|
|
|
| Publications and Other
Resources |
| Community Building Chronicles |
April 2002 |
Baltimore Community Foundation Plays Many Roles in Out of School
Time Initiative
Funder, partner, staff, advocate and home -- all of these describe the work of
the Baltimore Community Foundation (BCF) over the last eight years as it helps
build a community that supports all of its youth in their out of school time.
 |
|
|
| |
|
Baltimore Community Foundation
2 East Read St.
9th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202
410.332.4171
www.bcf.org
|
|
|
|
Baltimore youth
enjoy an after school program that participates in the
A-Team initiative. |
|
|
|
|
Baltimore is engaged in the Herculean task of putting together the programs,
training, standards, governance, funds and the public and political will to become
a community where youth thrive in their out of school time.
A Neutral Home for a Community Initiative
For many years, BCF had been making grants to after school programs and summer
camps. In 1990, it received a Leadership Development grant from the Ford and
MacArthur foundations that it used to expand and strengthen its work on children
and family issues. By 1995, BCF was well-positioned to take advantage of the
opportunity offered by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's initiative to improve
the health and safety of urban children that could bring $10 million to Baltimore
over 10 years. BCF convened more than 20 groups, including the city health and
police departments, advocates and providers. The community foundation was asked
by this group, who saw it as neutral ground, to staff and house the project,
called Safe and Sound, during the two-year planning phase.
Focus groups and street corner meetings were held, culminating in a community-wide
meeting in Baltimore's civic arena, where 7,000 residents settled on five goals.
One of these goals was to create a citywide system that increases the number
and quality of after school/out of school opportunities for children and youth
between the ages of 6 and 18.
Not Your Typical Job Description
Hathaway Ferebee, BCF's program officer, who staffed the project and later became
Executive Director of Safe and Sound, says hers was not the traditional role
of a community foundation program officer. The planning phase -- with its diverse
partners and grassroots convening strategies -- required the foundation to think
creatively and flexibly about her role. It was very different than reviewing
proposals, working with grantees and making grants. While the challenges were
many, the rewards to the community and foundation have been great.
In its fourth year of implementation, Safe and Sound has:
- Leveraged $27 million for the legislatively-mandated public/private management
agency to support out of school programs
- Developed standards for programs and through a collaborative of funders
provided grants to help programs meet the standards
- Created an intermediary to advocate on out of school issues, train staff
and provide technical assistance to programs
- Engaged young people as partners in out of school policy and programs
- Created a governance structure which includes public agencies, the mayor's
office, nonprofits, advocates, funders, the community foundation and youth,
to coordinate program, policy and funding efforts
Playing Many Roles
Danista Hunte, current program officer at BCF, says the community foundation
continues to seek opportunities to strengthen Baltimore's emerging system of
out of school time programs and supports. For example, BCF created the A-Teams
Initiative, which provides grants to bring skilled, professional artists and
athletic and academic coaches to after school programs. Suzanne Cohen, a board
member and major donor of BCF, made a challenge grant of $1.05 million and
helped raise the match from other funders for a total of $2.4 million for the
A-Teams initiative. Ms. Cohen says that all youth should have access to after
school programs that expose them to the arts, athletics and academic enrichment
opportunities. With a grant from the Coalition of Community Foundations for
Youth, under its Charles Stewart Mott Foundation out of school time initiative,
BCF commissioned an evaluation of the A-Team approach to quality programming.
Baltimore is a not just a partner, funder and advocate for youth in its community;
it is a partner with youth. It has engaged youth in every phase of Safe and
Sound and its youth grantmakers make an important contribution by helping the
public/private management agency review proposals and make grants to after
school groups.
For more information about Safe and Sound or the A-Team project and evaluation,
contact Danista Hunte at the Baltimore Community Foundation: 410.332.4171 or dhunte@bcf.org.
|
|
|
