Proposal for Emerging Opportunities Program

Proposal for Emerging Opportunities Program 2016

Submit application to [email protected]

Deadline: 12:00 pm (noon) on Friday, March 18, 2016 LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Please limit your proposal and responses to the form and space provided. Any materials submitted in addition to this application form will not be considered in the evaluation of the proposal. Do not attempt to unlock or alter this form.

If you need assistance with this proposal or are unclear about how to respond to any questions please contact CDD staff at 266-6520.

Amount Agency or Group: Neighborhood House Community Center $10928 Requested: Title of Proposal: Collegiate Mentoring Program Contact Person: Monica Schwartz Address: 29 S. Mills St., Madison, WI. 53715 Telephone: 608-255-5337 E-Mail: [email protected] Is this Group a 501 (C) Yes or No If no, applicant will need to secure a fiscal agent with 501 (C) (3) (3)? YES status Applicant Organization 1916 founded (Year): Name of Fiscal Agent

(if Applicable): Fiscal Agent Contact

Person: Project Description: Children aged 7-17 are paired with college students for academic support and ( Approx. 20 Words) informal guidance.

1. Emerging Need or Opportunity: (5000 characters) Please describe the emerging need or unanticipated opportunity that warrants City resources and attention at this time:

By funding an existing program, the city of Madison is in a position to support a proposal based on history and achievements, rather than projections and predictions. Our Collegiate Mentoring Program began in 2011 and grew out of need that we--and the city-- recognized. School test scores were low. Families were impacted by a struggling economy. Recent immigrants were especially vulnerable. According to the National Education Association, “Only 29% of [English Language Learners] scored at or above the basic level in reading.” 74% of the children who currently participate in Neighborhood House's Collegiate Mentoring Program are English Language Learners who live in a non-English speaking household. These children have fewer opportunities to do homework and practice reading and writing with an adult who speaks English.

Our mentoring program provides low-income, at-risk youth the opportunity to practice schoolwork twice a week with a college student, who also speaks fluent English. By assisting students with homework, mentors are able to determine a students' English speaking and reading ability, and then tailor their assistance accordingly. This indvidualized assistance is something schools often cannot provide and 1 families cannot afford.

One measure of a program's success is retention. Last school year twenty children enrolled in our mentoring program. Every single child stayed in the program until the end of the year. This year twenty-four students enrolled. One child left at the end of the fall semester because his mentor could no longer continue. Out of our twenty-four initial mentees, twenty-three are still active, and 58% of these mentees have participated in the program in prior years. We'd be remiss not to mention the dedication shown by the mentors, who carve time out of their busy academic, social and work schedules to volunteer here. Many of our mentors not only complete the school year with their mentees, but also return year after year until they graduate.

With close connections to the youth, parents, and school staff, Neighborhood House is able to identify and respond to the emerging needs that youth in the Collegiate Mentoring Program face. Our mentoring program provides us with a window into the lives of mentees and their families. When it became apparent that youth in the program faced food insecurity, Neighborhood House secured a grant from Madison4Kids to provide healthy snacks at all of their mentoring meetings. It is through mentoring that we've been able to identify several families who now benefit from our many donation drives, such as "Healthy Meals," "School Supplies," and "Winter Wear."

2. Applicant Organization or Group: (5000 Characters) Please briefly describe the history and structure of your organization. Include information about staffing, your board and/or volunteers. Please describe any successes you have had in the areas of programming or the project described in this proposal.

Neighborhood House was founded in 1916 and is Madison's first community center. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and are governed by a board of directors comprised of people with a strong interest in the welfare of our community. Currently sitting on our board are the city alder for our district, representatives from UnityPoint-Meriter and SSM Healthcare, local business people and residents, and members from some of our many clubs. Our staff is uniquely qualified to run a mentoring program. Our Executive Director, Andy Millman, has over thirty years of experience in social services and education. He served as Executive Director of Glencoe Youth Services (GYS), a non-profit organization for high school students in Illinois for eleven years. Prior to assuming that position, he worked there as a Youth Worker and then Assistant Director, and he was also a Youth Worker for the Department of Youth Services in Highland Park, IL. Andy has financial management experience, both in his position as Executive Director and later as the GYS Treasurer on its board of directors. He has taught at Marquette University, Oakton Community College and College of Lake County. Our Assistant Director, Ben Tolle, has worked at Neighborhood House since 2012 and has been actively involved in its mentoring program and summer camp. Both he and our Program Director, Monica Schwartz, are UW graduates with close ties to the university community, which helps them recruit strong mentors. Ben is fluent in conversational Spanish and is the main contact for our many families with Spanish-speaking parents. He has worked at 4H camps and at UW's Hoofers group, where he supervised student workers and volunteers. Monica earned a BS in Community and Non-profit Leadership with a certificate in Entrepreneurship. She has been supervising our mentoring program since this past spring and helped direct our last summer camp. She was the Co- President of the UW group Badger Acts of Kindness for three years and also a member of UW United Way, where she particpated in the Red, White and Read program. She also tutored at West High School. Our staff is augmented by several hundred volunteers each year. Neighborhood House has been serving our community's young people since our inception. Families in our neighborhood continue to rely on us to provide high-quality activities for their children throughout the year.

3. Intended Service Population: (2500 characters) Please describe the intended service population (e.g., where they are located, ages, ethnicities, income ranges, English language proficiency etc.).

The Collegiate Mentoring Program partners area youth ages 7-17 with a college student mentor. The program currently has mentees from seven Madison schools, drawing most heavily from Randall Elementary and Hamilton Middle Schools. 74% of mentees are English Language Learners who live in a

2 non-English speaking household. 88% are non-white or multi-racial. In our 2014-2015 year 75% of mentees qualified for free or reduced lunch at school and thus received a scholarship for the mentoring program fee. In response, for the 2015-2016 year we decided to make the program free of charge (previously it had been $20 per year, though most students' fees were waived). Most families of mentees live in the Bayview Triangle, Bay Creek, and south Madison neighborhoods. Many take the school bus here or walk to and from programming at Neighborhood House. Mentors are UW students living in the neighborhood or within walking and biking distance. The Collegiate Mentoring Program brings together two groups of community members who normally don’t have many opportunities to interact but can both benefit from the relationship. The mentees meet and connect with college role models who can inspire their education and social development, and mentors engage in meaningful volunteering in their community by contributing to the positive and supportive after school environment.

4. Innovation: (5000 characters) How does this proposal reflect a new or innovative approach to the stated problem?

The Collegiate Mentoring Program solely utilizes college students as mentors. Most of our mentors come from UW. Our mentors and mentees often connect easily, likely due to the small age gap. Mentees immediately look up to and emulate their mentors, who automatically set a good example by simply being a college student. They have taken the steps to get a higher education, which encourages mentees to strive for a higher education, too. College students have access to campus resources, which they share with their mentees. The UW campus is a favorite field trip destination. By traveling to campus with their college-age mentor, the youth begin to feel like they are welecome--and even belong--on campus.

Utilizing college students as mentors enables the youth in many ways, but Neighborhood House also strives for a well-rounded program. Beginning this year, we introduced an inter-generational aspect to the Collegiate Mentoring Program. Through a collaboration with RSVP of Dane County, youth in the mentoring program have the opportunity to be pen-pals with senior citizens in RSVP. The youth work with their mentors to practice reading, writing, and comprehension as they correspond with their pen-pals weekly. Not only does this enriching piece of the mentoring program strengthen the youths' academics, it also expands their social network and gives them confidence to interact with people of all ages.

92% of youth currently enrolled in the Collegiate Mentoring Program qualify for free or reduced lunch through MMSD. For these families, we offer holistic support. Low-income families in the mentoring program receive items from Neighborhood House's donation drives including winter wear, holiday gifts, Thanksgiving meal baskets, healthy meal bags, and school supplies.

5. Project/Program Goals: (5000 characters) Please describe the specific goals, objectives and intended measurable impacts of this program/project. Include the number of people you expect will benefit from this project.

Strengthening at-risk youths' academics is at the forefront of the Collegiate Mentoring Program's goals. Mentors and mentees meet for one hour twice a week; half of that time is dedicated to building academics. Together, mentors and mentees do homework, take field trips to the UW campus, libraries, and museums, and discuss the importance of higher education. 74% of the children who participate in the program are English Language Learners who live in a non-English speaking household. According to the National Education Association, “Only 29% of [English Language Learners] scored at or above the basic level in reading.” The mentoring program is especially beneficial for those mentees by giving them the opportunity to practice school work with an adult who speaks fluent English. Neighborhood House also regularly communicates with Madison Metropolitan School District staff and teachers to give the youth consistent academic support.

Developing the youths’ social skills is the Collegiate Mentoring Program’s second priority. Mentoring pairs spend the second half of their time together building a positive relationship that encourages good choices. Together, mentors and mentees make art, play games, bake, and email their senior citizen pen-pal through

3 Computer Buddies, an inter-generational program provided by RSVP of Dane County.

Encouraging thoughts about one’s future and higher education is another goal of the Collegiate Mentoring program. By interacting with positive college student role models and gaining access to campus we hope to teach children, many coming from disadvantaged situations, that they too could seek and benefit from a college education.

We expect to serve 75 unduplicated participants during the next school year. As previously mentioned, our program is now free for everyone, and we do see a higher percentage of children in the program who qualify for free and reduced lunch taking part in our program than in past years.

6. Program/Project design: (5000 characters) Please describe structure of proposed program or project, hours of service/schedule, staffing, curriculum or project/service structure, etc.

Neighborhood House's Collegiate Mentoring Program matches college students with area youth ages 7-17. We expect to serve 75 unduplicated participants during the 2016-2017 academic year. Mentoring pairs meet for one hour twice a week to strengthen the youths' academics, social skills, and self-esteem. Mentoring takes place after the MMSD school day, making the mentoring schedule 1:30-6:00pm on Mondays and 3:00-6:00pm Tuesday through Friday. This totals to 16.5 hours of service a week, staffed by at least two full-time Neighborhood House staff members. Most youth take the bus directly to Neighborhood House after school, making the program very accessible.

Mentoring pairs meet at Neighborhood House twice a week for one hour. Half of their time together is spent doing academic work, and the other half is spent building a positive relationship and providing social support. Neighborhood House staff provides mentoring pairs with educational yet fun activities when the youths do not have school work. The program is designed to spark the youths' interest in learning and to improve their academic skills. Mentors and mentees also bond over fun, educational experiences when they go on field trips to the UW campus, Madison museums, and other nearby destinations.

7. Community Engagement: (2500 characters) Please describe how community, residents and program and/ or project participants were engaged in the development of this proposal.

This proposal supports a program that was developed and continues to improve with input and support from UW student volunteers, neighbors, participants, our board of directors, and families of participants. Communication with mentors, mentees, MMSD schools, and parents have shaped the program throughout its formation and first few years. The Collegiate Mentoring program seeks to bring together student leaders and local children. We look north, and we see campus, we look south, east, and west, and we see the Madison community. How do we forge a meaningful connection between the two? There are some in the Madison community that feel that campus is a separate or somewhat closed off environment and its students come from out of town, live here for a few years, then leave without making much impact in the community beyond campus. While that is no doubt the nature of a large university, there is much that college students can contribute to their adopted community while they are here and the Collegiate Mentoring Program is one such opportunity.

8. Collaboration: (2500 characters) Please describe the level of involvement with other service providers, schools, funders, government bodies, or other public or private stakeholders in the development of this proposal and its expected implementation.

Neighborhood House regularly communicates with MMSD staff and teachers. Teachers often share with us which subject areas their student in mentoring needs help with and how to best give them that help. This allows Neighborhood House to give the youth consistent academic support. Neighborhood House has collaborated with RSVP of Dane County to intertwine the "Computer Buddies" program--an intergenerational pen-pal program--with the Collegiate Mentoring Program. Participating youth are paired with senior citizens to email back and forth as pen-pals.

4 In past years, we have received funding from Madison4Kids, Captial Times Kids' Fund, and Unity Point Health-Meriter.

To help us reach college students to serve as mentors, Neighborhood House collaborates with the UW Morgridge Center and many UW student organizations including Badger Acts of Kindness, Powers-Knapps Chancellors Scholars, Aspiring Nurses Association, Students for Families and Children, and more.

9. Proposed Timeline for Implementation:

Estimated Start and Completion Activity Dates Post application for mentees and mentors. August 2016 Orient mentors. Late August early September 2016 Mentoring begins. September 2016 Late December 2016 to early Winter break. January 2017 Mentoring resumes. January 2017 Last day of mentoring. May 2017

10. Funding: (500 characters each)

a) What other funding have you sought and/or received to support this project?

Capital Times Kids Fund, Madison4Kids, Meriter-UnityPoint Health and SSM Health Care

b) Do you anticipate future funding needs from City sources associated with this proposal? Please describe.

Future funding from the city would help to ensure the long-term viability of the program.

c) Has your organization received funding from the City of Madison Community Development Division, City of Madison CDBG office, Community Services, the Emerging Opportunities Program or the former Emerging Neighborhoods Program in the last 5 years?

Yes No

11. Budget:

Summarize your project budget by estimated costs, revenue, and fund source.

SOURCE AMOUNT TOTAL AMOUNT OF OF NON- OF NON- BUDGET EXPENDITURES PROJECT CITY $ City CITY COSTS REQUESTED FUNDED REVENUES PORTION A. Personnel Costs (Complete Personnel chart below) Other grants; 1. Salaries/Wages (show detail below) 20928 10928 10000 Donation letter 5 SOURCE AMOUNT TOTAL AMOUNT OF OF NON- OF NON- BUDGET EXPENDITURES PROJECT CITY $ City CITY COSTS REQUESTED FUNDED REVENUES PORTION Donation 2. Fringe Benefits and Payroll Taxes 1601 0 1601 Letter B. Program Costs Donation 1. Program supplies and equipment 1200 0 1200 Letter; Mad4Kids Donation 2. Office Supplies 300 0 300 Letter Donation 3. Transportation 100 0 100 Letter 4. Other (explain) C. Space Costs 5. Rent/Utilities/Telephone 0 6. Other (explain): D. TOTAL (A + B + C) 24129 10928 13201

Explanation of “Other” expenses: (500 characters)

12. Personnel Chart: Please list all paid staff that will be working on the proposed program/project.

Title of Staff Position F.T.E.* Proposed Hourly Wage* Assistant Director .32 $15 Program Director .38 $14 $ $ $ TOTAL .70 *FTE = Full Time Equivalent (1.00, .75, .50, etc.) 2080 hours = 1.00 FTE Please identify FTE that will be spent in this project.

*Note: All employees involved in programs receiving City of Madison funds must be paid the established Living Wage as required under City of Madison Ordinance 4.20. Effective January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016, the Living Wage is $12.83 per hour.

13. Fiscal Agent Relationship (if applicable): If applicant organization is not a 501c (3) this section must be completed. If applicant is a 501c (3) please skip to the Signature Page.

Fundamental expectations of the Fiscal Agent and Applicant relationship:

 The Fiscal Agent should read the EOP application and have some confidence that the applicant agency will be able to successfully implement the proposed project or program.

6  The Fiscal Agent will accept allocated funds from the City of Madison for the identified program or project and reimburse the applicant for expenses incurred performing the work of the contracted program.

 The Fiscal Agent and the applicant agency will decide who will provide and purchase the necessary insurance coverage for the identified program.

 The Fiscal Agent will ensure that the funded project or program is in compliance with City of Madison Purchase of Service Contact requirements, including but not limited to Living Wage requirements, Non Discrimination and Affirmative Action, and equal benefits protections.

Applicant is expected to provide the Fiscal Agent with the Fiscal Agent Commitment Form. Please indicate date and staff person that received this form.

Date: Staff person: Position: Telephone Number:

7 -SIGNATURE PAGE-

City of Madison Contracts:

The following information is provided in order to outline city requirements that will apply if your proposal is funded. All allocated funds will be administered through contracts with the City of Madison, community Development Division. If funded, the City of Madison reserves the right to negotiate the final terms of a contract with the selected organization. If funded, applicants will be expected to attend a mandatory meeting on contracting requirements the week of November 17. City purchase of service contracts include requirements regarding non discrimination, and consideration of vulnerable populations along with specific requirements regarding the following three areas:

1. Affirmative Action:

If funded, applicant hereby agrees to comply with City of Madison Ordinance 39.02 and file either an exemption or an Affirmative Action Plan with the Department of Civil Rights. A model Affirmative Action Plan and instructions are available at http://www.cityofmadison.com/dcr/aaplans.cfm.

2. Living Wage Ordinance:

All employees involved in programs supported by City of Madison funds must be paid the established Living Wage as required under City of Madison Ordinance 4.20. The Living wage effective January 1, 2016 is $12.83 per hour. For more information on Living Wage requirements, go to http://www.cityofmadison.com/finance/wage/.

3. Insurance

If funded, applicant agrees to secure insurance coverage in the following areas to the extent required by the office of City Risk Management:  Commercial General Liability  Automobile Liability  Worker’s Comp  Professional Liability The cost of this coverage can be considered in the request for funding. The Certificate of Insurance that will be required at the time of contracting is available on the City of Madison Risk Management website.

A sample contract that includes standard provisions may be obtained by contacting the Community Development Division at (608) 266-6520.

4. Signature:

(Any applications submitted without a signature will be considered incomplete and will not be considered for funding.)

Applicant Signature:

Enter Monica Schwartz Name: Date: 3/17/2016 You are electronically signing your By entering your initials MS name and agreeing to the terms in the box, above.