Letter from the Interim President and CEO

Trust Grantees Learn About Strategies and Resources to Strengthen their Work at December Grantee Meeting

Trust Hosts Annual Turkey Bowl Luncheon to Honor High School Athletes with Hip-Hop Artist Wale

Parent Centers Receive Additional Boost from the Trust in 2010

Trust Seeks Proposals for Summer Programs in 2010

 

As 2009 draws to a close, we at the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation are pleased to reflect on a remarkable decade in which we’ve dedicated ourselves to investing strategically in our children’s future. This past summer, we celebrated our 10th anniversary with a series of events that demonstrated the ways that DC youth are changing their communities while changing their own lives as well.

We brought youth together to beautify the Trinidad Recreation Center, launch the community youth mapping project, present a performing arts showcase and participate in a District-wide field day. We also helped strengthen out-of-school time coordination and leadership by holding Expanding Our Reach, our first-ever grantee institute, and promoting OST standards. Our work led to substantial media coverage of OST activities, including highlights in the Washington Post, WAMU-FM, USA Today, the DC Examiner and the Washington Times.

In 2010, we will continue our tradition of enriching the lives of District youth and building partnerships to strengthen the organizations and agencies that serve them.

When it comes to boosting District youth toward a successful future, we all have the potential to effect positive change. This holiday season, we wish all of you much joy and prosperity in the coming year.

Ellen London
Interim President and CEO

 

Trust Grantees Learn About Strategies and Resources to Strengthen their Work at December Grantee Meeting

The Trust is dedicated not only to providing grantees with needed support and resources, but also to measuring and improving grantee’s impact on DC youth and families. In December, the Trust demonstrated its commitment to strengthening this work at our first quarterly grantee meeting for 77 FY10 grantees.

At the meeting, the Trust presented many helpful resources for grantees, including helpful supports offered by DCPS’s Office of Youth Engagement. A dynamic panel of community-based organization leaders also focused on the importance of evaluation and making it part of the organizational culture. The panel featured Jason King, executive director of Turning the Page; Cianna Ramble, director of programs at The Fishing School; and Sidharath Sakhuja, representing LifePieces to MasterPieces.

The panelists shared the benefits and knowledge they have gained through their organization's experiences with evaluation, detailing the methods and indicators they use to evaluate parent centers and out-of-school time programs. The panelists also offered strategies for engaging parents, students and staff in the evaluation process and making the case for its importance in telling the organization's story and documenting the impact on the children, youth and families.

 

Trust Hosts Annual Turkey Bowl Luncheon to Honor High School Athletes with Hip-Hop Artist Wale

Ballou and Woodson High School football players and cheerleaders at the annual Turkey Bowl luncheon

As part of an annual tradition before Thanksgiving, the Trust hosted a celebratory luncheon honoring the H. D. Woodson and Ballou Senior High Schools’ football teams and cheerleaders before they faced off in the DC Interscholastic Athletic Association title game. Six DC Council members joined the athletes to congratulate them, including Chairman Vincent C. Gray and Council members Muriel Bowser (Ward 4), Michael A. Brown (At-Large), Harry Thomas, Jr. (Ward 5), Tommy Wells (Ward 6) and Yvette Alexander (Ward 7). Marcus Ellis, Director of Athletics for DCPS wished both teams luck as he extended an invitation for their suggestions on the school’s athletic program.

DC’s own Interscope recording artist Wale also joined the celebration, speaking to the students about the importance of living your dreams out to the fullest while staying focused in school. Students received Georgetown basketball game tickets, the soundtrack CD from LeBron James’s movie “More Than a Game” and logo game towels. The 40th Annual DCIAA Turkey Bowl Game was played on Thanksgiving Day, with Woodson victorious over Ballou, claiming consecutive championships since 1994, and its 10th league title, the most of any school.

Parent Centers Receive Additional Boost from the Trust in 2010

For 2010, the Trust is significantly increasing its investment in parent centers as part of a strategy to further expand the impact of the youth development programs. The Trust knows that when parents are supported, children’s lives are greatly improved. This is why the Trust is increasing its investment in parent centers by more than 30 percent from 2009 – funding 22 grantees that are working with parents, guardians, and caregivers in the District to address issues such as family wellness, parenting skills and outreach in schools and communities.

The Capitol Interfaith Hospitality Network is one great example of the uniqueness of the work of our parent centers. Capitol Interfaith works with a network of small, community-based, short-term housing programs that help families transitioning out of homelessness. As a growing number of children in the District are growing up in families without stable housing, the programming offered by Capitol Interfaith addresses one of the most important basic needs that impact on a child's sense of safety and structure.

Parent Center grantees for 2010 include: Academy of Hope, Advocates for Justice & Education, Alliance of Concerned Men, Bright Beginnings, Inc., Capital Interfaith Hospitality Network, Catholic Charities, Center for Child Protection & Family Support, Inc, City Gate, Inc., Community Family Life Services, E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, East River Family Strengthening Collaborative, Georgetown University, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, Inc., Multicultural Career Intern Program, Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Teaching for Change-Tellin’ Stories, The Family Place, The Fishing School, The Keys to Canaan, Turning the Page and the Vietnamese-American Community Service Center.

Trust Seeks Proposals for Summer Programs in 2010

The Trust announces a Request for Proposals for high-quality summer programs serving DC children and youth ages 5–24. The deadline for submission is 4 p.m., January 29, 2010. Proposals will be funded in four categories:

• Summer Youth Service Corps

• Summer Programs in DCPS Facilities

• Summer Programs in Community-based Organizations

• Summer Programs in DPR Sites

Applicants MUST attend a Grant Technical Assistance sessions to be eligible for this grant. Sessions will be offered on three dates in January. For more information, visit www.cyitc.org/grants/rfp.asp.