New Horizons for Family Service
Agency of San Mateo County
Submitted by Family Service Agency of San Mateo County, CA
Family Service Agency of San Mateo County’s Ways to Work Loan Program is beginning summer 2009 with new faces, marketing programs and initiatives. Shobna Dhewant started in May as the director of the program and has a background in financial services, nonprofit loan fund management and working with at-risk populations, as well as a general enthusiasm for the mission and values of Ways to Work. Carla Garcia joined the program in April as a Loan Coordinator after previously working in Family Service’s Older Adults Department as a Case Manager and brings both her customer service and Spanish language skills to the program.
Family Service’s Ways to Work program was featured in February and March 2009, both in local news outlets for ABC and CBS as well as Spanish language station Univision, highlighting the success of the program by profiling the impact on the lives of several loan recipients in the midst of a macroeconomy tinged with failing banks, declining investments and large loan losses. The media coverage heightened the importance of direct, transparent financial transactions as a means of solid relationship building and community development, values which have been championed by Family Service’s Ways to Work for more than a decade.
Loan Coordinators
Steven Woo and Carla Garcia
with client Georgina Castaneda
Family Service continues to work on expanding both the outreach and impact of Ways to Work in San Mateo County through partnerships with other nonprofits, liaisons in the local community and word of mouth. As one of the most residentially expensive communities in the US, the need of the program to assist residents to maintain living standards in the county rather than move away remains crucial.
While maintaining a focus on San Mateo County, Family Service is also aggressively pursuing expansion efforts in our neighboring counties of San Francisco and Santa Clara. San Francisco County, while a major metropolitan hub, has a number of neighborhoods with inadequate public transportation, lack of social services, a number of public housing developments, and a host of social tribulations, often making these neighborhoods feel separate from the city. Santa Clara County, headquartered by San Jose, is a thriving region fueled by Silicon Valley employment and production, covering a vast area not serviced by public transportation and housing a large immigrant and working poor demographic. Ways to Work would be a welcome addition to either county.
We look forward to a bustling, challenging and rewarding second half of 2009.
A Brighter Future for the Rochester Program
By Carl Panepento, Program Manager
Wheels for Work, Rochester
Catholic Family Center (CFC) celebrated its 10th anniversary as a Ways to Work site in April of this year, and the viability of the program as it begins its 11th year looks much brighter than it did a year ago. A setback in operational funding in May of 2006 compromised the program’s capacity and led to a precipitous fall from 60 loans per year to a mere 8 loans in 2008.
Before long it was apparent that CFC’s Wheels for Work program, serving the same target population as Ways to Work since January of 2001, could not single-handedly meet the demand that both programs addressed over the past 8 years. The goals of the programs were always in alignment, so a marriage of their funding sources became a recurring topic during discussions throughout the summer of 2008. In late August, a proposal was presented to national Ways to Work and CFC’s Wheels for Work funder, the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA).
The idea was simple--use 100% of Wheels for Work funding to serve as the operating dollars that would be used to tap Ways to Work loan dollars. This would leverage existing funding to make significantly more loans, expand the financial literacy reach of the programs, and provide overall stability to the loan services provided by CFC. The strongest selling point was the ability to expand impact without the need for additional monies.
The proposal became reality as CFC’s Ways to Work and Wheels for Work loan service returned to full capacity on March 1, 2009. It’s great to be back!
Operation: Operations
By Quincy Scaggs, WtW National Operations Manager
Welcome back to the operations segment of the Ways to Work quarterly newsletter. I am happy to be able to share all of the activities and developments within the network since my last segment. I will also report out about past destinations and those that are in my travel pipeline. I feel that providing network goings-on helps all of those who are part of Ways to Work stay connected.
Travels
Moline, IL
I visited Bethany for Children and Families in Moline, IL, on March 17th and 18th. The purpose of the visit was program consultation. The loan coordinator, Pat McKillip, walked me through his program’s process. At issue was trying to get quality clients from effective marketing. I shared with him the employer-driven targeted marketing approach that I was a part of with Family Services of Greater Baton Rouge, LA. Much of Pat’s program awareness has been word-of-mouth, but there have been some articles in the Moline Dispatch, Rock Island Argus, and the Quad City Times. In addition, his agency’s newsletter, The Buzz @ Bethany, featured the WtW program and a borrower success story. Bethany’s program serves Rock Island, Henry, and Mercer Counties in Illinois and Scott County in Iowa.
Quincy Scaggs and Pat McKillip
met on March 17 to discuss future funding
for the program.
Just as I considered my coverage of my trip to Moline to be complete, it was brought to my attention that I was missing a noteworthy nugget. Bethany for Children and Families has a monthly MERIT award that recognizes an employee for distinguished service to the agency. MERIT awardees are nominated by their peers and are recognized for their outstanding service to children and families served by Bethany. Pat McKillip was the March 2009 MERIT award winner. Congratulations Pat!
Nashville, TN
Shortly after my time in the Quad Cities area, my travels took me to Affordable Housing Resources, Inc. in Nashville, TN. The agency’s existing loan coordinator had moved on, so an internal interim loan coordinator was identified—Deputy Director Janiro Hawkins (who is now the permanent loan coordinator). Mr. Hawkins needed to be on a business trip regarding his other duties within the agency on March 31st, but there was a loan committee meeting that day. The agency wanted to continue with business as usual, so I went down to act as loan coordinator. I arrived on March 30th to obtain and familiarize myself with the seven files that were to be presented at loan committee on March 31st. It was fitting for me to get the opportunity to take on this role since I trained that same committee when the agency was ready to launch their WtW program. Since Affordable Housing Resources, Inc. launched their program in November 2008, every application had been approved. From my experience, that may not always be a positive. Therefore, I wanted to make sure that I provided a thorough presentation of each file (pluses and minuses). Of the seven files, the committee approved four. I believe that after that meeting they realized that some applications should be denied. Everyone who applies for a loan is not ready or able to handle the responsibility. I learned this during my tenure as a loan coordinator. Ways to Work does not want to set people up to fail.
Rochester and Buffalo, NY
I have been on a travel hiatus since Nashville, in order to take care of office business. However, the month of July will serve as a travel renaissance. My first destination in July will be to Catholic Family Services in Rochester, NY, and Child and Family Services in Buffalo, NY, from the 7th through the 9th. My purpose for visiting is similar to having to go to Moline, but there is a twist. The New York programs also operate a transportation program similar to Ways to Work called Wheels for Work. Earlier this year, Ways and Wheels merged. The Wheels program manager, Carl Panepento, provided the story above about how the program’s merger came to be.
Winston-Salem, NC
Family Services, Inc. in Winston-Salem, NC, has a new loan coordinator. Whenever there is new staff, training is in order. I will be on site July 21st and 22nd. Having a new staff member provides a perfect opportunity for an agency to look at how a program was operated and entertain making some positive changes. I plan to assist with that endeavor. Please see the “Who’s New in the Network?” feature for the announcement and mini-biography of Family Services’ new loan coordinator.
Reminders / Updates
The May conference call was replaced by the software demonstrations. However, the plan is to conduct a late July conference call. Cheryl Sarasin will be soliciting the network for topics.
For those agencies that are using the Financial Education Curriculum that the national office provided, please email the pre- and post-test results to qscaggs@waystowork.org.
It really helps us if there is a change in staff, whether coming or going, to please notify Quincy Scaggs or Cheryl Sarasin at the national office. It helps us to stay current with distribution lists, website logins, discussion groups and general communications.
By Quincy Scaggs, WtW National Operations Manager
J. Hunter Atkins
The national office thought that it would be a good idea for the network to get to know the WtW board of directors and how they got involved with our organization. In subsequent issues of the newsletter, my goal is to provide background and program perspectives on all board members. For this issue, I began with the WtW board chairman, J. Hunter Atkins.
J. Hunter Atkins
WtW Board Chairman
Hunter Atkins is a native Nashvillian, with thirty-two years of experience in banking. A graduate of Montgomery Bell Academy and Vanderbilt University, Hunter began his banking career in 1973 and managed the International Banking, Specialized Lending, Investment and Private Banking divisions, as well as the Singapore Office of Commerce Union/Sovran/NationsBank (as it proceeded through mergers and acquisitions). After 20 years, he left to become City President of AmSouth Bank in Nashville, a local bank holding company listed on NASDAQ under the symbol CFGI (Community Financial Group, Inc.). Currently, he is the CEO of the Bank of Nashville.
Hunter’s involvement with Ways to Work (WtW) was indirect, through years of service to Family Service America (FSA), which is now the Alliance for Children and Families. After one term with FSA, he sat on the search committee to get a new CEO for the Alliance—Peter Goldberg, the company’s current CEO. Peter asked him to become next chairman of the Alliance. He then moved to chairman of Families International (FI). Hunter found that WtW was always a prominent satellite company of FI and that board position gave him a board seat at WtW. After leaving FI, he stayed involved with both WtW and FEI (sitting on both boards). He concluded chairmanship with FEI last year and knew he wanted to accelerate his involvement with WtW. He became board chairman in 2008.
Hunter’s reasons for being involved with the WtW program are the people, mission, success rate, and the economy. His two-fold style of boardroom governance on one hand, and implementation on the other, led him to sit on the loan committee for the WtW program at Affordable Housing Resources, Inc. in Nashville, TN.
When I asked him what WtW means to him, he said “It’s a clear, crisp connection for me to help the unfortunate build their self esteem.”
New Feature
Intro by Quincy Scaggs, WtW National Operations Manager
This is a new feature starting with this issue of the newsletter. The national office is usually made aware of a new staff person at an agency (although not necessarily immediately), but it stops there. The rest of the folks in the network usually don’t know when they have a new colleague. My hope is that using the newsletter as a forum for new staff introduction will help the new person settle in with more ease and keep the entire network in the know.
By Rebecca Nagaishi, Director
Family Solutions, Winston-Salem, NC
Laura Chάvez Weston has joined our staff as Coordinator for the Ways to Work program in Winston-Salem, NC. Laura has a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Texas–El Paso and worked in case management at a transitional shelter for homeless women and children. Her work experience over the past ten years has been primarily in the finance and business arena. She was employed as Box Office Manager for the LJVM Coliseum Complex in Winston-Salem, NC, and worked as a Client Representative for Ticketmaster Southeast. She has been self-employed for the past five years and contracted with the United States Tennis Association to manage all aspects of ticket operations for the Davis Cup and Fed Cup events across the country. She has a strong background in collaboration and team work, a commitment to customer service, is fluent in Spanish, and is looking forward to getting back into the human service field.
By La Vang, Fund Development Manager
With a complete funding support team in place, Ways to Work, Inc. is positioned to provide the additional fundraising services that many of our sites need. Some of you may have development staff to help raise money for your program. However, if you don’t have a person dedicated to raising those dollars, or just need advice on approaching a funder, consider giving the national office a call. We now have the resources to help you identify potential funders, create solid grant proposals, cultivate donor relationships, and develop strategies to help you attract support.
In this article, we’ll discuss sources of funding support for your Ways to Work program. While these sources usually consist of individuals, corporations, foundations, government, faith-based groups, and civic groups, the two that are highlighted in this article are foundations and corporations.
Within these funding sources are two types, current and new donors. Consider this before you decide where to focus your energy--it costs $1.50 to raise a $1.00 from new donors, whereas, it only costs .10 to .20 to raise $1.00 from current donors.
Current donors are the most loyal to your organization and would be the best prospect for your Ways to Work program. Take a look at who has been giving to you. Have they been donating a gift just for the sake of giving? Do they just give to the general operations of the organization? Consider inviting these donors to view your Ways to Work program. While they are there, have one of your clients share their experience about the program and how much it has helped them with their situation. Nothing sells more than the human story. Attaching a donor’s gift to a specific program will yield the greatest results and the possibility of an increased gift.
Organizations need to take into account that donors are moving away from giving just for charitable reasons. They want to know that their contributions are going to have a lasting impact, especially in their community. The value of the Ways to Work program is the outcomes and impact it has on families, as evidenced by the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning evaluation. This important information should be shared with all current and potentials funders. Feel free to contact the national office at funddevelopment@waystowork.org to receive an electronic copy.
The Ways to Work program is an excellent candidate for receiving funding from local and/or national foundations. You may already have the capacity to seek out foundation support for your Ways to Work program, but if you don’t, the national office can assist you with this effort. Our resources include the Foundation Center and GrantStation.
Foundations exist for the sole purpose of giving away money, but it must be in alignment with their mission. It is highly recommended that you understand the potential funder’s requirements before submitting a proposal. This will ensure you have the best chance of receiving funding. Once you have found the right foundation, you must submit a solid grant proposal. The proposal should describe your Ways to Work program, the problems it addresses, the people and places you serve, how others are involved, your implementation plan, what goals you seek to achieve, and how much you need. The national office created a Grant Proposal Guide to assist you in preparing a proposal. If you need a copy, please email us at funddevelopment@waystowork.org.
Corporations are another source of funding for your Ways to Work program. The first step is to scan your area and compile a list of companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, car dealers, etc. Have any of them given to similar organizations like yours? If so, they would be a good prospect. Take a look at where your clients are working. If you have a fair amount of clients from one company, then they should also be approached to support the program. What about vendors you work with? You’re already paying them for a service and chances are good that they will support your efforts. Board members are another source for finding corporate supporters. Perhaps their company can sponsor your Ways to Work program. They should also provide viable leads through their own business contacts and help schedule and attend meetings to sell the program.
One distinguishing feature to keep in mind with corporations is the marketing exposure for their contribution. A few may not want the visibility, but the majority will want recognition. Some of these marketing exposures may include their logo on your Ways to Work marketing materials, announcements in press releases, distributing their product information to your clients, signage, link on your website, a feature in your newsletter, etc. Whatever the situation is, be prepared to discuss this with them, but do not give away the store.
Hopefully, this article inspired you to continued raising funds for the important work that you do. Please remember that the Ways to Work, Inc. Funding Support team is here to assist you in your fund development efforts.
Letter from the President
Welcome to another edition of the Ways to Work newsletter Moving Ahead. We certainly hope you find them interesting and useful. This newsletter is just one small example of our focus on you, the agencies and people that are committed to operating a Ways to Work program in your communities. We certainly appreciate this commitment and are dedicated to supporting you in your work on behalf of hard working but struggling families around the country. The focus of my letter this quarter is to inform you of some new and expanded supports we are implementing for you this year, during one of the most problematic economic environments in our history.
As you already know, Ways to Work had a tremendous fundraising experience last year. We secured $12.5 million in new loan capital and $2.6 million in new operating grants to drive our growth plans. We were fortunate to have secured much of this funding ahead of the major decline in our economy and are aggressively moving to deploy it while most organizations are cutting their investment plans. As the following paragraphs illustrate, we are investing a large amount of money this year, beyond our ongoing operational support, specifically to benefit the people and organizations in the Ways to Work network. Let me highlight some of the major areas of investment that are targeted specifically on agency support:
1. Government Affairs: Ways to Work has contracted with B&D Consulting to pursue two major initiatives and several smaller pieces of work. The major initiatives are focused on the pending reauthorizations of the Transportation bill and the Workforce Investment Act. We believe that we have a unique opportunity to pursue car loan program-specific funding in these bills and have committed more than $100K to pursue the first stages of this effort during 2009. These bills are likely to be completed in 2010 which is also when the largest financial commitments will occur. If initial developments are successful, Ways to Work anticipates spending as much as $400K on these efforts on behalf of our agencies! The upshot of a successful effort will be a predictable federal funding stream for our program operators for a five year period. I would be happy to share our work plan if you are interested.
2. Funding Support Services: As I hope you are aware, Ways to Work has recently hired a second professional, La Vang, to aid our efforts to drive public and private sources of funding to our member agencies. Our annualized spending in support of our agencies now exceeds $250K. We have averaged more than $2 million per year in operational funding secured for our agencies, primarily from government sources, in recent years. We certainly expect that this figure will increase significantly as we increase our capacity, particularly in the philanthropic sector. Simultaneous with this increase in staffing, we are working with a consultant to support our efforts to more fully “build out” selected cities or regions of the country – in other words to establish a network capable of serving an entire major metro area or region. Please contact Matt and La to discuss your ideas and needs for operational and growth funding.
3. New Product Development: Ways to Work has engaged consultants to assist us in broadening our product offerings. The intent of these new products is to further the services we can provide for our client families while also enhancing the sustainability of the local agency offices. We have committed more than $120K this year to develop business plans and pilot programs for two specific new product concepts: a WtW graduate loan and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) version of WtW. If successful, and we believe they will be, these products will take client outcomes to a new level and begin the process of developing earned income for the agencies to enhance sustainability. Both of these products are made possible, in part, by our shift to the Ways to Work Loan System.
4. New Program Software: As you may know, Ways to Work is spending more than $150K to acquire and implement new program management software. This new software is a highly secure, web-based product that all of our agencies can use to better manage their program. It will integrate seamlessly with our Loan System, increasing efficiency and further reducing the cost of running the WtW program. This project will be completed by the end of 2009.
5. 11th Annual WtW Institute: Each year WtW puts on an educational conference to stimulate shared learning and programmatic excellence. This year’s conference has a budgeted net cost of $9,000 - $15,000 in logistics and content and $75,000 for the annual Performance Awards grants. We hope that your agency qualifies for one these valuable grants.
There are many other areas of activity and investment that are smaller than the ones above that together are significant as well. They include the new grant writing guide and templates, operations manual, national credit report buying service, and many others. In total, we are investing more than $750,000 (beyond our operational support) in the well-being of our network of agencies. Your agency, along with the others in the network, benefits from all of the work described above at no charge. We foot the bill for all of this work – but again that is our purpose and what we are structured to accomplish for you.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t touch upon the Loan System itself. Ways to Work has invested more than $300K in developing and implementing this new resource for our program. The best news is that it has been worth every penny. Consider the following:
• This Loan System and associated model modifications lead directly to the $15 million in new investment last year (and probably millions more this year).
• The 24 month default rate for the dozens of sites using this system is about half that of the historic rate under the old model (5.7% vs. 11.3%). During the recession our system-wide default rate has declined by about 20%, due in large part to the enhanced delinquency management built into the loan system.
• Every site is assured that they have available a highly competent and dedicated lending partner and are in complete compliance with all state and federal consumer lending laws at the time of the loan.
• Every WtW client benefits from monthly credit reporting that accurately reflects their program experience, rather than the interpretation of some third party reporter.
• Agency staff no longer has to manage the payment reporting and processing for their program as this is now done for them by us at no cost. Even with the additional loan closing responsibility, there is a significant net savings in staff time with the loan system.
As you can see, we are quite serious about supporting your efforts to make a significant and lasting impact on the communities that you serve. We can only accomplish this by helping you secure the resources you need to operate your program and by ensuring that these scarce resources are well utilized by helping you become as productive as possible.
We are proud of all that we have accomplished together and energized by the possibility to do so much more in the future. Thanks for your continuing efforts on behalf of America’s hard working families and commitment to Ways to Work!
Sincerely,
Jeff Faulkner, President
By: Wendell Willis,
Vice President of Operations
As we go into the second half of 2009, it's time to celebrate some of our accomplishments. Although times are tough and the economy is still down, due to your efforts locally, we can say that the network of Ways to Work is bucking the trend. Under our new lending model, our network has surpassed the $300,000 mark for loans funded in a month not once, but twice! For April and May you all produced $318,000 and $317,000 in loans on the lending system. This is huge, as we are one of the few lending programs, non-profit or commercial, that is experiencing growth during this time. Your efforts are helping families in need during some of the most trying times.
I'd also like to congratulate our "Road to Institute" leaders as of May 2009. After a slow start, Baton Rouge is now leading the pack, followed closely by folks in Nashville, and the team in Buffalo. Houston and Baltimore deserve a good honorable mention as they are striving for that Most Improved Program award, and round out the top five leaders, year to date. Kandee and Company told me back in January that they are not ready to relinquish their championship belt, so she's laid out the challenge - Who's Ready to Rumble!
Sadly, due to several factors, but most notably financial hardships, we will be losing some of our network affiliates. As many of you have experienced the negative impacts of the economic downturn, our network has not been immune as six agencies have lost their ability to fund the program's operating costs. It also should be noted that while some of our partners have decided to opt out of the program due to the transition to our third generation lending model, we know that this change is and will continue to bring value to our partners. As mentioned previously in the President's letter, this change is already reaping benefits for potential local site funding.
Lastly, around the time you read this, we will be shipping the newest version of the WtW Program Manual to the network. I am proud of the work that the Operations staff put into making this project a reality. We truly hope that you all take the time to utilize this resource, as it will provide value not only to new programs, but veteran operators as well.
Our network of program operators has continued to do great work and I thank all of you for your efforts.
Wendell
