Hi Everyone!
Based off of our recent conversations in class, I have noticed that there seems to be a lot of negative generalizations made about specific organizations that are used to discredit them or support other organizations. Although these generalizations may have some truth to them, they over simplify the complicated nature of the non-profit organizations and may be used to place other organizations in au unfair, better light. Of course, this just stems from the large amount of passion our class has for helping Broome County and donating to what we believe is the "best" organization. However, I believe that this method of persuasion may be unhelpful or counteractive in making a completely informed and objective decision. To try to combat this bias, I thought I might provide some affirmative arguments for all of the organizations and try to clarify or break down certain generalizations that we as a class may be making.
To begin, I'd like to start with the YWCA, as it was our first site visit. The YWCA applied for a program grant that would be funneled into a fund that would either support housing women who are homeless or have lost their home or the Young Wonders program. According to the YWCA's executive director, there seems to be more need or demand for support for the Young Wonders program, so most likely our donation would be allocated towards helping 2 children attend this program. The parents of these children would have to pay for half of the tuition for this program, however, this is a fairly affordable form of childcare available in the county. The fact that only 2 children will be directly helped is definitely a weakness, however, many of the children involved in this program have mothers who also receive help from the YWCA (whether it is in the form of housing, drug addiction, or providing job skills). Yes, the program is expensive, but childcare in general is a costly service, as caring for a child is very demanding and there are numerous regulations the state requires. The program has also shown success as graduates are known to be well behaved when they enter public school.The YWCA charges very little more than what WCC charges. Finally, although the YWCA will be receiving a $1.9 million endowment, it is unclear when this money will come in, changes in wills can and often are made, and the YWCA provides a multitude of expensive services to the community that need to be accounted for. The YWCA is pretty generally well known, however, they do not have a large surplus of income (if at all) at the end of the fiscal year to funnel back into their organizations.
Next, we visited CHOW. CHOW applied for a grant that would cover the costs of a Summer Care Package Program which would provide meals for families over the summer. This is important because many families and children rely on schools to receive at least two meals a day. However, when school closes for the summer, this reliable source of nutrition is taken away. CHOW plans on using our money to feed 30,000 people. Although many view CHOW's work as a "Band-Aid" fix, their distribution of food would reduce stress at home regarding where the next meal would come from and could help create a happier and better experience for families at home. Additionally, their employment program employs various members of the community and provides them with skills to find employment after graduating the program. Although this program is not where our money would go, our money would be able to shift funds so that potentially CHOW could expand on or focus on this program. An impressive 40% of graduates from the program were able to obtain employment in 4 weeks.
Thirdly, we visited the Boys and Girls Club. I think many believe that based off of the condition of the site, well-known and financially wealthy donors, and the established reputation of this organization indicate that this organization is well off and doesn't need our donation. However, in their application for an operating grant, they state that due to large cuts from a variety of sources (including and especially United Way), they have had to close the center down earlier and on school holidays. Any form of a grant could allow this problem to be resolved. The program they applied with was the Teen Summer Employment Program, where 6 teens would be employed over the summer and given job skills and experience. This would boost their confidence, potentially alleviate family stress at home regarding paying bills, and give them the tools to eventually obtain a job and become self-sufficient. This is especially beneficial to the teens who come from underprivileged backgrounds and may have trouble seeing themselves attending college or obtaining a job that pays better than minimum wage.
Next, we visited the Mental Health Association. Their Compeer program would provide youth with trained mentors who serve as role models and a support system for these at risk youth. This program is reliable and has been operating for 5 years with success. Youth may be referred to affordable health care providers and through social events and communication with other members of the program as well as mentors are taught better social skills and ways to manage unhealthy feelings. Some have graduated the program and gone on to college, and the families and schools are heavily involved in this program. One challenge this program may face is that MHAST is having a hard time finding people willing and able to become mentors. Although many college students may show interest, it is hard for students to be mentors as they leave over the summer and the youth need consistent support. However, since our donation will be matched, maybe the organization will use this extra money to hire someone who is an expert in marketing or on advertising the program to the community. It may be unrealistic to say that our donation could help 70 individuals as there is currently a shortage in supply of mentors. However, this could change. The organization also partners with DSS and CPS and ensures that both children and their parents are receiving the necessary help to maintain their mental health. Because of this, I would say this organization and program takes a very wholistic approach to combatting mental health which is definitely an advantage.
Finally, the Wilson's Children Center is an organization that is a great asset to the Deposit community. They provide a service that is in great demand and need, and focus on more than just caring for the children physically. WCC's curriculum integrates both education on social/emotional health and more common forms of education. The program they applied with was their Anger/Aggression Program. Through this program, the center would buy crash pads and provide the staff with training on how to educate students on how to deal with anger and aggression. They would also learn when anger is appropriate or not. This is beneficial to students coming from home environments that may be stressful or not ideal. Because of these environments, the children may learn inappropriate ways to deal with anger from their parents or develop their own inappropriate techniques to deal with anger as a result of their frustrations from home. This program would teach appropriate strategies to deal with anger, which as the executive director mentioned is a skill even many adults lack. The crash pads would also provide an outlet for aggression. Although the program may seem to lack unity, this does not necessarily mean that WCC is a disorganized organization. Their financial statements show that they have been producing at a deficit the past few years, however, this deficit makes up only 1% of their overall income and has been decreasing in the past few years steadily. This organization has existed as a reliable form of affordable child care, and the lack of unity in this specific potential program should not reflect how disorganized the organization is as a whole. They have a number of other programs they have implemented and maintained and manage to stay afloat in the face of rising minimum wages and decreasing funds.
Overall, I believe all of these organizations are great contenders. Each organization responds to community needs well and has shown some extent of success. One final note I would add is that although many want to focus on the "financial need" of these organizations, none of the organizations are "rich." Furthermore, none of the organizations would struggle to continue operating in the absence of receiving our donations. Of course, all of these organizations would, however, benefit in some way by receiving our grants. This is why I believe financial need of an organization shouldn't be a deciding factor in who should ultimately receive our donation(s).
Please let me know what you think of all of this, and if you have any additional comments or questions regarding my post! Thanks for reading!
