Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin

Project Title:  Marin Human Race 2005

Type:  Capacity Building Grant

County: Marin

Grant Amount:
$10000

Start Date:
3/1/2005

End Date:
2/28/2006

Grant Focus:  Safe Communities\Capacity building & leadership development for service providers

Project Description: 
2005 marks the 23rd annual Marin Human Race, produced by the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin for the benefit of all nonprofits in Marin.  It is the largest collaborative community fundraiser in the county.  90% of all donations are returned to participating nonprofits, making this event the most cost-effective way for nonprofits to raise money and provide a fun event for their community.  A record crowd- over 4,000 people- took part in the 2004 Marin Human Race and raised nearly $300,000 for the benefit of 130 local nonprofits and schools.

The Marin Human Race contributes to the self-sufficiency of the local nonprofit sector as a whole. It brings together agencies from diverse areas- along with local businesses, schools, and elected officials- and increases public awareness of Marin County nonprofits'' needs for funding and support. Benefiting nonprofits directly impact the standard of living in Marin County. Examples of their areas of impact include: childcare and child welfare, food distribution, education, transportation for the elderly, medical care, and other social services needed by local individuals and families.

Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin

Project Title:  Marin Nonprofit Conference

Type:  Capacity Building Grant

County: Marin

Grant Amount:
$5000

Start Date:
8/1/2005

End Date:
12/31/2005

Grant Focus:  Safe Communities\Capacity building & leadership development for service providers

Project Description: 
The 4th biannual Marin Nonprofit Conference will be held at the Marin Center on November 1st, 2005.  The Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin, in partnership with Marin Community Foundation, Marin Arts Council, Marin Interfaith Council, and Environmental Education Council of Marin, coordinates the event with the purpose of benefiting all nonprofit organizations in Marin County. 

The day's program includes workshops in such areas as fundraising, marketing and communications, and leadership renewal.  The conference builds community and skills within the nonprofit sector, educates participants on available resources for support and capacity building, and facilitates networking across the sector.

Community Action Marin

Project Title:  Family Self-Sufficiency Initiative: Marin Asian Advocacy Project

Type:  Issue Grant

County: Marin

Grant Amount:
$12500

Start Date:
7/1/2005

End Date:
6/30/2006

Grant Focus:  Self-Sufficiency\Increase opportunities to enhance income

Project Description: 
Marin Asian Advocacy Project, as part of United Way's Family Self-Sufficiency Initiative, will provide individualized self-sufficiency plans that focus on the family's needs, job referrals, English as a Second Language, parenting education and support, health education, asset building through Individual Development Accounts and information and referral to other services, as appropriate. These comprehensive family support services will strengthen the family's ability to provide a healthy, nurturing environment.  Emergency basic needs services help families through their immediate crises, while ongoing case management and follow-up help families strengthen their ability to thrive over the long-term.  Marin Asian Advocacy Project will serve 19-25 families.

Marin Education Fund

Project Title:  Building Better Teachers Scholarship Fund

Type:  Issue Grant

County: Marin

Grant Amount:
$15000

Start Date:
8/1/2003

End Date:
7/31/2006

Grant Focus:  Education\Improved Quality of Early Childhood Education

Project Description: 
The Building Better Teachers Scholarship Fund was established to help ensure quality early education experiences for children in the critical years from zero to five.  The Fund was specifically designed to affect the quality of teaching in early childhood education by encouraging current and future early childhood educators to complete their bachelors and/or masters degrees and develop their teaching careers in early childhood education.  Scholarships of up to $5,000 will be awarded, halved for half-time enrollment, and will be renewable annually.  Recipients will be selected from the pool of finalists based on a combination of their essay and interview.

Parent Services Project, Inc.

Project Title:  Children's Health Initiative - Marin

Type:  Issue Grant

County: Marin

Grant Amount:
$15000

Start Date:
5/1/2005

End Date:
4/30/2006

Grant Focus:  Health\Direct service initiatives for health insurance enrollment and retention

Project Description: 
The Children's Health Initiative in Marin County seeks to increase the number of children with health insurance coverage through outreach, health insurance enrollment, re-enrollemnt and education. The project conducts countywide and community-specific outreach and enrollment activities and provides training and support for application assisters and advocates throughout the County. CHI's goal is to ensure that all children have health coverage and access health care. The efforts to enroll children into low-cost health insurance programs have resulted in over 2100 children enrolled in the Healthy Families Program and over 1000 children enrolled in California Kids. Currently the county estimates that there may be are over 3,000 more children uninsured throughout the county. The overall goal of the Children's Health Initiative is for low-income children in Marin County to have, retain and use their health coverage.

Sports Zone Academy

Project Title:  Summer Day Camp Program

Type:  Issue Grant

County: Marin

Grant Amount:
$10000

Start Date:
7/1/2005

End Date:
6/30/2006

Grant Focus:  Education

Project Description: 
The primary function of Sports Zone Academy is to assist in the physical, emotional, and social development of young people between the ages of 5-15 years.  The goal is to motivate and support youth in making healthy life choices, and to develop the necessary skills to become productive citizens in the community.  To help develop these social skills, the program offers a variety of cultural, educational, and recreational programs.

The summer day camp program will offer instruction and opportunities to practice sports and athletics.  In addition, arts and crafts, drama, cultural field trips, music and dance will be offered to children who would otherwise not participate in sports activities.  We will also offer a program with special emphasis on peer intervention for teens. Focus will be on alcohol, drug use, anger management, violence prevention, awareness on the effects of smoking, nutrition, and preventable health conditions.  The summer program will also provide teens and opportunity to demonstrate leadership, and to facilitate workshops with adult supervision.

Primarily the initial impact is to provide developmental, recreation and sports activities to inner city youth in the Marin City community, serving approximately 150 youth (ages 5-15).  Secondly, the impact will be designed to eliminate negative behavior and violence through intervention workshops.  Workshops and classes will address behavioral needs and will guide youth to more positive mainstream behavior.  Finally, the program will be designed to strengthen network service providers.  Sports Zone will collaborate with agencies to assist in training and specialized youth activities.