Grand Rapids Community Foundation

Rough waters ---> great leadership!

February 24^th, 2010

I've been struggling with a variety of situations and issues relating to community politics and GRCF strategies. How to convey this in this blog presents a challenge.

The original intent behind this blog initiated in January 2006 (4 years!) was to accomplish two things. #1: Offer a glimpse into the inner workings of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation - being transparent beyond the facts and figures bringing to life the background on issues staff and board believe are critical. #2: Provide a perspective on philanthropy from a local view - or as is the buzzword these days with many foundation pros - a more "placed-based" perspective!

I am one that harps endlessly about collaboration and I don't mean forcing this on the social sector but how the GRCF behaves in the community. Initiatives and programs just seem to be on more solid and sustainable ground if there is a real partnership between and among funders and programs. Leveling the playing field and letting the best just do their best.

That hasn't been happening on a number of fronts and I don't know if it's because people are just plain sick of the long winter or what. Lately I've experienced as the song from 1974 goes "Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes they don't tell the truth" sung by the Undisputed Truth.

It is all about our community leadership - that "secret" ingredient we are trying to describe more clearly. Advice that Warren Buffett gave in 2006 along with his massive infusion of money to the Gates Foundation was: "Don't just go for safe projects. You can bat a thousand in this game if you want to by doing nothing important. Or you'll bat something less than that if you take on the really tough problems."

We have been taking on the tough problems that is for sure and it's been a leadership challenge. So I just have to say - here's to our lower batting average!

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Federal Stimulus funds - let's be strategic!

April 30^th, 2009

Seems lately that each day is a "big news day" around the globe - the economy, swine flu, wars, politics and of course the ever interesting yet "what does it matter anyway" popular culture items featuring American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and Susan Boyle! Hard to compete with all that "news" so I won't even try. However, many good things are happening and more than what I can fit in one blog post so that means I need to kick myself into high gear and write more.

From the ArtPrize announcement last week . . . to the hugely successful "Good for Education" celebration that the Grand Rapids Community Foundation hosted last week that did NOT attract any discernable media attention in spite of all attempts . . . and more topics to cover in the coming weeks! Okay please someone find me the time!

Yesterday I attended a meeting at Grand Rapids Community College's M-Tec Center where Governor Jennifer Granholm was announcing Michigan's plans re: the American Recovery and Reinvestment funds - more commonly known as the federal stimulus dollars. Governor Granholm did not tout the funds as the panacea for the state but that certainly the money could help. She encouraged local governmental units and nonprofit entities to apply but to do their homework first. It was also noted that this is one-time only money thus must be used strategically given its short time horizon. I was pleased to hear her cautionary yet hopeful message that indeed the stimulus dollars can help in recovery efforts across the state,

The Governor acknowledged that the greater Grand Rapids area is known for its collaborative efforts and was calling for us to continue along these lines. I made a comment during her Q&A time period that GR is known for its collaboration and that this is strongly practiced and encouraged. However, that said I noted that we still suffer from poverty and all the many ills that this economy has wrought and to remember that Southeast Michigan is not the only place where people are suffering.

For readers of my blog, you know how I feel about collaboration when it makes sense particularly the Kent School Services Network, the foundations banding together to create a fund in concert with the Essential Needs Task Force and the Kent County Family and Children's Coordinating Council. This is the time to band together and make sure that there are many partners around the community table re: the spending of these precious federal dollars!

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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.

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Spirit of GR - Part 2.5!!!

August 13^th, 2008

I was just reminded by Laurie Craft our GRCF Program Director who focuses on economic and community development and promotes regionalism and fostering cooperation . . . that I forgot to link to a GREAT Detroit Free Press article published on Sunday, August 10th! Don Stypula, the Executive Director of the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council in West Michigan, alerted many leaders to this article on Monday morning if we missed it on Sunday. Here is the link to the article.

As Don described it in his email, "Several weeks back, Jeff Gerritt, an editorial writer with the Detroit Free Press, spent several days in our area to observe how we interact and why we have been more successful than other areas in building and nurturing a sprit of cooperation and collaboration."

Certainly demonstrates that we are on a strong positive path looking to 2025!

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