If you haven’t yet voted in the 2009 Leadership Awards online vote, please do so today.  Polls close at 5 p.m. today and your vote will definitely make a difference!

Currently, the top two leaders are literally within 15 votes of one another!  A few minutes ago it was three!  They’ve been bouncing back and forth all day, so there is absolutely no way to know how this will turn out!

So, if you haven’t yet, please visit this link, learn about our 10 outstanding Leadership Awardees for 2009 and the work they’re doing for our region’s women and girls, and then vote for the one that you think is having the greatest impact on women and girls in the Washington metropolitan area!

Lisa Kays is The Women’s Foundation’s Director of Communications.

I watched Sister Mary Bourdon begin the Washington Middle School for Girls a little over 10 years ago, first as an after school study hall with 12 girls in a basement apartment, then into a two campus school, serving almost 100 students in grades 4-8.

And when I say serving, I mean:

• Offering them an exemplary education in core subjects;
• An Extended Day Program from 3:30 until 5:30 p.m., featuring student clubs such as yoga, poetry, chess, photography, and arts classes with The Washington Ballet, Levine School of Music, and The Corcoran Art Gallery;
• A summer camp that features remedial work, arts activities, field trips, and welcoming of visitors that expands their world like nothing else; and,
• A Graduate Support Program that assists in getting their students accepted into some of the best high schools in the Washington area and beyond.

Right now, 97 percent of the Washington Middle School for Girls’ graduates are either still in high school, or have graduated and gone on to higher learning of their choice!  An incredible statistic for young girls living in the most under-served neighborhood of Washington, D.C.!

When I think about making an investment in the future, I can look no further than Washington Middle School for Girls – and I’m betting on a great future for those girls who are fortunate enough to have Sister Mary and her dedicated staff on their side!

We will all be better because of this school!  Please, vote for them today!

Patricia Roland is a donor and supporter of The Washington Middle School for Girls.

“Good friend forgive me if I offend, I know I am not the only one with problems. I also understand that there are many people with greater problems than mines. But for you to take the time to consider mines, that I am most grateful. It is good that when one has climbed the ladder of success to the top, that he or she reaches down and help those that are not able to.” 
– YK

These are the opening lines of a letter I received earlier this week from a young women whose story is not unlike many of our own.  She came to Washington, DC seeking a better life with plans to get an advanced degree so that she could work with the poor and the oppressed, as she explained later in her letter.  She was excited to receive a job as a domestic worker, which would enable her to work towards her dreams.

What makes YK’s story different was that she was enslaved within the household, beaten, sexually assaulted, and prevented from leaving. 

YK is a survivor of human trafficking.

She was able to escape her situation through community support and currently is part of Polaris Project’s DC Trafficking Intervention Program (DC TIP).

Like YK, Janice* also had dreams that were exploited by a human trafficker.  When Janice was 12 years old, she should have been going to school and living the carefree life of other teenagers. However, after an older man offered to take care of her, Janice was forced into prostitution for five years and beaten each time she tried to leave.

Polaris Project was called in after a police investigation and began to provide Janice with food, clothing, and emotional support.  We also worked to reunite Janice with her family and she is enrolled in school.  Her trafficker was sentenced to prison and now Janice dreams of one day working in the criminal justice field.

While it is shocking that slavery can still exist in the 21st century, it is sobering to know that it is the third largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world.  The United Nations recently projected that human trafficking will only worsen with the state of the global economy.  Stories like YK’s and Janice’s show us that the face of human trafficking is often very personal and local, occurring in our own backyards. 

In fact, the FBI considers Washington, DC one of the top 14 sites in the country for the sex trafficking of American children.

When we started Polaris Project seven years ago, our mission was simple: find the victims, shape policy, and build a movement.

Interestingly, we began with a $5,000 seed grant from a local social entrepreneurship program and built an organization that has worked with more than 300 victims of human trafficking; testified before Congress four times to help pass landmark federal legislation (twice!); worked with legislators in D.C., VA, and MD to strengthen protections for victims; and, co-founded the DC Task Force on Human Trafficking in partnership with the D.C. U.S. Attorneys Office and D.C. Police with more than 30 other organizational members coordinating on cases and victim services.

Imagine what another $5,000 from winning this vote can do!  Click here to vote against slavery before 5 p.m. on Monday, March 30th!

*Names and details have been changed to protect the identity and anonymity of our clients.

Katherine Chon is the President and Co-founder of Polaris Project in Washington, D.C., a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with The Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty.

Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty. And every Friday, look for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty.

Here’s this week’s news:

• The Christian Science Monitor profiles a Boston-area theater troupe composed of marginalized women.

• In an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Medical System President and CEO Jay Wolvovsky advocates for comprehensive prenatal care for low-income women.

• In a call for increased parental participation in children’s education, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist James E. Causey cites a program that offers assistance to low-income families, many led by single mothers.

• A Lowell Sun editorial argues that much of the current baby boom is attributable to teen pregnancy and single-mother homes, both of which are associated with poverty.

• In a Myrtle Beach Sun News op-ed calling on women to help empower one another, Sheryl McAlister, executive director of the South Carolina Alliance for Women, notes that women are more likely to live in poverty than men.

• The Cherry Hill Courier Post reports on a local effort to get prom clothes to girls who need financial assistance.

• The Norfolk Virginian Pilot covers a local branch of an international charity providing low-income women professional attire for job interviews.

To learn more about Spotlight, visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org.  To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity is a foundation-led, non-partisan initiative aimed at ensuring that our political leaders take significant actions to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the United States. We bring together diverse perspectives from the political, policy, advocacy and foundation communities to engage in an ongoing dialogue focused on finding genuine solutions to the economic hardship confronting millions of Americans.

Your vote can empower women to move out of homelessness

Recently, Connie, a woman who lives at Calvary Women’s Shelter, wrote the following:

“What I mostly appreciate about Calvary is that they allow you to grow, attend meetings to keep you on the right path, teach you how to be responsible with daily, everyday living such as money management…Calvary has taught me responsibility, promptness, respect for myself and others, and how to be a team player.”

Connie is one of more than 1,300 homeless women in the District of Columbia.  In the current economic crisis, that number is growing, and it does not include all of the women who are doubled up with family or sleeping on a friend’s couch.

Women like Connie often have histories of violence and trauma.  They may be unemployed or working hard at low wage jobs.  They may live with mental illnesses, addictions, or chronic health problems.  Overcoming these challenges while living on the streets or in a large shelter with over 100 other women is nearly impossible.

Calvary Women’s Shelter serves 25 women each night.  Though the women who come to Calvary face great challenges, we believe that every woman has gifts and strengths she can build on to be successful.  We meet each woman as an individual, support her as she works to achieve her goals, and empower her to take control of her own life.

Each year, 60 percent of the women who come to Calvary move into their own homes.  Many others take positive steps to prepare for independent living.

We are honored and excited that the Washington Area Women’s Foundation has recognized our work with a Leadership Award.  An additional grant of $5,000, which we can win if we get the most votes in the 2009 Leadership Awards online vote, will make a big difference.

At Calvary, $5,000 can:

• Purchase 6 months worth of food for our dinner and breakfast programs;
• Support 2 months of life skills education programs; or,
• Provide 22 women with a year’s worth of mental health services.

These services make a real difference in women’s lives.

Since moving to Calvary, Connie has worked hard to overcome the reasons she became homeless, completed her GED, secured employment, and begun her search for housing.

Addressing Calvary’s supporters, she wrote: “Let’s all come together as one and continue to help women like me with a new beginning.”

Your vote will do just that.  Vote now!

Kristine Thompson is the Executive Director of Calvary Women’s Services.

This online voting for the Washington Middle School For Girls has been the most incredible experience.

In response to my blanket email to everyone in my address book, I am hearing from people I haven’t heard from in years.  None has been more poignant than the response from a distant cousin who was brought back to a conversation she had with her aunt when she was 10 years old.

Her aunt told her that no matter what advice anyone was to give her, the best thing she could tell her was to grow up to be a strong woman.

So, when she started looking at The Women’s Foundation and Washington Middle School for Girls‘ Web sites, her aunt’s advice all came rushing back. It was a conversation she hadn’t had in a while.

Sometimes, we forget that the work we do everyday with girls and women is not front and center with everyone.  To us, when you change the life of a girl, you change the life of a woman.

It’s that simple.

So yes, I’ve loved spreading the good news and getting people to vote for the school.  And I love the added bonus of wonderful feedback.

Vote now!

Colette Breen works in the development office at the Washington Middle School for Girls.

In the current challenging economy….that seems to be the way we start and end practically every conversation these days, doesn’t it?

But this is in fact our reality today – we really can’t get away from it.  That said, the good news is that the only thing that is constant is change.  So we will emerge from this economic crisis, as we have emerged from every one that has come before.

In the meantime, the key questions for most nonprofits are:

1. How do we weather the current storm?
2. How do we position ourselves to be able to continue to do the important work we do once the economy turns around?

The first is a question of survival; the second, a question of sustainability.

So why make a distinction?  Let’s take a minute to contemplate the definitions.

SURVIVAL: the act or process of continuing to exist in the present despite being from an earlier time; continuing longer than, or beyond the existence of, another person, thing, or event.
SUSTAINABILITY: the ability of a program or organization to continue and endure indefinitely.

Certainly when given the choice, all of us would prefer to be sustainable rather than to just survive.

Yet, I understand that in some circumstances, whether talking about an organization or an individual, survival is the most immediate and pressing priority.  But how often is survival a necessary position because there hasn’t been an (effective) sustainability plan in place?  Is survival a necessary first step to reaching sustainability, or does sustainability occur on a totally different track?

What do you think?

The question we have been working to address at The Women’s Foundation is: How does one plan for sustainability?

Financial security is often the most common focus of sustainability planning and activities for many organizations – particularly in a time of economic difficulty.  But it is just one of several components of organizational sustainability.  The reality is that financial sustainability is only relevant and truly sustainable if the vision, impact and leadership of the organization are all sound as well.

On March 11th, The Women’s Foundation hosted a workshop facilitated by Heather Peeler, the Managing Director with Community Wealth Ventures, who has more than 10 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and management consulting.

Heather’s presentation took the seven key hallmarks of sustainability we identified in the The Women’s Foundation’s most recent Open Door Capacity Fund RFP, presented each hallmark in greater depth, and stimulated a great discussion among workshop participants about how these hallmarks are relevant to their organizational sustainability.

Moreover, Heather shared sustainability planning resources and provided helpful tips on selecting and working with consultants.

The information was so well received by workshop attendees, we want to make it available to all of our community partners though this blog.  We encourage you to take a moment to do the organizational self-assessment that is included in the materials.  You might surprise yourself.

Organizational Sustainability Self Assessment
Sustainability Workshop Presentation Slides

But regardless of which resource you use, have the discussions about what strategies your organization is using to weather the storm. Is your strategy focused on survival or sustainability?

And why.

Remember, change is constant.  So , where will you be when saying “in the current economy” no longer conjures up worry and anxiety, but instead visions of opportunity and possibility.

Nicole Cozier is The Women’s Foundation’s Philanthropic Education Officer.

Friends of Guesthouse is the only program of its kind in all of Northern Virginia. 

We provide support and resources to formerly incarcerated women convicted of non-violent crimes, so that they may more successfully integrate back into their communities. The women work hard to progress through the program and work hard on improving themselves.

Guesthouse is a one-of-a-kind leader in the community, working with women that are on their  way to becoming leaders themselves.

You can learn more about our work at our Web site or our blog.

VOTE FOR US!!

Jocelyn McKinley is a case manager at Friends of Guest House, a 2009 Leadership Awardee and Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation since 2000, when they won their first Leadership Award.

The Women’s Foundation is proud to congratulate Vera Mayer, senior advocate with Iona Senior Services and coalition coordinator with the DC Coalition on Long Term Care (a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation), on being named Public Citizen of the Year by the DC Metro Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

An article in Washington Jewish Week explains that Vera was recognized for her "years of work to improve the quality of life for seniors and disabled adults in the District of Columbia."  Vera is also "cited as one of the moving forces behind the District’s Aging and Disability Medicaid Waiver application to provide for community-based long term care rather than institutional placements for aging and disabled adults who need assistance."

Gwen Rubinstein, a program officer at The Women’s Foundation who has worked with Vera, echoed these statements, saying, "Vera is a force.  Getting the Medicaid Waiver passed was a big, big deal.  She is a true force."

Congratulations, Vera, from The Women’s Foundation, and many thanks for your devotion and service to the Washington metropolitan area and the well-being of its aging and disabled citizens.

Lisa Kays is The Women’s Foundation’s Director of Communications.

According to an annual survey conducted by the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness in the District, the number of homeless people in the district has increased 3 percent over last year to 6,228.

What’s most alarming is the increase in homeless families, up nearly 25 percent, most of which are headed by single women. Serving this need is a limited number of resources that cater to women and children.

There is no turnkey solution to addressing homelessness. However, in a city where nearly one in five women is living below the poverty line, we all need to advocate for measures to aid this vulnerable population

Heather Thompson is a member of Soroptimist International of Washington DC, the local chapter of an international organization for professional women, with the aim of improving the lives of women and girls.