North Central Mass Network of Nonprofits

Meeting notes

October 12th, 2006.

FATV, 175 Kimball Street, Fitchburg, MA 01420

I. Welcome:  Interim facilitator of the Network, Karin Oliveira

The Capacity Building Coordinator position was posted and will be filled soon. Many very qualified applicants applied.

Review of the United Way Meeting:

The United Way held a meeting to discuss how local agencies could share back room functions and deeper rooted collaboration.

Thoughts from the group?

• We need to start thinking differently; funding is changing.
• Housing a consortium of nonprofits under one roof is an idea.
• There is an interest by the Network to pursue more information on more involved collaborative efforts.
• Group buying power/joint purchasing is of interest to the group- such as what Chamber’s have to their members. (Group insurance with lower rates)
• Email your thoughts to Karin @ koliveira@mwcc.mass.edu 

• Introductions:  

Tell us your name, organization and your position.

• Nonprofit Spotlight of the Month:

Maxyne Schneider- House of Peace and Education, Inc. (HOPE)

HOPE, a nonprofit interfaith organization committed to counteracting violence
and promoting peace in the Greater Gardner area was founded by three Sisters in 1996. Supporting Families, Women and Kids in their programming.

HOPE serves its neighborhood in Gardner and the Greater Gardner area and the whole North Central Massachusetts region with educational programming, empowerment and to develop leadership skills. Skilled staff provides job training and empowerment for women and academic support for children and teens after school and in the summer. Early childhood specialists offer Saturday on-site mentoring for young children in Grades K-2.

HOPE for Families offers programming for parents and their children to improve communication learn new behavior patterns and build positive relationships. HOPE just recently hired a full time clinician.

HOPE for Kids offers an after school program for children (grades 2-6) with volunteer tutors for homework help, academic tutoring and computer enrichment. The Pals program provides Saturday mentoring for children in grades K-2, offering onsite mentoring doing crafts and providing praise. There is also a summer session for children and teens, followed by the summer lunch program.  80% of their students qualify for reduced lunch.

HOPE for Women is a one-month individualized job-training program for women who wish to learn new skills and improve the quality of life for themselves and their families.

The training programs include subjects such as resume and portfolio development, computer instruction: keyboarding and Microsoft Office, overall employment training, career exploration and preparation. A workshop is offered in collaboration with Mount Wachusett Community College. There are internship opportunities in collaboration with the Greater Gardner Community Development Corporation.

• Tragedy in the Community and open discussion: Facilitated by Dolores Thibault-Muñoz

Saturday Oct. 8th, during a Quinceañera (Sweet 15th) birthday party, 5 attendees were shot. Over 100 people were at the party. This is not only a tragedy for those involved, but for the whole community.

Our community has witnessed the violence of gunfire that many of us cannot even fathom as part of our lives.  And most tragically, they are continuing to witness the ongoing impact of grief and division.  This is no less than a tragedy for all of us.  It has affected the hearts and minds of individuals, families, schools, and communities.

It is a chance the community to help the most affected to heal and move forward. 

The organizations currently working with community members affected by this tragedy are the Spanish American Center, Cleghorn Neighborhood Center and the Twin Cities Latino Coalition.

Thoughts:

• The response by the schools is not ok; we don’t want our children to be used to this.
• The schools response was that they tried to do outreach, but they said it didn’t seem to be effective. The only school prepared was The North Central Essential Charter School, with guidance counselors. Our community has a very small connected Latino community that needs our support. To make change and prevent this from happening again we need to unite our community as one.
• We need to show the Latino community that we DO care and that this is not just “their” problem.
• We need to be on the ball and prepared for the future, having an immediate emergency action plan. What is it about our siloed agencies that prevent us from working together?

(Action: This will be addressed at our follow up discussion at our Nov. 2nd meeting)

• This tragedy was not gang related. It is our responsibility as community leaders to voice this.
• There will be a community healing event that will take place the week of Oct. 15th.

(Action: When the date is decided, Andrea will email everyone.)

(Action: Superintendents of Schools should be invited to participate in the Network.)

Action items:

• Phone call/Email blast of blurb of our reactions of the Tragedy to the Sentinel.
•  Press release- Short statement from all of us here, with our names as Nonprofit Network members.
• Writing Article to be distributed to the families, press etc. A sign that that community really does care.
• A concerted effort to make it to the Community Healing Event to represent the Network once the date is set.

The Next Meeting will be:

 Thursday November 2nd 9am-11am @ FATV in Fitchburg! (175 Kimball Street)