (CARE). The Zeta Senior Activities Center will provide programs and services to adults ages 55 and older in the Howard P. Rawlings Building. Activities will include Social Security assistance, literacy classes, health and nutrition workshops, arts and crafts programs, fitness instruction, and benefits and other counseling to older adults. The Park Heights community is one of the few communities in the City of Baltimore where the senior population is growing.
www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/care/

Baltimore Healthcare Access, Inc. (Baltimore, Maryland)
This award of $100,000 will enable Baltimore Health Care Access (BHCA) to enroll individuals into the newly expanded Medicaid Program in Maryland. The Maryland General Assembly has passed the "Working Families and Small Business Health Coverage Act of 2007," which allows an estimated 100,000 currently uninsured Marylanders to be eligible for Medicaid coverage. In the first year, the law stipulates that only uninsured parents of children who have Maryland Children Health Program (MCHP) will be enrolled (an estimated 30,000 new enrollees, half of whom are in Baltimore City).

This organization received a separate, second small grant for $40,000 to help pay security deposits to help 40 chronically homeless individuals to secure Section 8 housing as part of a Street to Home program designed to move high-risk individuals off the streets. These individuals had previously lived in the encampment under I-83. Once placed into permanent housing, tenants pay 30% of their income toward rent and utilities. The stability of housing offers them an opportunity to seek treatment, if needed, and find employment. Ultimately, this translates into a big return on investment for the Foundation's contribution.
www.bhca.org

The French Hospital operated by the Daughters of St. Vincent de Paul (Nazareth, Israel)
 This $800,000 capital grant is for The French Hospital in Nazareth, Israel (founded in 1898). This is a Catholic non-profit hospital operated by the Daughters of Charity (founded in 1633) and owned by an international Catholic Congregation of 21,000 sisters serving the "sick poor." The French Hospital serves mostly Israeli Christian Arabs, as well as other citizens of the state of Israel. The grant is toward the $3.8 million renovation and construction of new operating rooms (existing rooms are 50 years old!), an expanded pediatric emergency department (necessitated by the 2006 Second Lebanon War), a renovated emergency department, and the upgrading of the maternity department with the addition of new delivery rooms (with private bathrooms). The French Hospital is not a government-owned hospital.

Jewish Family & Career Services in Atlanta for the new Ben Massell Dental Clinic (Atlanta, Georgia)
This $360,000 capital grant to Jewish Family & Career Services of Atlanta will permit the acquisition, construction, and equipping of the new and expanded Ben Massell Dental Clinic. The Ben Massell Dental Clinic is the largest and oldest volunteer-run dental clinic in the Foundation's grants portfolio.The Ben Massell clinic sees 6,000 unduplicated patients annually who are treated by 90 Board-Certified volunteer dentists working at 15 dental facilities. This clinic has won numerous awards, including the top national award for community dentistry from the American Dental Association (2006).
www.jfcs-atlanta.org

SEED School of Maryland (Baltimore, Maryland)
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation committed $2,000,000 to the new SEED School of Maryland, a statewide college-preparatory public boarding school that opened in August 2008. The school initially enrolled 80 sixth-graders and will grow to serve up to 400 students in grades six through twelve. The Foundation's capital grant will help the SEED School build new dormitories, faculty and staff housing, as well as renovate academic, athletic, recreational and administrative space on the 52-acre campus, formerly housing the Southwestern High School in southwest Baltimore. SEED is an extraordinary opportunity for students from across the state to receive a tuition free, college preparatory, boarding education. The Maryland General Assembly passed legislation to establish the school, which will receive state and local funds. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) will oversee the school and will hold it accountable to state and federal standards for teaching and learning. The school is building on the success of The SEED School of Washington, DC – the nation's only other public, urban, college-preparatory boarding school.
www.seedfoundation.com

Branco Weiss Institute (Israel)
The Weinberg Foundation provided a three year grant of $600,000 to the Branco Weiss Institute to address the serious problem of high school drop outs in Israel. As a result of formally dropping out or being expelled from school, roughly 30,000 students in Israel do not attend any formal education program in grades 10-12. It is estimated that about 85% of these students come from poor families. Since 1990, Branco Weiss Institute established nine schools for this target group in the Golan, Kiryat Shmona, Merom-Hagalil, Tiberias, Hadera, Ramle, Beit Shemesh and Be'er Sheva. The nine schools will serve roughly 600 drop outs and 350 "at-risk of dropping out" students. The unique aspect of the Branco Weiss program is that the schools have normative expectations of students, and its curriculum is intended to catch students up to grade level and prepare them for matriculation exams, which are vital to success in Israeli society.
www.brancoweiss.org.il

Center for Urban Families – CFUF (Baltimore, MD)
The Foundation committed $1.5 million for the new headquarters and workforce development center of CFUF, to be located at 2201 N. Monroe Street. This award continues the Foundation's ongoing support of CFUF, which implements the STRIVE/Baltimore program aimed at preparing disadvantaged individuals for jobs. In addition, CFUF runs the Baltimore Responsible Fatherhood Project and Building Strong Families. The new building will triple CFUF's physical space and double its clientele, enabling more individuals in need to access the important services provided by this organization.
www.cfuf.org

Prison Entrepreneurship Program – PEP (Houston, TX)
The Foundation recently approved a grant in the amount of $750,000 over three years to an innovative program targeting criminal offenders. PEP enrolls inmates nearing release in its entrepreneurship course that is designed to teach skills for success in the workplace. Upon release, graduates are provided with a range of supportive services to help them get back on their feet. PEP makes a lifetime commitment to its graduates and gives them every opportunity to thrive. Since 2004, PEP has graduated 369 inmates from eight classes, maintained a recidivism rate of 5%, assisted 43 graduates to launch businesses, recruited more than 1,000 business executives and 400 student volunteers from 24 MBA programs, and increased its annual budget ten-fold. The Foundation is pleased to support this successful organization that is changing the lives of inmates and improving the communities to which they will return as a result.
www.pep.org

Greater Boston Food Bank (Boston, MA)
As part of the Foundation's goal to ensure access to food throughout the United States, a grant of $1.5 million was made to the Greater Boston Food Bank to support the construction of its 110,000 square foot distribution center. This will double the capacity of the Food Bank, which serves over 80,000 individuals weekly through 600 member agencies located in 190 communities.
www.gbfb.org

Housing + Solutions (New York, NY)
Housing + Solutions has received a grant of $120,000 over two years to operate its Sunflower Houses. This is a model of tenant-managed permanent housing with supportive services for women with families who are experiencing homelessness, substance abuse or recent incarceration. The agency is implementing a new "Alternatives to Incarceration" program that will allow women to live with their children while completing court-mandated treatment. The Foundation hopes to share lessons learned from this innovative program with its local housing partners.

MARYLAND SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM - RECENT GRANT AWARDS

Baltimore Algebra Project
This education program was awarded $100,000 over two years to support the expansion of an Algebra tutoring program that utilizes Baltimore City public high school students and recent graduates as math tutors for other Baltimore City middle and high school students. The program is student-led and student-staffed, involving approximately 150 tutors and 300 students each year. Tutors receive an hourly wage as independent contractors to the public school system, and at-risk students receive the benefits of a supplemental math program to support their path to a successful education and productive future.
www.baltimore-algebra-project.org

Senior Connection of Montgomery County This senior transportation and outreach program was awarded $50,000 over two years. This program uses volunteers to assist seniors with transportation, shopping and errands, and friendly visits. The majority of clients live below the poverty level, so the mobility offered by the Senior Connection Program enables its clients to live as independently as possible.
www.seniorconnectionmc.org

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