Welcome to the May issue of ProvPlan’s e-newsletter.
The stories below reflect real progress with New Roots making grants to 21 faith and community based organizations, Ready to Learn Providence offering a stimulating “Minds in the Making” workshop in early learning and development, and YouthBuild creating a partnership with BuildRI to launch a construction workforce project. But the good news is tempered with sadness- it is true that sometimes bad things happen to good people. In the last month, Rosa Benzant, an Americorps member with Ready to Learn and a young mother with two small children, died of a heart attack. And Maggie Worthen, daughter of R2LP AmeriCorps Director Nancy Worthen, suffered a severe stroke just weeks before she was to graduate from Smith College. Our thoughts are with Nancy and the Benzant family during this difficult time.

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

Discovering how children learn best 
Participants in the Mind in the Making institute for learning facilitators, held this spring at Ready to Learn Providence (R2LP), quickly realized that this would be very different from the typical workshop. Mind in the Making, which focuses on early development and learning, is rooted in the best available science, but participants in the six-day institutes internalize this information through an unusual process of self-discovery.

“Unlike most workshops where the trainer is viewed as the person who holds all the knowledge and information, Mind in the Making asks everyone in the room to grapple with the current science and research collectively,” explains Joyce Butler, director of R2LP, a program of The Providence Plan. “The program is intended to transform the way we think about children. Mind in the Making clearly demonstrates how a child’s social and emotional development is inextricably linked with his or her cognitive growth, and participants make this connection in a way that is very personal.”

Leading the facilitator institute at R2LP, held in two three-day sessions in April and May, was Nina Sazer O’Donnell, who until recently served as vice president and director of Child, Family and Community Programs at Families and Work Institute (FWI), the organization that developed the program. A national figure in early childhood research and practice, Sazer O’Donnell led the 33 participants through the program’s 12 learning modules by engaging them in a wide range of activities – role playing, art projects, and even dancing – that served to underscore the current science on early learning and childhood development.

“Mind in the Making helped me to connect myself to the world of children,” noted one of the participants. “It’s a spiritual, in-depth and very powerful tool,” said another. “And it’s really fun.”

The intensive institute held this spring is designed to produce “learning facilitators” who will eventually lead participant-level institutes, typically offered in 12 two-hour sessions. Each of the participants in the spring institute has agreed to facilitate at least two institutes for early-care providers and parents in the next year and a half. [more on Mind in the Making...]

Building on each other’s strengths
BuildRI, a partner in ProvPlan’s YouthBuild program, is a coalition of local contractors and construction unions devoted to promoting the benefits of employing union workers in the Rhode Island marketplace. BuildRI is involved in the construction of virtually every commercial or major residential construction project in the state, and encompasses more than 500 local contractors and 17 local construction unions.

BuildRI also devotes time to recruiting potential students for YouthBuild Providence, a nine-year-old program designed to give high school dropouts the skills and education needed to pursue careers in the construction field. “YouthBuild does a great job preparing kids for this work,” says Greg Mancini, BuildRI’s executive director and general counsel. “Because of this preparation and training, the attrition rate among those who pursue a union apprenticeship tends to be lower.”

“The prime placements for our students are union apprenticeships,” notes YouthBuild Director Andrew Cortes. “That’s why our partnership with BuildRI is so critical.” This partnership is funded in part with a grant from The United Way of Rhode Island.

Demand for well-trained construction workers will continue to intensify, according to Mr. Mancini. Currently, he says, approximately 18 percent of the state’s construction workers are over the age of 50. Meanwhile, the need for these skilled workers is expected to increase 24 percent by 2012. [more on Building...]

New Roots Providence awards Capacity Building Grants
On May 1, 21 community and faith-based organizations doing work in Providence learned they would receive a New Roots Providence Capacity Building Grant. These grants, which range from $12,000 to $18,000, are designed to strengthen an organization’s ability to serve those in need.

Only organizations that address one or more of the following areas were eligible for these grants: children of men and women who are in prison; people returning to the community from prison; youth in danger or getting involved with violence or gang activity; and people moving from public assistance into employment (“welfare to work”). The recipients were selected from 34 applications representing a wide range of community and faith-based organizations, according to Nzinga Misgana, director of New Roots Providence.

In the coming months, each of the 21 organizations will participate in an assessment process that will culminate with a work plan. Third Sector New England, which will facilitate this process and develop the work plans, will base its assessments on discussions with staff, board members, volunteers and others involved with each organization. The work plans, expected to be completed by the end of the summer, will recommend strategies for addressing identified needs, such as hiring a consultant or providing staff with professional development. The Capacity Building grants will fund a large part of these recommendations.

The 21 grant recipients are: [more on Grants...]

In memory of Rosa Benzant
It was with enormous sorrow that we learned on May 10 of the death of a much loved and widely respected member of Ready to Learn Providence’s AmeriCorps team. Rosa Benzant, who had been serving at the Beautiful Beginnings Child Care Center since September, died of a heart attack while on a trip to her native Dominican Republic. A resident of Providence, Rosa leaves a husband, Tommy Benzant, and two young children – 7-month-old Jemuel and 3-year-old Jeshua. “She gave too much in too little time,” says one of her AmeriCorps teammates. “She was passionate about everything she did.”

Despite medical issues in the past few months, Rosa insisted on fulfilling all of her obligations to family, work and friends. Her colleagues say she was generous to a fault – lending money when she had little to spare and always finding the energy to offer a helping hand. Her Latino teammates say she would gently chastise them if they appeared self-conscious or nervous when using their new language. “Never be ashamed of your accent or who you are,” she would tell them. “If you respect yourself, others will too.”

Rosa, who loved her work as a mother and an early-care provider, held equally high expectations for children. When an AmeriCorps member suggested that young children wouldn’t be able to do an activity she had suggested, Rosa retorted, “You’re not going to know what a child can do unless you let them try.”

This was Rosa’s second year in the AmeriCorps. Previously she spent a year with the Children’s Crusade, doing her service at the Charles Fortes Elementary School. Her friends at the Crusade say she was never afraid to ask for help or to give it. She saw AmeriCorps as a stepping stone for other Latino women and helped to recruit many women into the program.

“Rosa was a very caring individual who always lent an ear to her fellow AmeriCorps members,” says Nazly Guzman-Singletary, assistant director of the R2LP AmeriCorps program. “She was very resourceful in tackling any problem. She was also a dedicated person with a deep sense of commitment and responsibility.”
Rosa earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the O&M University in the Dominican Republic; a theology teaching degree from the School of Ministry, also in the Dominican Republic; and was currently pursuing a degree in education from the Community College of Rhode Island.

Ready to Learn Providence is collecting donations for her family. Checks payable to “The Providence Plan in honor of Rosa Benzant” can be mailed to Stan Kuziel, Ready to Learn Providence, 945 Westminster St., Providence, RI 02903.

Mind in the Making, cont.
The earliest of these sessions, expected to get under way this summer, will target specific groups, but information will be available in the fall on institutes that will be open to the public. The United Way of Rhode Island provided funds for this spring’s “learning facilitator” institute as well as for nine participant-level institutes. The R2LP learning facilitators will form “learning circle teams” to deliver these institutes, an effort that will be headed by Stephanie Enos, R2LP coordinator of professional development.

R2LP provided Spanish translation for several of the participants at the spring session, the first time this service was available at a Mind in the Making institute for learning facilitators. As a result, several Spanish-speaking facilitators are now able to bring Mind in the Making to parents and providers whose English may be limited. FWI, with input from R2LP and others around the country, plans to develop materials in Spanish at some point in the future.

FWI also has produced a three-part television program scheduled to air this fall on Discovery Health Network. The television program, like the learning modules, will look at how children learn, the skills they need for a successful start in school, the link between emotional and cognitive development, and instructional approaches that have achieved results. R2LP plans to hold informal discussion groups with parents based on these television programs.

“The ultimate purpose of Mind in the Making is to bring the latest information on child development and learning to those who work with our youngest children,” explains Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder of FWI. [top]

Building, cont.
“Labor relations in the construction industry are unique,” explains Mr. Mancini. “In our industry, it is the contractor and/or the owner who usually makes the decision to use union labor. I try to convey to them that because of the investment in training that the local unions make – almost $2 million a year collectively – it’s in their best interest to employ union workers exclusively. Over the long term, it will keep their costs down.

“We also have an infrastructure in place so that we can get workers when they’re needed,” Mr. Mancini continues. Safety is another factor, he says. “Of the 13 construction fatalities that have occurred in the state since 1998, none were union workers, despite the fact that union workers typically do some of the most perilous work.”

BuildRI, which works with both the private and public sectors, began in 2000 as RI 21st Century Labor Management Partnership. In 2004 it changed its name to more accurately reflect what its members do – build Rhode Island. BuildRI has a 12-member executive board and offices at 155 South Main Street in Providence. [top]

Grants, cont.

• The Blessing Way
• House of Prayer & Deliverance Church of All Nations
• Oasis International
• Women of Prayer, Power & Destiny
• Christ Center of Praise Ministries, Inc.
• Iglesia Vision Evangelica
• Muslim Community Center of RI
• Providence Assembly of God Church
• Truskool Studios
• Destiny House
• Literacy Volunteers of Rhode Island
• River of Life Church/Sure Foundation Ministries
• Groundwork Providence
• Direct Action for Rights & Equality
• Mt. Hope Learning Center
• New Urban Arts
• Providence InTown Churches Association
• Providence Youth Student Movement
• Rhode Islanders Sponsoring Education
• Team Providence
• Urban Collaborative Accelerated Program

As part of the Capacity Building Grant program, these organizations also will participate in one of several “learning circles,” meeting almost monthly with a facilitator and other organizations with similar needs. Based on a model developed and used at Third Sector New England, learning circles build organizational knowledge, capacity and partnerships through shared learning.

Soon New Roots will be accepting applications for “mini grants” to help small organizations address specific needs. Be sure to check for further details at www.newrootsprovidence.org. [top]