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From Our New ED - Mark Holloway
 What a way to land in this great city! From the days I arrived, the buds and blossoms have been
bursting in waves. Without experience of the grey rainy days of winter, what's not for me to love in my new home, Portland, Oregon. Good people, bright skies, snowy mountain peaks and so many signs of vibrant life in the business and
nonprofit community. I am really delighted to be a new Portlander.
I am also thrilled to assume the executive leadership position at SVPP. I stand on the shoulders of some very talented, accomplished and dedicated predecessors, so I want to thank them for their service…with special appreciation to Jean
Hart for her tremendous contribution to the partnership.
If you haven't already gotten a call or a tug at the sleeve for a discussion with me about your inspiration for joining SVPP, your perspective on our mission and your ideas for making it better, look for one soon. I am contacting and
visiting with each of the partners and many SVPP friends over the course of my first few months on the job. I want to know you, SVPP and Portland even better so we continue to excel and innovate as grantmakers and educators of strategic
community investment.
Please also drop me a line or give me a call. I look forward to getting to know you better and to bringing you new perspectives and fresh ideas in each newsletter.
SVPP News
Superintendent of Portland Public Schools Addresses SVPP Partners
 Dr. Vicki Phillips, Superintendent of Portland Public Schools, was the keynote speaker for SVPP's
quarterly meeting on March 7 at the Kennedy School. Dr. Phillips spoke about the reconfiguration process of the Portland Schools and the many challenges that lie ahead to continually improve the quality of education for our children in a
difficult budget environment. Dr. Phillips entertained many questions from the SVPP partners and friends that attended this event. Special acknowledgment was made by Dr. Phillips to SVPP efforts through the Parental Engagement Program
(PEP) at Clark and Kelly Elementary Schools. Many thanks to Dr. Phillips for her remarks and for the stimulating and enlightening discussion.
SVPP 2007 Grant Process Under Way
Since last fall, the Investment Team headed by Drew Smith has been working on selecting the projects for SVPP investment in 2007. This year, the team made a request for proposals to more
than 200 nonprofit organizations that focus on children/youth/families at risk in the Portland four-county area of Oregon and Washington. The team received 55 Letters of Inquiry and will soon select several that best fit our investment
objectives to submit a full proposal. During May and June, the Investment Team will review the finalists' proposals from these organizations, conduct site visits and decide on the one or two projects we will select for investment in 2007.
The grant decision(s) will be announced in late June. |
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From Our Investees
CCIP (Child Care Improvement Project)
The Child Care Improvement Project is a system of community-based networks of family child care providers joined together to promote high quality child care, build and sustain economic success, and partner with parents to support children
in achieving their full potential. SVPP seeks to strengthen the capacity, effectiveness and reach of the Child Care Improvement Project. Unique in the Portland metro area, CCIP creates and supports networks of home-based child care
providers to help these providers improve the quality of their services and the success of their businesses.
Accomplishments:
• After a significant recruiting effort, CCIP hired a coordinator for the Vietnamese provider network.
• CCIP made strong inroads recruiting Clackamas County-based providers into its existing SE Portland network (five providers recruited, with goal of recruiting 5-10 total).
• A listserve has been created for the whole CCIP network. All CCIP staff have been invited to join, and providers are being invited to join also. Each of CCIP's nine provider networks also will have the ability to create their own
individual listserves.
If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering, please contact the CCIP project leaders,
Eli Lamb or
Bill Porter.
FGLCN (Forest Grove District Latino Community Network)
FGLCN is a coalition of the Forest Grove School District, state and county government organizations, and several local community-based organizations aimed at engaging Latino students and
parents to improve academic connectedness and success. The coalition currently includes the FGSD, OSU 4H Tech Wizards, Northwest Oregon Housing Development Corporation, Centro Cultural, Washington County Sheriff's Office, Adelante
Mujeres, SMART program, Woodburn School District, Hillsboro School District, and Youth Violence Prevention/Office of Mayor Potter.
Accomplishments:
• Growth of the Latino Parent Advisory Committee. This committee has developed By-Laws and plans to attend PTO meetings to provide updates on FGLCN and plans for this year.
• The 4-H Tech Wizard Students and Families have participated in four workshops. In addition, parents will be engaged in several training programs determined by home visits. Based on 34 family home visits, parents will be engaged in
classes such as English, literacy, computer, citizenship and driving.
• North West Oregon Housing Development Corporation: Promotores Council. Their services include:
- Three hours of home visits to residents to provide guidance and resource support
- One hour per week working on Rosetta English Course, received a $100 stipend
- Hands on Banking at Wells Fargo; set up checking and savings account
- Home buying and Predatory Lending
- Promotores held and facilitated a meeting held with residents regarding Legal Services.
If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering, please contact the FGLCN project leader,
Constance Edwards.
PEP (Parental Engagement Program)
SVPP is currently working to integrate PEP into more schools by working with Portland Impact, a local nonprofit organization that serves as the administering agency for several SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods Initiative) programs within
the Portland Public Schools. A model for the PEP program is being drafted with plans to finalize the PEP model during Spring 2007.
Accomplishments:
Kelly Elementary:
• Plans for a work center for school parents are coming to fruition. The work center will house computers and other amenities for parents' use. Also, a new two-sided reader board is scheduled to be installed on the front grounds at
Kelly.
• SVPP partners are working with Kelly on fundraising efforts for various areas of the school, including a new playground.
Clark Elementary:
• The Tech Committee is finalizing a plan for major technology upgrades to Clark including new computers, software and increased training over a three year period. The Committee expects to begin grant applications for these upgrades
in the near future.
• The Parents as Partners for Reading Excellence evening workshops for the 2006-07 school year continue with great turnout. SVPP volunteers are providing literacy events for the children of the parents attending these workshops.
Future workshops are scheduled for April 10, 2007 and May 8, 2007.
If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering, please contact the PEP project leader,
Kirsten Day.
CASH (Creating Assets, Savings and Hope)
CASH grand opening at Lloyd Center on February 3rd. Left to right: Bruce Whiting from Key Bank, Jerry Cohen from AARP/Oregon, Jeff Grubb from SVPP, Barbara Sowder from the Internal
Revenue Service, Randy Evers from the Oregon Department of Revenue and Jim Harper from CASH Oregon.
CASH is now completing a very busy tax season. Many volunteers were recruited and trained for this tax season in coordination with AARP/Tax-Aide. CASH will host a Thank You reception for all volunteers the evening of April 18.
Accomplishments:
• For the 2006 tax season, CASH opened two new sites in Hillsboro and Milwaukie, in addition to supporting a free tax site in Rockwood. The Lloyd Center office opened for the second year. Over 2,000 returns will be completed at these
sites.
• CASH's Executive Committee approved filing for 501(c)3 status. The process should be completed by early next year.
• New support commitments include:
- Portland Community College (classrooms for training)
- Intel (14 computers)
- Portland Bureau of Housing ($25,000 grant)
- Key Bank (printing and grand opening for Lloyd Center)
- PCC Structural ($10,000)
- Bank of America ($10,000)
If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering, please contact the CASH project leader,
Bruce Murray.
Kids Café
On a combined basis, the Kids Cafés at Wattles and Blazers served a total of 80,721 hot meals and 67,164 afternoon/evening snacks to hungry youth during 2006.
Accomplishments:
• Nutritional education classes continue to be held at Wattles three times per week, with an average of 87 members participating each month in the programs. Both clubs will be starting a new program called Healthy Habits, a
nutrition education program developed by Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The program is a multi-faceted approach designed to help young people to become healthy, active, and learn healthy eating habits, and will be implemented at least
twice per week at each club.
• Wattles is continuing to work with Growing Gardens during the 2006-07 school year to teach youth how to grow and tend for food plants as well as how to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into their daily diets. At Blazers,
the Kids Café coordinator installed raised garden beds on the south side of the club so that Club kids can begin to learn how to grow their own food. It was quite successful last year and the coordinator hopes for similar results this
school year.
• Construction of the Hillsboro Club expansion and Kids Café started in November 2006 and is 98% complete. Grand opening events are scheduled for Friday, May 18 and Saturday May 19; the latter being a community event and outreach.
This will mark the last phase of SVPP's investment in the Kids Café project of the Boys and Girls Club of Portland. SVPP's total investment of $160,000 was matched by $349,000 from other donors, and we are proud to have played a major
role as lead investor and construction project management for these three Kids Cafes.
If you have any questions, please contact the Kids Café project leader,
Valerie Ilsley.
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From Our Partners
Welcome New Partners
Dina Alexander and Jim Taylor - Dina is a partner at Ball Janik LLP, where she works in the real estate and construction practice groups. Her principal area
of practice is mixed-use development, with an emphasis on entity structuring, project finance, acquisitions and dispositions, and commercial leasing. Dina is a member of the bar and has practiced law in each of Oregon, California and
Washington. She earned a J.D. degree in 1996 from Willamette University College of Law, where she was a member of the Willamette Law Review. |
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Calendar |
April 19, 9:00 am: Grantmakers Session: Homelessness
May 9, 5:30 pm: Welcome Reception for Jim Lambright
May 17, 11:45 am: Grantmakers Session: Foster Care
May 17, 6:00 pm: SVPP Annual Partners' Meeting
(All events for Partners and invited guests only. See below for more information)
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SVPP to be Featured in the Portland Business Journal
Check the April 13th edition of the Portland Business Journal where SVPP's model, partnership and contribution will be featured. As a preview to this upcoming story, the page 54 of the April 4th edition showed a
nice photo of SVPP partners Jeff Grubb, Rance Gregory, Joel Kaplan, Ryan Hildebrand and E.D. Mark Holloway.
SVPP Annual Meeting - Mark your Calendars
SVPP's Annual Meeting will be held on May 17 at the World Forestry Center. In addition to the yearly update of SVPP's accomplishments and announcements, our investees will present information about their
projects, giving SVPP partners first-hand contact with representatives of all SVPP investments. Our guest speaker for the event will be Donna M. Beegle, PhD who is a nationally acclaimed public speaker, discussion leader, trainer,
and the author of articles providing insights and strategies for working with people from poverty backgrounds. (The Annual Meeting is for SVPP partners and invited guests only. Please contact the SVPP office for more
information).
SVPP Hosts Reception for Chairman of Export-Import Bank
Together with Wells Fargo Bank, SVPP is hosting a reception for Mr. Jim Lambright, President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The event will be held on
Wednesday, May 9, 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at the Wells Fargo Bank Building. This event is by invitation only. Please contact the SVPP office for more information.
Upcoming Grantmakers Sessions:
SVPP Partners are invited to attend the following members-only events for Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington:
Thursday, April 19, 9:30am-2:00pm
Focus: Homelessness
YWCA, 3rd Floor Conference Room
$10, lunch provided
Thursday, May 17, 11:45am-1:30pm
Focus: Foster Care
Location TBA
$10, lunch provided
Register for these events at: register@gosw.org or contact the SVPP office for more information.
Social Venture Partners Links
Many of our partners are interested in learning about the activities of the broader SVPI organization. Here are two informative links that will allow you to view activities in
other communities and view SVPI Newsletters (
SVP Communities,
SVPI Newsletters).
Your Comments are Welcome
If you have any comments on this Newsletter regarding its content or organization, please send them to
Les Soltesz.
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