Opportunity. Education. Success.

Pam Brookshire, CANI's Vice President of Community Services, wrote this post for Inside CANI. 

It’s graduation season. If you're like me, you've probably been receiving invitations for ceremonies and parties to celebrate the success of the students in your lives. These invitations make me think about my 17-year old daughter who is a junior in high school. She’s in the beginning stages of choosing a university. Though which school she will attend is still unknown, what is known and expected is that she’ll go to college and attain a four-year degree. That’s been the expectation since she was a minute old and her father and I have worked hard to ensure she has the opportunity.

I juxtapose her situation with the young people in our JAG program. (JAG stands for Jobs for America’s Graduates). Funded and supported by Northeast Indiana Works, CANI employs JAG Specialists who work with high school juniors and seniors who are in danger of not graduating from high school. This year CANI is working with 560 students in 14 high schools across northeastern and north central Indiana.

There are a myriad of reasons why students in the JAG program are at risk of not graduating: lack of credits, poor attendance, etc. JAG is a class that the students take, just like math and English. The CANI JAG Specialists lead the class and work with each student to first, get them to graduation and second, lead them to a career goal and a plan to get there.

Unlike my daughter, many of these children grow up without the expectation or a dream of going to college. Many of them live in poverty, with all the stress and chaos it brings. Some of them are already parents themselves or have parents who were too young when they were born. Many of their parents and grandparents never went to college and may not understand the value of an education. In our country, the quickest, surest path to poverty is to become a teenage parent and/or drop out of high school. The JAG program aims to curtail poverty by helping students avoid these causes of it.

With the JAG program, students are provided a multitude of experiences, a support system, and the tools to achieve a successful post-secondary career. The JAG Specialists work hard to assess each student and then develop a plan to get and keep them on track to graduation. They do this through classroom instruction and one-on-one mentoring.

The Specialists do all they can to inspire these kids to find their calling and pursue it. There are classroom speakers, college fairs, college visits, job shadows, and paid internships during the summer. When students discover a career that they wish to pursue, the JAG Specialists help them find the right college and ways to pay for it. Not every JAG participant goes to college, by choice or anything else. Many go right to work and even more join the military. Once the students graduate, the JAG Specialists provide one year of follow up to ensure that they have all the support they need to remain on their paths.

JAG not only focuses on education, it provides opportunities to develop leadership and employment skills. There are two events each year where students improve their public

CANI JAG student Emari Carroll from Marion High
School accepts an award from Commissioner
Scott Sanders of the Indiana Department
of Workforce Development.

speaking, writing, interviewing, marketing, and leadership skills. The students learn different styles of leadership and participate in team-building activities with the Indiana National Guard. During the Career Development Conference (CDC), students from each high school compete against one another for the chance to move on to the state level. This year, CANI’s JAG students earned eight awards at the state competition!

As an anti-poverty advocate for 27 years, JAG is one of my favorite programs. For one, JAG truly addresses one of the main causes of poverty: lack of a high school diploma and post-secondary education. Second, JAG provides opportunities for young people to aspire to something and take control of their futures. JAG changes lives in ways that other anti-poverty programs are not able to because it helps young people early in their adult lives. The success is evident in the numbers. In the 2012 - 2013 school-year, students in the JAG program achieved a 92 % graduation rate and a 76 % full time job and military placement rate!

How can you help? Advocate for additional funding at the state and federal levels and donate to CANI directly. Governor Mike Pence has taken a serious interest in JAG and has provided state funding to all JAG programs in Indiana. This funding allowed CANI to go from 9 high schools to 14, 360 kids to 560. However, there are a lot more students out there that need what the JAG program offers.

My heart breaks for all the young people in our state who don’t have any dreams or hope for their futures. I wish that every child had the support and means to achieve their career goals as my daughter does. But that isn’t the reality - yet. Until then, I’ll watch with pride and honor as the 560 students in the current CANI JAG program graduate high school and work toward making their dreams come true.

Are You A Community Hero?

My favorite superhero character has always been Captain America. I think it's partly because he was in the military (which I've always loved) and partly because his name is Steve, like me. But more than that, Captain America is passionate about his cause. He is always willing to give up his life for his country, freedom, and the safety of other people.

It’s fun that CANI's United Way workplace campaign this year is incorporating the theme of superheroes, and it makes me think of Captain America and his cause. At CANI, we have a cause as well - to eliminate poverty.  We are soldiers just like Captain America, in the fight against poverty.

The United Way is an important ally in this fight against poverty. They support our programs in highly significant ways and they are the largest private funder that we have.

We are partners with the United Way in many different community initiatives, including the Case Coordination System, 211, and the Education Network, to name just a few. Most importantly, their goals are basically the same as our goals. The support they provide to the community - via funding to local agencies, volunteer mobilization, and advocacy - in the end all these things help the very same people that we are working to help as well.

I cannot overstate how much I believe in the work of United Way and what they are doing in our communities. As we begin our workplace campaign here, I hope that you might find it in your heart to donate to the campaign. Many workplaces, like CANI, make it really easy through payroll deduction. I know that I don’t notice the donation that I make each year - as a little bit comes out each paycheck - yet I know that what I give is providing resources that accomplish great results.

Please consider a gift to United Way today. You can even designate gifts to your favorite organization or your favorite initiatives. Any amount that you can provide is a great help to our community and the people who live here.

The Sky's The Limit for Community Economic Development

This month we have a guest post from Sherry Early-Aden, CANI's Vice President of Operations

CCED offers a business planning course
called Foundations.

In 2010, CANI created a Community Economic Development (CED) department. This department was established to create positive economic opportunities and improve social conditions for disadvantaged individuals living in CANI’s service area.  CANI acts as an agent of change by providing Small Business Loans, financial education, building Low Income Housing Developments, and through empowering neighborhoods and communities to develop and create Quality of Life Plans.

In 2012, the CED department became CANI’s Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED). The Center is a supporting agency of CANI and operates to expand its mission.  Since its inception, The Center staff has worked hard to increase awareness of its programs and secure funding for the activities mentioned above.

In 2013, the Center had several signifigant accomplishments. We received Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) certification, and Small Business Administration (SBA) Intermediate Micro Lender status. Each of these will allow greater access to funding to further our efforts in Community Economic Development.

So, what will we do in 2014? The Center is excited about all the new opportunities awaiting us this year. Our goals include: pursuing a new housing development project, providing $250,000 in small business loans, launching a housing program in Waterloo, Indiana, and from there the sky is the limit.

Watch for CANI in a neighborhood near you!

What are the needs in our community?

Last month, CANI released our annual Community Needs Assessment. This is a critical study for us because it is truly the basis of what we do here at CANI. Our board and staff utilize the assessment to build plans for the future and design our programs in a way that best meet the needs of our community. It is an important read for anyone who is working to help people in Northeast Indiana.

The assessment attempts to look at a number of different areas that impact poverty. While we do not have the resources to be fully comprehensive, it is an excellent tool that helps us see the issues families and communities face.

Our findings this year are consistent with what we’ve been seeing over the last several years. The majority of low-income families are working, but are not earning enough money in their jobs to be economically self-sufficient. These families generally have lower education levels, which is a primary indicator of how much income families have. In fact, if someone has just a high school diploma or GED, it is simply not enough education to earn a self-sufficient wage.

Housing continues to be a critical issue for low-income families as well. While over two-thirds of the entire population owns their own home, two-thirds of low-income families do not. Five percent of those served by CANI have been homeless in the last twelve months. The majority of low-income families pay over 30% of their income on housing, which robs them of the ability to meet their other needs.

Single-parenthood continues to be a major indicator of poverty. This not only deprives a family of the potential for two incomes, but it also creates issues with transportation, child care, and other barriers to self-sufficiency. In our communities, reliable transportation is simply critical to get to a job. If a family does not have child care, they cannot be employed. That is why transportation and child care are two areas that need to be addressed if we are going to help families become self-sufficient.

What we have seen over the last five years is a dramatic increase in unemployment and poverty rates. The damage that our economy has suffered has been felt by our most vulnerable citizens. The CANI Community Needs Assessment illustrates the poverty issues that we face in Northeast Indiana. It is an excellent resource as we continue our work, but we hope it will also be informative for the entire community. I invite you to use it and share it with others. The full study can be found on our web site and at the link here:

http://www.canihelp.org/WhoWeAre/Documents/CNA,%202013.pdf

Outstanding Board Member Celebrated

Last week I had the privilege of attending the Foellinger Foundation’s Carl D. Rolfsen Stewardship Award luncheon. This event is a truly special one for the nonprofit community in Allen County. Each year the Foellinger Foundation accepts nominations from many qualified organizations. We can each nominate one board member who has exemplified outstanding board governance and one of these nominees is selected as the award winner.

Every year there are probably 25-30 nominees, and they are all outstanding! To me, it is a tremendous honor for a person just to be nominated, because you are counted among the most dedicated board members at truly great organizations. This is one reason why this award has become so prestigious. The other reason is the generous grant that Foellinger provides to the winning board member’s organization. This year, the grant is for $15,000 in general operating support, and up to $10,000 in board development support.

CANI’s nominee, Todd Fleetwood, has been on our board for five years. In June, he completed three years of service as our board chair. Todd took over as board chair at about the same time that I became CEO here at CANI. We have worked closely over those years, and have learned a lot together.

When we nominated Todd, I felt that he had a great chance to win. He will tell you he has not done any more than anyone else, because he’s a humble guy. But his leadership was crucial during that major leadership transition, and he has worked to put many new board processes in place that have made the CANI board stronger.

We can always count on Todd’s presence and commitment, but what really made him deserving of this award was his leadership. He has been in leadership positions almost from the very beginning of his term, and in each instance I can point to many different examples of progress in the areas he has led.

I was a little bit nervous before the award luncheon started because I really wanted Todd to win. Honestly, it was not because of the funding that would come CANI’s way (that is definitely a welcome part of the award,) but I really wanted Todd to be recognized at the highest level for what he has done for us.

As the event went on, and all 27 nominees’ accomplishments were read through, I found myself getting more and more nervous. My heart was racing, my leg was shaking, and my wife had to tell me a couple times to settle down. There were some truly great candidates.

When Todd was announced as the winner of the award, I pumped my fist several times. That may have been a bit undignified in a setting such as this, but I was beyond happy for him.

Since receiving the recognition, Todd has mentioned that it “is a team award.” It is like him to display this humility, but he is certainly partly right. This award is a reflection of all the great work our entire board has been doing. But to have a great board you must have great leadership which is what the Carl D. Rolfsen Stewardship Award is all about. Thank you to the Foellinger Foundation for creating this award and congratulations to Todd – you deserve it!

Does Head Start Work?

I have heard many, many comments over the last couple of months about a study released in December, 2012 on the impact of Head Start (the OPRE report). I have heard from various commentators that this study proves that Head Start does not work, that it has no impact on the children we serve. And yet this could not be further from the truth.

If one reads the study that these commentators refer to, they will find the report full of positive comments about Head Start. Here is one:

“There were statistically significant differences between the Head Start group and the control group on every measure of children’s preschool experiences measured in this study.”

It also states that “The differences in magnitude were quite large, driven in part by the large proportion of children in the control group who were in parent care (i.e. nearly four out of ten children remained at home with their parents when Head Start was unavailable to them). Yet, analyses excluding those children, and thus comparing only children in Head Start and control groups who were in non-parental care, largely showed the same pattern of differences, albeit somewhat smaller.” Differences on every measure. The differences were quite large. These are just a few of the many positive findings throughout the study.

I am using the very study that is being cited as showing that Head Start does not work, and it clearly shows how well it does work! Critics however have latched onto the fact that the study shows that the positive impacts of Head Start seem to disappear by the third grade. Let us think about this finding for a moment...

This study shows that Head Start children, in one or two years of service provision, receiving a half-day of services over the school year, had significantly positive impacts versus a similar demographic control group. But, over the course of three full years of schooling after the fact, their gains diminish. The study states that after leaving Head Start “the study children attended schools with much higher levels of poverty than schools nationwide with higher proportions of minority students.” In addition to the schools that these children attend, we must remember that they are members of families who are below the Federal poverty level. They do not have the resources at home that many of us who are fortunate have to continue to support their children’s education after they leave preschool. We all remember that parents are the number one teacher, right?

I am not writing these things to blame elementary schools or parents for the results of this study. These  groups do as much as they can for the children they love, and face immense obstacles that we must continue to help eliminate. My point is that what we become as adults is not because of some magical year or two in our lives as children. It is the combination of educational experiences throughout our childhood; flowing from our parents, each of our schools, and the communities where we live. To suddenly expect Head Start to maintain gains well after children have moved on to other schools and the rest of their lives seems ridiculous to me.

Up to this point I have commented exclusively on the study that is cited itself. But another point that critics neglect is that there are hundreds of other studies that show Head Start’s positive impacts well beyond the 3^rd grade, and in fact into adulthood. The OPRE report itself states that “we do not yet know if there will be positive outcomes for HSIS (Head Start Impact Study) participants later in life, however, research suggests that positive outcomes later in life are possible.” These studies consistently show that Head Start impacts include higher educational attainment, higher earnings, crime reduction, less use of public assistance, and lower mortality rates, to name a few. Just one example of these studies was produced by Harvard’s David Deming. His study found that Head Start’s long-term impact “is about 80 percent as large as the gains from the Perry Preschool and Carolina Abecedarian” programs. These programs are viewed as two of the most effective preschools in the country!  Head Start costs about one-third as much.

I invite readers to do a web search on “Head Start Impact.” You will find lots of commentary on the OPRE study, many that use it to point out that Head Start does not work. You will also find lots of results leading you to other studies that contradict the OPRE study. Read the OPRE study and some of these other studies and form your own opinions.  I am confident that you will feel as I do, that the incredible work that our Head Start program does is a fantastic investment in our children and our nation’s future.

Where Will You Be in 2015?

At the beginning of a new year, many people set resolutions or goals for what they want to accomplish in the upcoming year. At CANI, we set resolutions every three years for where we would like to be – these resolutions are called our Strategic Plan.

Last Thursday night CANI’s board approved our Strategic Plan, which will guide our efforts at eliminating poverty through 2015. One of my favorite things about working here is that we have a philosophy that we’ll accomplish a lot more if we are ambitious and come up short, versus being conservative and accomplishing everything. And as usual, we have adopted a very ambitious strategic plan.

We have six long-range goals:

1.      The first, in a nutshell, is to develop an integrated system of services that can meet any needs for any family we see. This goal includes providing a host of programs that we have traditionally provided as well as developing programs that are needed in the community but not provided by anyone else. For instance, a major objective for the next three years is to develop new homelessness prevention programs, as well as expand services to Veterans.

2.      The second goal is to increase the provision of services that build assets for families and individuals. In truth, most of our programs are aimed at building assets, but this goal might be considered to mean more direct, higher impact asset-building activities like increasing access to capital by expanding our lending programs.

3.      Our third goal is all about community development, because we know that we must work on the conditions that low-income people live in as well as their own individual issues. In addition to housing development and system-building, we will expand our advocacy efforts, expand our AmeriCorps program to better support other organizations, provide capacity-building assistance to other organizations, and be available to step up as a convener of community collaborations.

4.      We also recognize that to provide great service, we must be a great organization. We have a detailed plan to do just that - our Blueprint to Greatness. This plan includes a significant number of initiatives modeled after Jim Collins’ “Good to Great”. We will enhance our board and staff, continue to ensure excellent accountability and transparency, and increase our technology, to name a few examples.

5.      The fifth goal relates to increasing our public awareness and increasing our flexible financial resources. Increasing awareness of poverty is a key strategy for us, as this leads to better understanding across the community of issues low-income families face, which in turn leads to better advocacy, greater support for CANI and our partners, and even more people helping their neighbors. We also want to increase our fundraising efforts, expand our Energy Saver Consultants business, and expand our fee-for-service activities.

6.      Our last goal basically relates to most of the others to one degree or another. We need to increase the focus on our service area outside of Fort Wayne. CANI’s service area includes twelve counties in northeast Indiana. The majority of the low-income families in this area live in Fort Wayne, but there are thousands of low-income people that live outside of Fort Wayne. 

I am always excited after we complete one strategic plan and develop a new one. This is the fourth strategic plan I have worked on at CANI, and as I look back I can see the truly impressive impact of our process. We have never accomplished all that we set out to do, but we have always accomplished many great things in our plans. This plan will be no different, and we've already gotten started!

For much more detail, check out the plan for yourself at http://www.canihelp.org/WhoWeAre/Documents/strategic_plan.pdf

Employees Excel During Busiest Time of the Year

Every year, when winter starts to hit and the temperature drops, our utility assistance season kicks into high gear. This is a program that we value greatly, because it gives us the opportunity to reach thousands of households across northeast Indiana. But it is definitely our most difficult program to administer.

The heating assistance portion of the program provides financial assistance on heating bills to families who qualify. The amount they receive is based on a number of factors, such as income level, heating type, and more. It is a critical basic need for most of these families; without it they would struggle to keep their heat on during the winter. Quite literally, some individuals would freeze to death without this service.

This piece of the program runs from November through May this year, a shorter time frame than we have had in previous years. Because of this shorter window, the large number of families we need to serve and the limited funding provided to run the program, we definitely battle every year to make it all happen.

We have hundreds of people calling our office every day, and despite having three staff answering phones, the hold times are long. Despite an organized appointment system and staff working diligently, we have many people coming in with emergencies every day, further swamping the caseload.

The sheer volume is one thing, but the issues that our families face are also difficult, sometimes heart-wrenching. CANI employees work here because they want to make a difference in people’s lives, but that work can become overwhelming at times.

I know that this is our busiest, most stressful time of the entire year. That is what makes me even more proud of our employees during this time. The Family Support staff work extremely hard to get people their services. Other departments pitch in to help when we get overloaded. Despite the massive numbers, we always serve the most people that we can, as well as we can.

Because we are CANI and that is what we do here.

Fighting Homelessness - Fighting Poverty

I am really excited that CANI has launched two new programs in the last couple of weeks. Well, they are technically new, but are very similar to work that we've started over the last couple of years. The programs are very similar in nature. Both are modeled after the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP), which CANI has administered for the last couple of years in our region.

HPRP was started as a pilot program across the country using ARRA stimulus funds through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Those funds of course have come to an end, but HPRP was so successful, that HUD has shifted some of its traditional funding into starting a new program using this model.

The goal of HPRP was to prevent long-term homelessness by rapidly rehousing homeless families (or preventing them from becoming homelessness in the first place) by providing short-term rental assistance. This is obviously an important stabilizing benefit, but of more importance was that the rental assistance was combined with intensive case management services. The goal of the program was to make families housing stable by the time their rental assistance ended, which was around nine months.

CANI has served hundreds of families with HPRP across eleven northeast Indiana counties. These families are basically the hardest to serve, because of their homeless situation, and the vast majority of these families left the program with stable housing. It was imperative that we find a way to maintain this program locally, and nationally as well.

I am excited to say that after a gap of about 10 months, CANI is once again serving families using this model. The program does not have an official name yet, although we have been referring to it as ESG (Emergency Solutions Grant) because of the funding from HUD that goes by this name. The program is smaller than before. We can only serve Allen County now, instead of all of the counties in our service area. And the funding mix is much more complicated, but still we consider it quite a victory to have been able to piece this program back together.

We have many partners to thank for this effort. Most notably, the City of Fort Wayne has combined funding from several of their programs to serve clients from inside the city limits. The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) is providing about half of the funding. Our fantastic partnership with Lutheran Social Services continues with this program, as they will be helping us provide the case management for the program.  Our local United Way, through its 211 program, will be providing initial screening on potential clientele. And we will be working with area housing shelters in close partnership, as they help families move from their crisis situation into our program.

In total, this is a unique collaboration that combines the services of many different organizations, and provides clients with two vitally important pieces in their quest to become self-sufficient: housing and case management. I am proud that CANI has a key role in providing this program in our community.

The other program that has started is nearly a carbon-copy of the program I've described above. It is called Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF). It too combines rental assistance with case management, but with less rental assistance and heavier emphasis on case management. I am really excited to be working with Veterans. I am a Veteran myself, and I feel that communities need to do much more to help these families with their very unique issues. We have long wanted to do more for Veterans here at CANI, and this is a significant step.

I have written many times about the need to help families meet their basic needs so they can focus on developmental goals. Shelter is at the top of that list. I also believe that case management, and especially CANI’s own Family Development model, is one of the most successful poverty fighting programs that we have. Starting two new programs that combine these vital services is a truly exciting step for our organization and the communities that we serve.

Who Am I Voting For Next Week?

Election Day is next week and I can’t help but think that this is one of the most important elections in my voting life. When I was a younger person, not yet into my career, I remember feeling like it didn't really matter who we elected into government positions. I had this feeling because it didn't seem to me that government affected me that much.

As I have grown up, started a family, and worked at CANI, I have absolutely changed that view. We are affected by government throughout most aspects of our lives. And without question, the non-profit world is profoundly impacted by the decisions, or lack of decisions, that our governments make.

Even though I've decided who I am voting for, I would absolutely say that I wouldn't care who was elected, if it meant that our elected officials would work better together and that we would all tone down the partisanship. The people of this country are so much more similar than different, and I think we've lost sight of that. I have family members with vastly different viewpoints, and I love them all. I have friends with vastly different viewpoints, and I have the same amount of fun with all of them. I have coworkers with vastly different viewpoints, and we get a whole lot done here at CANI every day. I think our government and society can be just like this, and my hope for this election, and any election, is that in the end, we focus on what unites us.

We all know that there are lots of decisions made throughout our lives that both help and hurt us. No matter who is elected as President or what Congress looks like, that will continue to be the case. But as I have mentioned before, what hurts us at CANI even more than a change here or there has been the lack of decisions of any kind. The uncertainty of what is going to happen, the delays in implementation, and the problems caused by starting and stopping services make programs nearly impossible to manage.

In my position at CANI I have had the pleasure to meet many elected officials, from different parties and at different levels of government. I can say that absolutely, all of these folks care about the people they represent and care tremendously about their nation, state, and local community. I have been impressed by the knowledge and dedication of all of those I have met. We have the greatest governmental system in the world. We absolutely have the potential to be the greatest government in the world.

I have high hopes that this election will result in us reaching that potential, and it starts with each one of us. If you have a vote, please, please do so. I am not going to mention here who I am voting for because it doesn't matter. What is most important is that we all show that the people of this country are engaged in our democracy. And if we all join our elected leaders with a focus on compromise and getting decisions made, I feel that we will be in a much better position to reach our potential as a government and a nation.

Getting Things Done for America

On Thursday morning at our RECAP event, CANI’s AmeriCorps members will be making their pledge. It is as follows:

AmeriCorps Pledge 

I will get things done for America –

to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.

Faced with apathy, I will take action.

Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.

Faced with adversity, I will persevere.

I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.

I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.

This is our first group of AmeriCorps members, and we are tremendously excited to bring this program to northeast Indiana. It is the culmination of about two years of work with our partners United Way of Allen County and Lutheran Social Services. We have been working hard on this for so long because we know that AmeriCorps will help make our community stronger and will help us get things done.

Our members will be working in various areas within CANI, including our Head Start program and Covering Kids and Families program. They will be helping us in our Community Economic Development programs as well as helping us increase our organizational capacity to serve people. They will also be working in programs at Lutheran Social Services and helping with projects at United Way. They will be serving families who need help. They give us yet another resource to accomplish the work of our organizations.

On Sept 20, CANI Corps members worked at
Community Harvest Food Bank on their first of
many service projects that will be conducted
throughout the year. 

I am deeply impressed by the service mindset of our members. They are focused on helping people. They are dedicated to strengthening northeast Indiana and the organizations they will be working with. I know that we will all learn a great deal from these individuals over the coming year.

I am particularly excited because this is just our first year, and we are looking at this project as just the first step in growing the program and adding many more partner organizations in the coming years. We are getting our feet wet this year, we are learning a lot about the program and how to administer it. In coming years we hope to add more member slots, so the impact of these incredible individuals can spread throughout our community. I have already been approached by many different organizations desiring their own AmeriCorps members.

The potential we have both now and in the future is truly exciting and we welcome our inaugural group of members into the CANI family.

Planning for the Future

As CANI's Executive Director, there are a lot of great activities that I get to participate in. But one of my favorite events took place last week - our Board of Directors' strategic planning retreat.(No, I'm serious!) And since my blog actually came up in conversation during the retreat a couple of times, I thought it perfect to talk about it here.

The strategic planning retreat is one of my favorite events because it is the major step of a long and detailed process that sets CANI’s direction for the subsequent three years. Before the retreat we spend time and resources studying the needs of our clients and community and gathering input from those we serve. And after the retreat, we spend time fleshing out ideas and developing steps that will put our ideas into action. But it is at the retreat that our board discusses in detail what our broad strategies for the next three years will be.

It is exciting to me to bring together our group of dedicated, volunteer leaders to determine ways to better meet our mission. Our board already dedicates a great deal of time to CANI throughout the year, and yet they carve out a large chunk of time for this very important retreat. I was really proud to be among this group of people.

I can’t get into any specifics yet, as there is more work to be done over the next three months before we formally adopt a new strategic plan. But I can tell you a few things about the retreat. For one, the consensus of the group was greater than I would have normally expected. Most of the ideas that were put forth were universally agreed upon as key strategies for us to pursue. While every retreat inevitably leads to consensus to a degree, this retreat generated more than I have seen in the past. This level of support for our goals and objectives will invariably help us down the road as we work on implementation.

I can also say with pretty strong confidence that when our new strategic plan is released, you will see CANI continuing to work on goals and objectives that we have initiated in the past, as well as some brand new items that will enhance the work that we do. This has me particularly excited, because for one, we have more work to do on initiatives that we have started, despite making great strides on many of them. And I am also excited about the prospect of exploring new things as we work to become an even more effective organization at accomplishing our mission.

The new plan will be complete in January, 2013. I look forward to sharing it with you then. Now, back to work!

It's That Time of Year Again!

If you have kids, you know what time it is – it’s back to school time! Most kids are not that happy to be ending their summer vacation and getting back to “work”. Many parents, on the other hand, are just a little happy to get their kids out of their hair for a while each day. (It is no different in my household!) But all kidding aside, I am also excited that my kids get to go back to school to continue their education.

We all know the importance of education. Studies show that children develop 85% of their intellect, personality, and skills by age 5. Early childhood education has a profound impact on the development of children and who they will become as adults.

This is why I’m so proud of CANI’s Head Start program. Because each and every year, we are working with about 800 children between 3 and 5 years old, setting them on the path of lifelong learning.

Head Start is a truly comprehensive preschool program. Our teachers do an excellent job preparing children for kindergarten and the years beyond. But we also focus on the health and nutrition of the children, which are important factors in their early formation. Likewise, we work closely with the families of our children, because we know that a child’s most important teacher is his or her parents.

Besides early childhood education, decisions that young people make in high school have a profound impact on their adulthood. The two most important indicators of poverty among those that CANI serves are education level and single parenthood. Those with a college degree or equivalent credential earn about twice as much annually as those with only a high school diploma. The gap only widens for those without a high school education. And while single parenthood occurs for a number of reasons, one reason is young women having children while still in high school.

Working with youth is critical to CANI’s mission, which is why I’m so pleased that CANI now has the JAG program (Jobs for America’s Graduates.) This year we will work with approximately 350 youth in 9 high schools throughout our region. The goal of the program is to work with students to help them stay in school, access post-secondary education, and secure quality entry-level jobs that lead to career opportunities.

So as our community goes back to school, CANI is going back to school as well. I love that we can have such a great impact on young people through Head Start and JAG. To learn more about these programs, check out our web site, www.canihelp.org.

Opportunity is the Key at Any Age

Yesterday, I turned 40 years old. My family, friends, and coworkers have made it a wonderful week of celebration for me. Aside from the many comments about me now being “over the hill,” I have also had several people ask me: “Are you where you expected to be at 40?”

As a teenager and young adult, I had no desire whatsoever to work at a social-service organization. I certainly knew about poverty, but it was not one of “my causes.”

I came to work at CANI thirteen years ago because I couldn’t find employment in the field I thought I wanted to work in. I needed a job, so I took one here. I continued to look for a position elsewhere over my first several months at CANI. But what I know now that I didn't know then is that I got exactly the job I was meant to have. Life is funny that way, isn't it?

CANI has provided me with more than I could ever have imagined. I found a career at CANI, for sure. I also met my wife at CANI, and I would not trade our relationship, or our children, for anything else in the world.

But what I have really found at CANI is a cause that I believe in. I have never lived in poverty myself, but I was fortunate to have worked as a case manager in my first nine months at CANI. I worked with families very closely and I saw the issues they faced and how hard they worked to improve their lives and their children’s lives. Their stories, as well as the stories of the thousands of families we have served since then, continue to fuel me today.

When I think about where I am today, I think about the opportunities that have been provided to me that have helped me get here. Two incredible parents who provided for me at great sacrifice to themselves, and who shaped me into the adult I am today. A wife who has supported me every single step of the way and is my most important partner in life. An excellent education, from pre-school all the way through graduate school. Military service that truly changed me from a boy into a man. Friends and coworkers who have supported me throughout my life.

How we take advantage of opportunities is what defines us as individuals. But you have to have opportunities first. That's what we are providing here at CANI: Opportunities for communities, families, and individuals to build brighter futures. And I couldn't be prouder than to work for an organization that does that.

After the Storm

I spend a lot of my time talking to people about CANI’s mission. I love our mission for many reasons.  Among them, I love that it states that we address both the “causes and conditions of poverty”. Few would argue that we would much rather address causes than conditions. We would much rather “teach people to fish” than “give them a fish”. At CANI, we spend the bulk of our resources “teaching people to fish”, but I was personally reminded two weeks ago why we cannot ignore the conditions either.

Like so many others in northeast Indiana, my family was without power for an extended period of time after the storm on Friday, June 29^th. It is amazing how much we take electricity for granted. Without electricity, we lose light; we lose the ability to store and cook food; we lose the ability to wash our clothes. Most importantly, for many of us we lose the ability to heat or cool our home. And if you have well water, like we do, we lose the ability to get water into our homes.

My family spent four days without power at my home. I thought about CANI’s mission many times over this period. I spent those four days completely focused on meeting my family’s basic needs. We are fortunate to have a generator, which we connected to our freezer and our sump pump to keep our basement from flooding. However, the generator sprung a fuel line leak, and after spending several hours trying to fix it, I spent several more hours trying to purchase a new one.

Without water, there was no way for us to wash clothes, take showers, or flush toilets as we normally do. We were fortunate to have a small pool already filled with water for our three young kids to swim in, and so at least we could fill a bucket of water each time someone needed to use the bathroom. We were also fortunate that my wife could take several hours to travel to her parents and do laundry on Saturday night.

It also happened to be quite hot over those four days. We were exceptionally uncomfortable and spent a great deal of time just trying to keep everyone cool (setting up the basement to sleep in, taking drives in our air conditioned van, sitting in our dwindling 3-foot pool). And as uncomfortable as I was, I was worried about the health of my parents in the heat, who were also without power.

Food was also a chore. I already mentioned keeping generators going to keep our food from spoiling. But without an oven, we took a lot of trips to restaurants, and when we did eat at home, it meant disconnecting the freezer from the generator so we could microwave our food.

On Monday morning, when I woke up after three days of no power and my mood was not good. I was angry and generally not at all pleasant to be around. I was this way for several hours, until my wife finally told me to get out and go for a drive on my own. I drove through Monroeville, initially to see if there were any signs that power might be coming back soon. But as I drove through town I was reminded that others’ homes and businesses were in much worse shape than mine. Suddenly, my attitude began to shift. I certainly had no right to be angry or feel sorry for myself when other people were suffering worse than I!

A couple hours later, our power was restored. Moods immediately brightened, the home started to cool, the kids jumped on the Wii (and stopped driving us crazy), and we cooked a nice lunch. Our lives returned to normal, even while others continued to live without power until later.

As I reflect on those four days, it is a reminder to me about why meeting basic needs is so crucial to CANI’s mission. Even with resources to draw upon – such as working vehicles, money to buy gas for generators and food at restaurants, and family to help us – my wife and I spent four days fully focused on meeting our family’s basic needs. Work, aside from concern over how coworkers were doing, was an afterthought. No doubt, if I was still in school that would have been an afterthought as well. We spent no time reading to our kids and certainly didn’t think about how they were developing as children. Heck, even my relationship with my wife and kids was an afterthought especially by that Monday morning when I just had a bad attitude.

While I was in school, I often came across Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in my studies. The theory essentially states that people must meet a certain level of need before they will have the ability to move on to another level. I have been fortunate in my life that I have rarely had to worry about the most basic needs in Maslow’s Hierarchy, which includes things like food, shelter, safety, and so forth.

My family spent only four days focused on our basic needs. Many of the families CANI serves are not so fortunate. They struggle daily with providing the basic needs for their families, and with fewer resources than my family had to work with over the power outage. If we ever want to truly help these families leave poverty behind forever, to acquire new knowledge and skills and better jobs, we must help them first meet the basic needs of their families. At CANI, the strategy is not whether “to teach them to fish” or “give them fish”, but actually to do both.

May is National Community Action Month

May is a pretty special month for CANI, as it is officially National Community Action month. During this month we spend a little extra time and effort as a national network raising awareness about poverty, the issues low-income families face, and the work that Community Action Agencies do in their communities to combat these issues.

Awareness is a critical tool for us, now more than ever. While some have started to feel positive outcomes from the improving economy, there are still thousands of people in our community struggling to recover themselves. They face unemployment and struggles keeping their family housed and utilities paid, many for the first time in their lives.

Yet at the same time the demands for our programs are higher than normal, social service organizations face a struggle themselves. Federal budget cuts and tougher-to-come-by charitable donations have meant decreasing budgets and programming locally, at just the time when we need to be expanding. For these reasons, it’s as important as ever to raise awareness about poverty in northeast Indiana, and resources to fight that poverty.

During May, and even a little into June, CANI will pump up our own efforts to raise awareness and provide opportunities for people to get engaged. On May 17^th we will be conducting our signature event – our Poverty Simulation. This is simply an excellent opportunity for people to participate in a fun and engaging activity, that provides a taste of the issues that low-income families face. Past participants have reported that it was a moving, eye-opening experience for them. And so our goal is to conduct these simulations as often as we can, and May 17^th is the next opportunity for you to participate. More information can be found here.

On May 21^st, join us from noon – 2pm as we celebrate the grand opening of Hopewell Pointe – a 35-home affordable housing subdivision in Waynedale. These wonderful new homes are providing a life-changing opportunity to the families who are now living here. The development has also been a valuable economic investment in this southwest Fort Wayne community.

On June 7^th we will host our annual golf outing at Noble Hawk Golf Links in Kendallville. CANI Golf is one of our top fundraising events of the year and is a great way to support our fight against poverty while having a great time as well. We still have openings for teams and sponsorships. Participants routinely state this is one of the best outings of the year!

Besides events, we hope that you will see and hear more of us in other ways as well. Check out our recently launched, new and improved web site – www.canihelp.org. And our 2011 Annual Report should be in your hands by mid-May. The Annual Report highlights stories of individuals and families who have fought poverty in their own lives and have achieved great successes.

The purpose of all this activity is to put poverty front of mind in our community just a little bit more. If we can mobilize people to support our cause, advocate for the issues, and give of their time and financial resources, together we can fight poverty and build hope in our neighborhoods, communities, and northeast Indiana.

Energy Assistance Funds Still Available

One of our biggest programs in terms of the number of people served is our Energy Assistance Program.  We annually serve over 11,000 households with this program.  Because of many changes and issues with the program this year, we still have the ability to serve many more people before the program closes down on May 15^th.

It has been a truly difficult year for this program, both for our staff, and admittedly, for our clients as well.  First, the start date of the program was delayed a month from previous years.  We also only received a small portion of our funding at the start of the year, ran out of that, and had to shut down the program for a few weeks at the end of 2012.  We also saw a very significant reduction in the benefit amounts per household.  This change was put in place because of a fear of significant budget cuts, which only partially came to fruition.

All of these changes, and many other issues, have made it a particularly difficult year to administer the program.  We also know that it has been particularly difficult on the families we serve, and we are working hard to advocate for changes to the program next year.

In the meantime, however, because of these changes we have the ability to serve many more clients between now and May 15^th.  If you or someone you know could use help with your utility bills, please contact us today.

Happy (belated) New Year!

It’s hard to believe we’re already into the second month of the New Year. The last two years have been very busy for CANI, and 2012 is shaping up to be just the same. We will continue to serve hundreds of children in our Head Start program, help thousands of people who need help with their utilities and child care, and much more. Just maintaining what we do makes for a busy time. But we have several exciting new developments on tap for 2012 as well.

As of February 1^st, CANI is now managing the Jobs for America’s Graduates program in Northeast Indiana. This program is focused on helping youth stay in school through graduation, pursue post-secondary education, and secure quality entry-level jobs leading to career advancement opportunities. We will be in nine high schools throughout the region, serving 35-45 youth in each school. We have conducted youth services for some time now, but this program is an exciting expansion enabling us to reach more young people from vulnerable backgrounds.

Also this year, CANI submitted our application to become a certified Community Development Financial Institution. We began lending to businesses and individuals a little over a year ago, and have continued to develop our infrastructure over that time. We have already provided seven small business loans and twenty credit-builder loans, and continue to provide for new customers.  But the CDFI certification would mark a dramatic increase in our ability to serve many, many more customers.

In 2012 we will also see the completion of our Hopewell Pointe housing development. The 35 single-family homes in Waynedale should be completed by June, marking a significant investment in that community. Already, eight families have moved in – a tremendous housing opportunity for them and the other families who will soon live there.

We will see an expansion of our Poverty Simulation in 2012 as well. This event, which gives participants some degree of appreciation for the issues that low-income families face, has become our signature event. We are seeing increasing demand to put this on in our community, and we are working to increase our capacity to do it many more times per year.

We will continue to work on enhancing all of our programs in 2012, just as we do every year. We will be working on internal improvements to help build an even greater organization. We will be working closely with our partners to enhance our community network of service provision. AND, we will continue to seek resources to do more in every county we serve.

Yes, 2012 is shaping up to be another busy year at CANI. When there are so many people in need, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Spirit of Giving

As we approach the heart of the holiday season, the spirit of giving is at its yearly high. A lot of us are busy trying to find that perfect gift for friends and loved ones. This can be stressful. Why do we do it?

You’ve heard it said that giving is better than receiving. As a kid, I thought that was a really crazy idea invented by adults to stop us kids from complaining when we didn’t get what we wanted. But it turns out to be true… giving heartfelt gifts feels really great!

I know it may seem self-serving for me to tell you that making a donation to CANI will make you feel really good. But it’s true. Imagine the power of a gift that helps people who are struggling to make ends meet. Imagine a family who cannot put enough food on the table, or is facing eviction or foreclosure, or having their heat disconnected during this cold winter season… and then imagine that you can help.

Without question - in my twelve years at CANI - I have never seen the demand for help so great. We are literally getting over 1,000 calls per week for heating assistance. While we have been able to help more people in certain areas, we continue to have waiting lists in virtually every program we provide. And I know that we are not alone - our partner agencies are experiencing the exact same thing.

Unfortunately, this increased need has been coupled with more pressure than ever before on the resources we have to help people. CANI, like many organizations in our community, has seen funding cut severely or altogether for some programs. This very simply results in fewer resources to help people at a time when we have more people to help.

My appeal to you now is to consider a gift that will last longer than the holiday season. CANI is just one of many agencies in our community that can help you give a gift that you can feel really good about now and throughout the year. If you give to your United Way, your local food bank, or your favorite other social service agency - it will help people. You may even know someone yourself who is struggling – you can help that person or family directly.

If you have the ability to give, please consider a gift to those who are less fortunate – those whose needs may be greater than yours at this moment. There are so many ways you can help – how you do it is not important. The important thing is that you do it. 

Giving Thanks

It may be cliché to write about what I am thankful for – but I am going to do it anyway. After all, Thanksgiving is next week and we are supposed to reflect on all that we are grateful for in our lives, right? CANI is a huge part of my life, so I can’t help but think about all that I am thankful for through my work here.

First and foremost, I am thankful for the wonderful people that I get to work with each and every day. The employees at CANI are highly professional, highly skilled, and above all, highly dedicated to helping people and serving our mission. There are tough days in this business we’re in, and I watch you work hard every day to do all you can to serve the people of northeast Indiana. Thank you.

Here are some other things I am thankful for (in no particular order):

Our Funders (not to be confused with our founders – who I am also thankful for)

Obviously we could do nothing without you. You provide us with financial resources that help people. But more than that, I am thankful for the relationships that we have developed. You help us do our work better.

Our Individual and Business Donors

Donations are critical to us because they help fill the gaps of other funding sources. I know that there are many charities out there that are deserving of your gifts. I am thankful that you have chosen us and our mission as your cause.

Our Volunteers

In particular, our wonderful Board of Directors and Head Start Policy Council members. You help make CANI go every day. You provide excellent leadership and direction for this organization, and I am excited to get to work with you in the coming years.

Our Partners (of which there are many!)

CANI has many different programs, and I am proud of the partnerships we have developed in each one. We work closely with governmental entities, faith-based organizations, businesses, and many, many more. We could not do our work without you.

Our Clients

You may be in a tough spot right now, but we appreciate the opportunity to serve you. We see your love towards your family and how hard you work to meet their needs. It is inspiring! We will continue helping you in any way we can as you work toward your goals.

Our Communities

Whether you know it or not, almost every one of you is involved in some way with our mission to eliminate poverty. When you vote.  When you advocate for other people.  When you contribute to your church, school, or favorite charity.  When you help your neighbor or family member. I appreciate all that you do in the communities where we live and work.

So there you have it… now it’s your turn. What are you thankful for?