NEW YORK, NY — The Children’s Village (CV) has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Alliance for Children and Families to implement a pilot project to explore, test, and gain understanding of the elevation of strategy within nonprofit human service agencies. The grant is part of the Alliance’s multi-year pilot project Strategy Counts! funded by the Kresge Foundation.

Strategy Counts! offers CV the opportunity to continue the work of transforming its historical image and culture as a residential agency to better reflect its broader  community-based programs and mission. CV will use the grant to work with New York-based Management Solutions to develop a strategic transformation that will include the Board, stakeholders, and all levels of the organization.

“For more than 160 years, The Children’s Village has been a leader in residential programming for at-risk youth, but as we have grown and embraced the need to keep children in the community with families when possible, our focus has shifted,” said Dr. Jeremy C. Kohomban, CV President and CEO. “Today, 80% of the children and families we serve are part of our community programs. Strategy Counts! will help us take the next steps in ensuring that  our operations, culture and image reflect this important shift, and we are delighted to have been chosen to be a pilot site. ”

The Children’s Village is one of 14 nonprofits around the country participating in the Strategy Counts! initiative.

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Founded in 1851, The Children’s Village www.childrensvillage.org works in partnership with families to help children develop the skills and positive attitude needed to succeed as healthy contributing adults.  Each year, CV serves close to 10,000 of the New York area’s most at-risk children and their families.  Programs include shelters and street outreach for homeless and immigrant youth, foster and adoptive homes, a community center in Harlem, and a host of family support services.

The Kresge Foundation is a $3.1 billion private, national foundation that seeks to influence the quality of life for future generations by creating access and opportunity in underserved communities, improving the health of low-income people, supporting artistic expression, increasing college achievement, assisting in the revitalization of Detroit, and advancing methods for dealing with global climate change. The foundation works in six program areas: arts and culture, community development, education, the environment, health, and human services. In 2010, the Board of Trustees approved 481 awards totaling $158 million; $134 million was paid out to grantees over the course of the year. For more information, visit kresge.org.

The Alliance for Children and Families, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2011, is a nonprofit national membership association of private, nonprofit human service providers in the United States and Canada. Motivated by a vision of a healthy society and strong communities, the Alliance strengthens the capacities of North America’s nonprofit child- and family-serving organizations to serve and advocate for children, families, and communities. The more than 350 members of the Alliance provide an array of community-based programs and services to all generations, serving close to 3.4 million people each year. The Alliance is accredited by the Council on Accreditation. More information about the Alliance is available at alliance1.org.

Suzanne’s boys each let her know what they wanted for Christmas. Each gift cost the roughly the price of a first class round trip ticket to North Pole. (By the way, Jetblue doesn’t fly there).  As we were discussing the billions of dollars that the advertising industry spends to connect with your kids on levels that parents only dream of, I thought about giving you a few pointers on how to prevent tantrums and meltdown from your kids, while keeping you out of bankruptcy court.

#1 Make a list

Have a conversatin with your kids. Tell them to give you a list of several gifts that are within a pricerange that you determine.  Also, tell them, how many gifts they will get off of that list.  If they want to negotiate that’s fine. Instead of two $40 gifts, Johnny may want one $90 gift. Work with him. Be creative. Have him contribute the extra $10.

#2  Check it twice

Now go through that list and choose the gifts you’re going to buy. But don’t tell them what they gifts are. (if at all possible, get them something that’s not on the list ALSO. Total suprises are still in season)

#3 Don’t be naughty. Be nice.

If you have relatives who you know will give money (grandma, grandpa, Grandma…), talk to your children (or the relative) about using that money to get something off the list that you didn’t choose.

Most kids know you’re Santa. It’s a really good idea to help them understand the life lessons of sharing, planning and compromise. This is a perfecrt opportunty for that. Also, remember to talk to them about the gifts they are going to give.

Do the same with younger kids. There’s no reason that they should be lead to believe that they can ask for and receive everything the advertisers are showing them on television and printed ads.  Furthmore, you may want to have them watch more commericial free programming. PBS, Netflix and the ever reliable DVD are great for that.

By the way, when my son was born at 11:30 that night, I asked him for his list. He gave me a blank stare. You know the one. You may get that too. But work with them. Have a happy holiday!

-Donald

Donald Somerville
Senior Family Services Coordinator

Here are six tips for keeping your holiday cheer…

1.  Set Expectations—So you saw the perfect party happen in your favorite holiday movie recently and you’ve decided it’s time to recreate it? Maybe that’s not the best idea… unless your family comes with a lighting crew, a well-written script, make-up artists, and prop assistants. The real thing never plays out like it does on the big screen, and that’s ok. Set expectations that work for you and your family and go with it.

2.  Delegate—Clearly you’re Super(wo)man. You do more in a day that should be allowed for one person, and you do it every day. Rather than throwing it into overdrive, why not take this year to get a little help. Choose the parts you love the most for you and then let people help. Think of chairing your own Holiday Committee!

3.  Budget—In economic times like these you probably don’t need to be reminded of this one. Even still this is the time of year when everywhere you look is an ad for something at “never before seen prices!” It’s easy to get carried away, so take the guess work out and plan ahead for what you’re able to do this year and then call it a day.

4.  Reassess and prioritize—You’re halfway to the goal line for your holiday season. How did you do on numbers 1-3? Think about it. Make adjustments. Make it happe

5.  Take care of yourself—You can’t take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself. Perhaps it’s cliché, but it probably became that way for a reason. Everyone knows you’re Super(wo)man (see above), so you’re going to get asked to do a lot. There’s no shame in carving out time to do a few things that will give the holidays a little personal cheer for you, and when you make it all look easy it will be better for everyone.

6.  Keep things in perspective –You know this one. At the end of the day it’s not about the gifts, decorations, or a perfectly prepared meal. If you finished the holiday season by sitting around a table with the people you care about then it’s a success.  Remember, the holidays are about people connecting-those are the times we remember.

Keep these tips in mind as the holidays quickly approach. Hopefully they’ll help you stay a little cheerier and enjoy the end of 2011.

-Dan

Dan Melnick, PhD

Director of Residential Support Services
He has been serving CV kids and families for 13 years.

The funds raised are being used for the Lanza Activities Center, which has become the hub for life on our Dobbs Ferry campus as well as a resource for families in our community programs. In addition to recreation facilities (including an Olympic-length swimming pool and high-end fitness room), the Center also offers career-training opportunities through its cafe, commercial kitchen, and barbershop.

Mrs. Lanza has supported The Children’s Village for many years and has taken a personal interest in older youth finding permanent families, completing high school, going on to post-secondary education, and successfully getting and keeping a job.

No matter how big or small, your donation, with the support of the Lanza Family Foundation, is giving youth the chance they may have never had. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our children and families.

Our team was reflecting on the fact that we have more than 161 years of experience as an agency providing services to children and families in NYC and the surrounding areas. Even more importantly, we have staff who have worked in this field for 20, 30, 40+ years and have gained invaluable knowledge through their work. With decades of experiential learning our staff have a lot to offer our colleagues, peers, and families.

This blog is where we will share our insights.

Covering topics like parenting tips, programs that reduce juvenile recidivism, nonprofit leadership, and local, state, and national policy advocacy, this blog is a place you’ll want to visit. Bookmark us and look out for updates on our social media stream @ Facebook & Twitter.

Happy Reading!!

During his announcement the Mayor said, “There is no cure-all. We’re not going to be able to reach every single person, no matter what we do. He added optimistically, “But we have to give it our best shot.”

The Mayor identified four areas of priority–education, socioeconomic and health, employment and incarceration.

I would add a fifth priority, “One life-long stable and appropriate adult relationship.” In our long experience this is the one variable that is often missing from the lives of our young men. This goes requirement goes beyond a typical mentoring relationship and it requires a moral commitment to be there for these men for the long-haul, well into their mid and late 20′s.

Finding and helping create these life-long relationships is not easy, but it is a must have aspect of the success formula. It works, and at The Children’s Village, we see his formula work every day!

-Jeremy Kohomban, PhD
President/CEO
Read Dr. Kohomban’s Bio here

Download a PDF for more information on how you can be part of the Holidays at CV. Or contact Karen M. Gallagher, Holiday Coordinator, at volunteer@childrensvillage.org or 914-693-0600 ext. 1455.