Partners in Compassion Institute

 
    United Way of the Midlands has announced the 20 local faith- and community-based organizations that have been accepted into the Partners in Compassion Institute (PIC).  Participation in the Institute is granted on a competitive basis. Selected participants receive staff and volunteer training, technical assistance, and financial assistance to strengthen the organization's ability to lead, market, operate and raise money.
    The PIC Institute was founded to help faith and community-based groups that benefit the homeless or at-risk youth in Lexington, Richland, Fairfield, Newberry, Calhoun or Orangeburg counties.
    "Our ultimate goal is to expand and sustain the delivery of effective services in the Midlands by increasing the number of organizations that can compete successfully for funding and that employ effective practices," said Mac Bennett, president and CEO of United Way of the Midlands. "The long commitment of United Way of the Midlands, more than 80 years, to its partners in the region will continue beyond the grant period, making the benefits to the region sustainable for years to come."
    Organizations interested in applying for the 2009 grants should contact Bunnie Lempesis, Director, Community Capacity Building, at 803-758-6982.
The following organizations were accepted into the PIC Institute:
  • Alpha Psi Lambda Foundation provides mentoring and character development education to at-risk young men in the Columbia area through the E.E. Taylor Youth Leadership Institute.
  • City Year Columbia corps members serve Richland 1 schools as teacher assistants, mentors and tutors.
  • Columbia Bethlehem Community Center serves the Waverly-Edgewood community and provides after school programs to at-risk children ages five to twelve. 
  • The Cooperative Ministry supports several Midlands-area religious congregations by coordinating their provision of direct services for people who are homeless and the working poor.
  • Empowered Women of Service in Columbia provides after-school program and summer enrichment programs to at-risk youth.
  • Family Connection of South Carolina, located in Columbia, strengthens families who have children with disabilities, developmental delays or chronic illnesses through a parent-to-parent network.
  • Family Shelter provides emergency shelter and support services to homeless families in Columbia with children, empowering them to be financially viable and stabilized.
  • The Good Samaritan House, located in Fairfield County, provides food and shelter for individuals who are homeless due to domestic violence, natural disaster or loss of employment.
  • Healing Species, located in Orangeburg, is a compassion education program that utilizes rescued dogs as a tool for discussing abusive situations and negative circumstances with youth.
  • Home Works of America provides home repairs to Midlands homeowners in need and empowers communities to meet the needs of its members.
  • KOBAN Columbia provides a safe, productive, and educationally enriching environment for students in 1st through 8th grade.  Activities include afterschool and summer camp programs.
  • Midlands CDC provides leadership, support and services that develop, revitalize and sustain economic, social, and cultural activities for the improvement of the surrounding community.
  • Newberry County Literacy Council provides a literacy program that enables adults to improve their literacy and computation skills so they are at a proficiency level necessary to function in the workplace and in society. 
  • Orangeburg County Adult Literacy provides a literacy program that promote high quality literacy practices by offering one-on-one and small group tutoring in Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Computer Skills and English as a Second Language to adults, ages  18 years and older. 
  • 100 Black Men of Greater Columbia provides mentoring programs to at-risk youth through its lunch buddies program in some Richland 1 high schools. 
  • Restoration Outreach and Community Development, located in Newberry County, provides after-school services to at-risk youth.
  • Samaritan House of Orangeburg serves the homeless throughout the County by providing housing and access to health and vocational services.
  • Trinity Housing Corporation provides safe, affordable transitional housing and support services to homeless families.
  • Work in Progress is an employment agency that coordinates job placement for persons with diagnosable mental illnesses.
  • Youth Voices of Lower Richland strives to reduce the incidence of adolescent pregnancy and to promote healthy youth in the Lower Richland community through education, public awareness and community collaboration.
    Rosemary Hedden, Executive Director of Work in Progress, Inc., said that her agency, like many other smaller nonprofits, faces a number of challenges in her work.
    "We're really working to broaden the base of employers who take advantage of the services we offer," Hedden said. "Many of them have a need for employees, and we have individuals in need of employment. By matching the two, we can cut down on homelessness and increase financial stability, and lessen the need to rely so heavily on other agencies."
    The opportunity to work with the PIC Institute is a special one for Work in Progress and other agencies because it doesn't focus on a specific program within the agency, the goal is to help the agency become more efficient and productive as a whole.
    "We were excited about working with the Institute through United Way, and we know that it will help us with strengthening our infrastructure and increasing our technology," Heden said. "As a small nonprofit with a limited budget, we simply would not have had this opportunity otherwise."
For example, Work in Progress might use the opportunity to build a website.
    "A website would allow us to show more people what we do, especially employers, and it would educate people about folks with mental illness being able to work," Hedden said. "People could make donations through the site—the potential for what we could do is amazing."
    The funding for these grants comes from a three-year grant of roughly $500,000 each year from the Office of Community Services (OCS) in the US Department of Health and Human Services for a Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) Demonstration Award. Those funds are distributed by the Partners in Compassion Institute, a collaboration between United Way of the Midlands, the Edisto Council of United Way of the Midlands, Women in Philanthropy, SCANPO, Claflin University and the Central Carolina Community Foundation.
     "Our collective experience and knowledge of the strengths and challenges in our region will allow us to efficiently target resources for solving two of our highest priority issues—ending homelessness and improving the success of at-risk youth," said Bennett.
    The Partners in Compassion Institute offers an approach that is intensive, flexible and experiential. In the short-term, it will actively assist 20 different organizations each year to achieve the levels of functioning they desire in five capacity-building areas. As a result, the organizations will be able to increase the number and quality of services provided to the homeless and at-risk youth. Organizations interested in applying for the 2009 grants should contact Bunnie Lempesis, Director, Community Capacity Building, at 803-758-6982.