Grand Rapids Community Foundation

Taking action when it is needed the most

February 8^th, 2009

Many of my blog entries have centered on the importance of collaboration. I have to say that collaboration is really difficult work. Many times the path seems blocked by the various agendas of the partners involved. And many times the path IS blocked by divergent agendas.

However, in spite of human nature and egos, collaborative efforts if done well and with respect to all parties involved, do have a chance of working. I have written quite a bit about the Kent School Services Network and the fact that this is a great example of a partnership that has enjoyed success in its pilot years. With the cooperation and enthusiasm of the school systems and the energy of the service providers and the resources of the funders - both public and private, I have hope that in the next few years we will find that families are served more humanely and that ultimately children and youth will have a good chance of achieving in school because obstacles to learning will be removed or at least lessened.

I could list other collaborative efforts that have demonstrated that working together no matter how hard it is to do so are successful even when the accolades for the partners seem to wither and in truth the recognition is insignificant. However, I could also wax on about collaborative efforts - that have crashed and burned.

BUT that is not the issue in the case of a funding strategy that the foundation partners in our community have developed in the past three months.

Buffeted by the enormous shakeup that has befallen everyone globally due to horrific economic conditions and turning to our own community, charitable foundations have banded together like they have in the past creating a pool of funds to help finance organizations that are on the frontline serving people affected by this recession. AND the great thing about this is that cumbersome application processes are eliminated. Further, the decisions about where the money will flow rest with a committee of another collaborative effort that has been in existence since 1982 known as the Essential Needs Task Force (formerly known as the Emergency Needs Task Force). The operation of the ENTF these many years has been supported by the Heart of West Michigan United Way, Kent County and the Kent County Department of Human Services.

So in essence - it is one collaborative effort working with another collaborative effort trying to respond in a more effective manner. The funding collaborative effort is working hand in hand with the ENTF partnership that has the knowledge and expertise to respond to the many immediate emergency crisis situations that people are facing. This is a tremendous response! The foundations are leaning on the knowledge that we do not necessarily have! No one funder or organization can own this issue and address it well and it takes a "community" of funders and service providers to work together. It is simply taking action when it is needed the most.

The ENTF was started by Ev Vermeer who was at the helm of the Kent County Department of Social Services (DSS) now the Department of Human Services. (I wrote about this back in November 2008.) His DSS team at that time included Andy Zylstra who is now the Kent County DHS Director and David Schroeder who was a key DSS staff leader and liaison to many community organizations. Ev's belief that structuring our emergency services by communicating directly with one another was critical to addressing the needs of people who suffer due to job loss, limited resources and who are just road weary due to the enormous stresses of everyday life. Ev Vermeer continues to champion issues relating to child welfare and is a voice that is heard regularly at the state level and here in our community.

Over the past 26 years, responding to immediate needs, which the ENTF members have impressed upon us is the phrase to use, has become much more systemized. United Ways across the country used to have Information and Referral telephone lines and now locally and in some places across Michigan and the United States, this service has grown tremendously and is known as 2-1-1. The 2-1-1 program locally is provided by the Heart of West Michigan United Way and Bob McKown is the Director of the program. The 2-1-1 phone lines are overloaded due to the large number of people who are experiencing loss and tremendous need.

I have high hopes that this funding approach will help to address to some degree the suffering that many are feeling and experiencing in our community. Kudos to our colleague foundations for their leadership and to the ENTF for their willingness to distribute the needed funding where it is needed the most.