Welcome to the March issue of ProvPlan’s e-newsletter. This issue highlights some of our recent statewide work with the RI Economic Development Corporation. We are excited about the opportunity to extend our information and mapping capacity to important statewide issues that are also critical issues for Providence. We know that a strong City-State partnership is key and we appreciate that we can play a helpful role in that effort. As always, share this issue with others and give us feedback about how to make this a more useful resource.

Thanks,
Pat McGuigan, Executive Director
pmcguigan@provplan.org

Campaign hopes to help 1,600 low-income working families obtain more than $2 million in tax refunds 
Thanks to a campaign sponsored by Making Connections Providence (an initiative in which The Providence Plan participates) and the United Way of Rhode Island, 1,600 working families in Providence are expected to obtain well over $2 million in Earned Income Tax Credits and other refunds this year. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a tax credit for low-income workers, including those who have not had taxes withheld from their pay.

The Providence EITC Campaign provides low-income working families with free tax return preparation, electronic filing, and assistance in obtaining the EITC. These services are provided through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program at eight host agencies in Providence. The lead agency for the campaign is the John Hope Settlement House. [more on Campaign...]

ProvPlan launches statewide Internet Map Server for Economic Development
The Providence Plan recently unveiled the “EDC Mapper” – a statewide mapping application that it developed for the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC). This web-based mapping and data analysis tool gives you aerial views and exhaustive data for any area in the state.

Mapping begins with a search. Once you’ve found a property by searching on “address” or “parcel characteristics,” you can find the data you’re seeking by navigating four tabs – “Parcel Mapping,” “Site Suitability,” “Census Analysis,” or “Business Analysis.” “Parcel Mapping” gives information such as the size of the property, the assessed value of the property and land, and the year the property was developed. “Site Suitability” puts the property in the context of the surrounding neighborhood, providing, for example, the location of flood zones, schools, sewered areas, historic districts and open spaces. You’ll find demographic information, such as median household income, ethnic composition, and households with children, in the “Census Analysis.” Under “Business Analysis,” you’ll be able to display the number and type of businesses in a specific area, as well as the number of employers. [more on EDC Mapper...]

R2LP course translates data into action
Ready to Learn Providence, a program of The Providence Plan, has developed – and is currently offering – a 45-hour course analyzing the well-being of Providence’s youngest children through a set of indicators. These indicators, which represent essential components of school readiness, were the basis of a 75-page data-driven report titled How Ready Is Providence?, which R2LP released in 2005.

The course, also titled How Ready Is Providence, “supports one of R2LP’s core strategies – that data should inform our work,” explains Joyce Butler, director of R2LP. All 30 R2LP AmeriCorps members are participating in the 15-week course, which is led by Katie Murray, R2LP’s coordinator of data and evaluation, and Nazly Guzman-Singletary, assistant director of R2LP’s AmeriCorps program.

“We are taking the data collected for the report and making it both tangible and action-oriented,” says Murray. A second source of data comes from Benchmarks for Progress, a special report on school readiness developed by RI Kids Count. [more on Course...]

A perfect fit
A program as ambitious and comprehensive as New Roots Providence requires a network of partners that can bring different areas of expertise to the project. The following introduction to Third Sector New England is the first in a series of stories highlighting the organizations that are instrumental in the New Roots initiative.

Third Sector New England, which is based in Boston, strengthens nonprofit organizations by providing them with information and services that allow them to do their work more effectively. With a mission that so closely matches the goals of New Roots Providence, Third Sector is clearly a perfect fit for this project.

For the past decade TSNE has provided management support and other services to a wide range of nonprofit organizations, mostly in and around Boston, but also in Rhode Island and other New England states. And on April 6, TSNE celebrates the realization of a longtime dream with an open house at its new eight-floor NonProfit Center in the heart of Boston. [more on Third Sector...]

New Roots to offer training in introductory proposal writing
The New Roots training sessions that got under way in February have been filled to capacity and have elicited enthusiastic responses from the participants. “No fluff – all the information was useful,” wrote one participant in an anonymous evaluation. “The group interaction was enlightening,” wrote another.

“Proposal Writing 101” is the title of the April workshop, to be offered April 26 and 29 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Led by Deoshore Haig of Haig and Associates, this introductory proposal-writing training program will present the core elements of a successful grant application. Participants will engage in hands-on activities that address the specific grant needs of their programs, such as a needs assessment or the development and delivery of program services.

To register for one of the April sessions, please call Chiv Heng at 455-8880, ext. 218, or e-mail him at cheng@provplan.org by April 19. Space is limited so early registration is recommended. New Roots workshops are free and open to all community and faith-based organizations doing work in Providence.


Applications for New Roots Capacity Building Grants due by March 31
New Roots Providence is currently accepting applications for its Capacity Building Grants, which are to be used for activities that will strengthen an organization’s ability to serve Providence residents. Grants of up to $18,000 will be awarded to 24 organizations working in Providence. Applications must be received by March 31.

To be eligible for a Capacity Building Grant, organizations should support – or plan to support – one or more of the following groups:

• Children of men and women who are in prison
• People returning to the community from prison
• Youth in danger of getting involved with violence or gang activity
• People moving from public assistance into employment (“welfare to work”)

Grant applications and instructions for completing them (in English or Spanish) are available at the New Roots web site, www.newrootsprovidence.org. For more information, please call Nzinga Misgana at (401) 455-8880 or e-mail her at nmisgana@provplan.org.

Campaign, cont.
The EITC Campaign is designed to reach families in Providence’ South Side, West End and Elmwood (the target neighborhoods of Making Connections Providence) who earned less than $38,000 in 2005. With a maximum credit of $4,400 for families with two or more qualifying children, the EITC can substantially increase a low-income working family’s annual income. IRS-trained and certified volunteers, as well as staff from the host agencies, provide the free tax preparation.

Last year the campaign prepared tax returns for 1,131 households in Providence, assisting working families in obtaining just over $1 million in Earned Income Tax Credits and $1.6 million in total refunds. These taxpayers saved over $200,000 in tax preparation fees and refund anticipation loan interest charges. Last year’s program also assisted a number of families with tax-related problems through the Rhode Island Tax Clinic, a federally funded low-income tax clinic.

If you or your organization would like a presentation on how the EITC and other family financial asset building can benefit your constituents or employees, contact John Symynkywicz, John Hope director of development, at 421-6993, ext. 337, or email at jsymynkywicz@johnhope.org. [top]

EDC Mapper, cont.
With the abundance of information to be found on this site, it is expected to be of particular use to policymakers, planners, developers, and real estate professionals. While the average user will find most of the EDC Mapper easy to navigate, the program does include some highly detailed, powerful mapping options that require a higher level of expertise. And due to licensing issues on some business data, part of the program is password protected, and can be accessed only by municipalities and EDC users.

The Providence Plan worked with a Boston-based firm, Applied Geographics, to develop the EDC Mapper. [top]

Course, cont.
" It’s about getting to know your community, not just through highly detailed information, but also through the compelling personal stories of people who are working on the ground,” notes Guzman-Singletary. The course features nearly a dozen guest speakers who work in area agencies that address the issues raised in the course.

In the final half of the course, participants work in groups to study a particular indicator – such as childhood poverty or children of incarcerated parents – in depth. They will write a report on this issue, make a presentation to the class, and then develop and implement a community action of their choice that they believe will alleviate the problem in some way.

The indicators covered in the course – and in the R2LP report – fall into one of three categories: readiness of parents, caregivers and teachers; child development and well-being; and a child’s environment. Armed with data not only for the city of Providence but also for individual neighborhoods, participants examine how factors such as poverty, abuse and neglect, inadequate medical care, or unqualified child-care providers affect a child’s readiness for school. “The level of engagement of the participants is something I couldn’t have anticipated,” says Guzman-Singletary.

“The discussions have been rooted in the data but are also deeply personal and reflective,” says Butler. Many of the participants in the class have themselves experienced the impact of poverty, incarcerated parents, and other issues examined in the class. “The collective consciousness that our community, colleagues, families, friends and neighbors are ‘the data’ fuels both our passion and our actions in pursuit of the vision of R2LP,” Butler adds.

“We’re still experimenting with this course to see what works and what doesn’t,” Butler notes. “But ultimately we hope to secure funding so that we can open it up to the broader R2LP community.” Graduates of the current course will earn three credits from the University of Rhode Island. [top]

 

Third Sector , cont.
TSNE’s various programs fall under one of two umbrellas – the Mission Effectiveness Program and Fiscal Sponsorship Services. It is TSNE’s Mission Effectiveness Program (MEP) that is actively engaged in New Roots Providence. MEP helps individual organizations – and networks of organizations – with their assessment, planning, leadership development, training, research and evaluation. It also administers two capacity grants programs to help nonprofits enhance organizational diversity and capacity building.

“It’s a unique mix of skills that we bring to New Roots,” notes Deb Linnell, director of MEP. “There’s no organization in Rhode Island with a mission quite like ours and with the experience we have in providing management support and technical assistance to nonprofits.”

TSNE has played a central role in the New Roots training workshops that got under way in February. Working hand-in-hand with New Roots staff in Providence, TSNE consultants identified the workshop topics and trainers, and navigated some of the logistics. These monthly training sessions for community- and faith-based organizations working in Providence have addressed issues such as fundraising, organizational missions, and grant-writing.

New Roots is now accepting applications for its Capacity Building Grants. After the March 31 deadline, TSNE and all other New Roots partners will review these applications and select the 24 organizations that will receive grants of up to $18,000.

Here again TSNE will play a critical role. Heather Harker, TSNE’s director of consulting, will lead a team of five consultants – all from TSNE – to conduct assessments. This involves bringing together up to 20 staff members from an organization – representing everyone from the custodial staff to the CEO – and facilitating discussions on their organizational vision, mission and approach. The findings and recommendations that the consultants put in their written assessments will be based entirely on these discussions.

“We believe the wisdom is in the room,” says Heather. “The facilitator allows this wisdom to emerge and the process gives organizations a chance to reflect on what they’re doing.”

With these assessments in hand, the organizations will use their grant money to secure consultants and/or technology to address identified organizational challenges. In addition, these organizations will join one of several “learning circles,” meeting almost monthly with a facilitator and other organizations with similar needs. Based on a model developed and adopted at TSNE, learning circles encourage shared learning to build organizational knowledge, capacity and partnerships.

“It’s remarkable to have this support structure for these very small grassroots organizations and to work with so many of them at the same time,” Heather adds. “There’s just no equivalent to the New Roots project in Boston and we’re delighted to be part of it.” [top]