Showing posts with label Philanthropy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philanthropy. Show all posts

October 23, 2014

We Plunged

Right into doing something we’ve never done before – host a Zumbathon® Charity Event! Since we’ve been out of the lime-light, we thought hosting a Zumbathon® would be a fun way to reconnect with friends and supporters, and make new ones.

We’ve supported Zumbathon® events to benefit heart disease and ovarian cancer. And one-year later we’re hosting our own to benefit women experiencing poverty in the Washington region.

The Zumba® Corporate Office approved our Zumbathon® Charity Event within two-hours of submission - a process that normally takes two-business days, and within four-weeks, only 10% of our desired participants have registered.

Lesson learned, we’re doing something we’ve never done before and its success can’t be measured solely on who showed up; but, on our commitment to work and move the weight of poverty off the shoulders of women who live with it daily right in our backyard.

Not achieving the desired results from this plunge will not stop us from doing it again. Poverty is growing, and we do not have time to be stagnated by fear, skepticism, or resistance.

If you want to experience growth and enthusiasm click here - this can result from trying something new.

September 26, 2014

I’m Not One of Them

My parents raised me different.

My parents told me, "Make sure you can take care of yourself," and I do.

These women need to stop lying on their backs, making babies they can’t take care of.

I’m not giving my money to support lazy women that don’t want to work.

These statements are from single mothers who were approached by The SOFEI Group to help us achieve our mission of empowering women to economic independence. The single mothers were divorced, widowed, and a sole parent with a strong support system.

What’s interesting is how proud they were to share their distinction without knowledge of our current and prospective clients. It will be impossible for women to thrive as a cohesive unit when we’re moved so swiftly to divide. Why talk about the wage gap between men and women or any other gaps that supposedly prevent women from progressing, when women allow social, political, financial, or ethnical differences create wedges?

Many women who have experienced or are experiencing poverty, did not choose it! They do not enjoy relying on the government or others to feed their children or meet their basic living needs. And, it's unfortunate these women experience a different type of judgment when they need assistance to regain their momentum after a divorce, death of a spouse, spousal abandonment, decline in health, or job loss.

Today's society is heading towards a downward spiral because women who carry the weight of poverty aren't participating at their best capacity. Madeleine Albright, (former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and US Secretary of State) states, "There's a special place in hell for women that don't help each other."

Women have the power to transform our society to be more inclusive and not divisive. It's a matter of choice. Which will you choose?

March 17, 2013

Should the Government Accumulate Debt for the Poor?

Deuteronomy 15:11 states, For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

The Israelites were instructed by God to help the poor when they arrived to possess the Promised Land to serve as a reminder of God's gift of freedom after their enslavement in Egypt.

Some believe people that are poor brought it on themselves, and this belief makes it easy to close our hearts and hands towards them. Helping the poor demonstrates our faith in God and our country. Ignoring to care for the poor for any reason forfeits our humanitarian duty to care for our fellow citizens during their greatest time of need.

The battle between Congress and the President on strategies to serve the poor isn’t simply about the rising debt, but the different attitudes towards poverty. Not extending unemployment benefits or decreasing government entitlement programs may decrease the National debt, but it will not prevent the poor from sinking deeper into an oppressive state.

When the hearts of more American citizens become like God’s, we will give more without passing judgment or making excuses. If God can look beyond our faults to meet our needs, we should do the same.

The government shouldn’t accumulate debt to help the poor, but it should build a compassionate approach to handle it.

April 3, 2012

Got Power?

According to Target Market News 16th annual report Buying Power of Black America, the expenditures of Blacks rose to $507 billion dollars. The top five expenditures were:
  • Housing $203.8 billion
  • Food $65.2 billion
  • Cars/Trucks $29.1 billion
  • Clothing $29.3 billion
  • Health Care $23.6 billion
Who or what is being empowered as a result of this Black Buying Power? Is the employment gap among Blacks closing? Are the increasing numbers of disparities within the Black Community decreasing? Is the growing trend of poverty amongst low-income, women-led families being addressed? Is this buying power restoring or strengthening the Black family unit - a foundation in society?

It appears the Buying Power of Blacks is generating economic stability and wealth outside of their communities. Yep! It's helping other Ethnic groups establish businesses in socially and economically disadvantaged communities (i.e., underserved Black Communities) for members of their group. And, this buying power depletes the vitality of Black Communities because their money seldom returns.

If Black Buying Power isn't creating long-lasting, positive impacts within the Black Community; this Black Buying Power isn't powerful at all.

November 30, 2009

What's the Big Deal About Single Mothers?

What's the big deal about single mothers, I was raised by one and I turned out okay! Were the words of a business leader running for a Prince George's County Council position.

There are many successful leaders and great people that were raised by single parents. VEINC is not presenting single mothers as damsels in distress or victims of society. However, due to the increased percentage of households being led by single mothers not only in Prince George's County, Maryland, but within our Nation, it's a big deal when single women-headed households have in some regard become the normal family structure.

According to Sociology for Families, single-parent families are normally female-headed and single women typically do not earn the same income as a single man; thus, there is a consequent economic struggle and burden not experienced in a single-father household. Single mothers often must work overtime shifts to compensate for the low salaries, thus taking time away from their children and other domestic chores. This results in a child that is home alone, without adult supervision, or placed in a daycare service for up to 8-10 hours per day. Government subsidized daycare is not yet a realized dream, and many single mothers pay large fees for this service.

The big deal about single parenting especially for Prince George's County, Maryland is, it has the highest concentration of low-income families headed by women in the Washington metro region. And, low-income families headed by women are vulnerable to the cycle of poverty. The impact of poverty puts a strain on the local, state, and the government by investing money in reactive services and programs to support low-income families (e.g., emergency housing, food stamp assistance, or crime and gang prevention) instead of proactive services and programs (e.g., workforce training and development, entrepreneurship programs; affordable housing, childcare, and health care, and accessible transportation).

There's an old saying, If you keep doing what you've always done, you will keep getting what you've always gotten. And, we can no longer afford to allow politics as usual if we want to experience a significant change in Prince George's County.

The Status of Women and Girls of Prince George's County needs to be a top priority on the platform for all politicians running for local and state government. Make your vote count to ensure Prince George's County, Maryland will live up to it's motto, A Livable Community for all Prince Georgians, especially for low-income women-led families where the weight of economic instability rides on their shoulders.

Following is VEINC's wish list to strengthen the economic status of women and girls of Prince George's County:
  • Bring more livable wage careers to Prince George's County that offer benefits in health and work-life balance. Prince George's County main career industries are retail and hospitality
  • Work harder to ensure funding for Individual Training Accounts under the Workforce Investment Act is adequately funneled from the State to Prince George's County to increase participation in local education and training programs
  • Change childcare voucher systems to ensure vouchers are honored in a timely manner
  • Make public transportation more accessible to transit around all localities of Prince George's County, Maryland
  • Add more women politicians that will advocate on behalf of the issues relating to women and girls
  • Increase local funding to proactively address barriers that prevent women and girls from achieving economic independence and stability.

Ladies, make your vote count! Don't sit on the sideline and assume your challenges will automatically be taken care of, or your vote won't count. All votes count and you have the power to make a change for yourself and other women like you in your community. Make your voice known. Make your voice heard. And, hold your local and state representatives accountable to making positive changes and impacts on behalf of underserved women and girls of Prince George's County, Maryland.

November 23, 2007

The Spirit of Giving

Do you have the spirit? Yeah! Yeah! Do you have the spirit? Yeah! Yeah! Well let me see it in your walk...

One of my favorite cheers in high school was, Do You Have The Spirit. The cheerleaders really knew how to get the crowd excited and engaged in our school's sporting events, and it seemed like the crowd ignited a new fire in the players to strive harder to win if they were trailing behind.

It appears that the Spirit of Giving is more prevalent during the Holiday Season (i.e., Thanksgiving and Christmas) and many nonprofits do a great job raising money during this special time of year. What are their secrets or strategies? Who are their cheerleaders? And, what cheers do they chant to engage donors to give to support their cause(s)?

According to the Making Connections: The Nonprofit Sector in Prince George's County report conducted by the Maryland Association of Nonprofits, "80% of the nonprofit sectors with revenue below $25,000 are in Prince George's County, Maryland, compared to the state-wide average of 63%." How can this be since Prince George's County is known as one of the most affluent counties for African Americans in the Nation? In addition, the report states that the nonprofit sector of Prince George's County is small and under-resourced compared to its neighboring counties (e.g., Anne Arundel, Montgomery, or Howard) and the growth among this sector is not promising.

As an emerging nonprofit organization based in Prince George's County, Maryland, Virtuous Enterprises, Inc. (VEINC) can attest to some of the challenges that can plague the county’s nonprofit sector:

  • Capacity Building - Although well trained, many nonprofits do not have the ‘proper resources’ to implement creative and effective capacity building strategies. Some of the tools and techniques provided during training demonstrates 'what to do', but not 'how to do'.
  • Human/Social Capital - As the old cliché states, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” Building a business from scratch without the leverage of ‘human capital' can be a slow process and very few nonprofits have this competitive advantage.
  • Lack of Operational Funds - Many social investors are advised to invest in programs, not operations and many grant makers provide more funding to support programs instead of operations. The nonprofit sector has to be quite creative in raising funds to prevent their programs from losing its home or operating in the dark.
  • Social Cause is Too Small - Programs and services for women with HIV/AIDS or domestic violence, seems to outweigh services and programs for low-income, women-headed families.
VEINC transitioned to a nonprofit organization in 1999 and the organization’s focus changed, when our new cheerleader - The Washington Area Women's Foundation ignited our fire by presenting us with a 2004 Leadership Award for our innovative services and programs for underserved women and girls in the Washington region. VEINC was trailing behind since we thought our services and programs weren't needed, until we evaluated the results of our pilot programs and we are here to stay!

Social Investing is risky and our returns can vary. During this Spirit of Giving season consider investing in social causes that can strengthen the vitality of low-income, women-headed families. When we invest in families, we strengthen our society, because society is a collection of communities, and communities are a collection of families.

The return on your investment will be long-term, however, the results will be quite rewarding.