ATTACHMENT #8

GRANT APPLICATION FROM THE

FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER

1.) Long-range goals for the overall community project of developing the “Center” from which all work will emanate are:

·        To promote student-community partnerships that will assist students in seeing the

      relationship between school learning and the outside “real” world while preserving and

      promoting the island culture of people helping people.

·        To provide meaningful opportunities for students to contribute to positive and needed

      change in the community by integrating service learning into the school’s curriculum.

·        To build a new generation of youth that have experienced, first-hand, the value of serving

      others; thus, broadening youth perspective about giving.

·        To develop and support inquiry- and project-based experiences for students that will promote in-depth learning and community contribution through youth leadership development and decision-making.

·        To expand opportunities in which students would assist the community in bridging the digital divide and promote cross-community collaboration.

Examples of goals specific to this request from fiscal agent San Juan Island Family Resource Center (SJIFRC) are:

·        To create student awareness of basic unmet needs of families in our community.

·        To build a database, using the results of student-led projects, to identify these needs, the current services available, and the gaps in services; and to educate and involve the community in finding solutions to meet these basic problems.

Student-led projects that were identified at the August 20^th Community Forum to implement these specific goals are:

·        Conducting a community needs assessment:  students and community members would be trained in gathering and analyzing data, techniques in developing questionnaires/surveys, interviewing, and conducting focus groups.

·        Conducting a youth-community asset mapping project:  students and community members would be trained in Search Institute methods of asset mapping (www.search-institute.org). Results of Asset Building Initiatives have proven that the number of assets among youth increases as a result of youth involvement in such activities.

·        Conducting service learning trainings for students, school staff, and community members.  All participants must understand service learning concepts in order for projects to be successful.

·        Creating a “People to People” program (or other name to be identified by student initiative).  Components of such a student-community collaborative program would be but one culminating result of the above two assessments, and might address:  food procurement -  “gleaners” to retrieve fresh produce from local orchards, farms, gardens, for distribution to individual families or contribution to the Friday Harbor Food Bank; assisting Friday Harbor Realtors with their annual fall food drive for the Food Bank and Farmer’s Market vouchers; child care/babysitting training and potential cooperative; and possible solutions to individuals’ transportation problems.  Results of the completed assessments would also provide a base from which the community could seek additional funding to address a multitude of community-identified needs.

2.)    Opportunities for student reflection and application of learning: 

Reflection:  Students need the opportunity to adopt “service” to the community as a “habit” – a lifelong dedication, wherever they live, as they grow, move on, and pursue their personal and career goals.  This Gates Foundation application presents an opportunity to lay the foundation for student contribution, and leadership, and for student modeling for all community residents.  Following the development and implementation of student-initiated, community-collaborative projects, each student, school staff member, and community participant will be responsible for reflecting on and evaluating the learning experience provided by the self-chosen project.  

Reflection and evaluation will be built into the initial design of each project through, as examples, journal writing, outcome-based measurement tools, and group presentations. Evaluative reports on the process and results of each project will come from students, advisors, and community participants.  Students will report positive personal growth and meeting personal and career goals; increased skill building that will be documented in resumes and through local employment; new and positive social connections; and positive changes in the community.  School staff and community organization participants will report that students were fully engaged in the process; utilized High Tech High technology, as appropriate; were able to modify project design, if required; met project requirements; earned school credit; and reported meaningful, measurable results.  Recipients of services will be able to report on the positive changes in their lives including finding a larger responsive social network, and increased ability to become self-sufficient, better parents, or having met their identified personal goals.

Application:  Applied learning experiences from each of the above-mentioned  projects – community needs assessment, asset mapping, and “People to People” -  will utilize technology, and provide opportunities for academic learning, personal growth, social development, and career-related training.  The projects will be accomplished through internships, service learning experiences, or school-based enterprises – wherever students and their adult partners identify and place them on the experiential ladder developed by the “Center”.  Students, at the onset of any project and in collaboration with their school staff and/or community advisors, will set personal/team goals and objectives for each student-designed, hands-on project tied to their academic schoolwork in measurable and personally meaningful ways.

3.)    Opportunities for active youth involvement in development and continuing execution: 

The fiscal agents, high school students, and other members of the community will form a Community Council that will meet monthly to continually revisit the on-going school-community process, to determine community needs for specific projects, and to make matches between proposed projects and student passions, ambitions, and skills.  Proposed projects will be student initiated or recommended by fiscal agents, and address community requests for services.  Some projects will be chosen and executed by individual students; others will be chosen and carried out by teams of students.  Students, working with an advisor – either from the high school staff or from the community - will plan each project from beginning to end, creating goals and objectives, a workplan including a budget, a timeline for execution, and an evaluation plan.  The evaluation plan would include measurable outcomes not only for the project’s work, but also for student achievement, accomplishment, and satisfaction.

Youth would be involved in decision-making from the beginning through the “Center”

design and the development of strategies.  A generalized set of project elements would be established by the Community Council. These elements would determine which projects would be selected and placed on the experiential ladder. Students will decide on project feasibility, cost proposals, and implementation.  Projects will be assigned, and will follow the prescribed project format.  This set of procedures will ensure continuing student leadership and involvement in all aspects of the overall project as well as in individually accepted projects.

4.)    Opportunities for important student roles and responsibilities in activities’ planning: 

In the community forum, held on August 20^th, students identified programs of specific

 interest to them which fall into the human services realm:  Peer Tutoring, Peer Mentoring or “Adopt-a-Friend”. It is exciting that youth are interested in developing such programs which have been on the SJIFRC’s “wish list” for at least two years.  The SJIFRC would assist students in creating these programs.  Students, with the continuing assistance of an advisor from the school and/or the SJIFRC, would develop each program, arrange for scheduling, and be responsible for monitoring all participants’ activities.

The “Center” will continue to grow through increased community collaboration, and additional projects will be developed.  These projects will be consistent with student interest and the school’s curriculum.  We envision a project component relating to parenting skills (assisting in parenting classes, videotaping parents and children interacting to provide learning cues/clues …the possibilities are endless!).  Parenting is most difficult work, the most important job for any of us – and one for which we have little or no training.  Engaging high school youth in an early understanding of parenting would introduce an area that our schools (i.e. the WASL’s) do not address.  Parenting is an area in which our youth are interested, and surely students would initiate projects related to this important part of their future lives.

In addition, students, through High Tech High activities, would assist the SJIFRC, the San Juan County Community Network, and other non -profit organizations in creating and updating websites;  could train personnel in Quicken or other computer accounting methods; create flyers/brochures and press releases using the resources of the “Center” as the activity hub.

The SJIFRC has been given two small buildings for its future home.  These buildings require an extensive remodel.  This will be an incredible opportunity for youth to be involved in a community wide service project including design, construction, and landscaping.  Student pride in such an accomplishment – to say nothing of the value to the community – will be reflected in the new skills, self-confidence, on-the-job training, and other lessons learned.

Outcomes for students and how they will be measured:

Long-range outcomes will identify:  a visible, productive student-run Center; an increase in student-community partnerships and activities; an increase in service learning and youth leadership; and an increase in community skill levels using technology – often “threatening” to “older” citizens!  Needs assessments and asset building activities will provide a baseline against which to measure change in the community, will be updated as necessary, and the results will be available for use by anyone in the community.  In San Juan County, the second fastest growing county in the state, continuing to collect and review new data will be an on-going necessity.  Annual reviews and assessments for program evaluation and improvement will be conducted, and an annual report will be submitted to the community and the Gates Foundation.

For each project accepted by the Community Council for implementation, measurable outcomes will be built into the comprehensive workplan.  Individual projects will outline goals specific to students’ academic, social, personal, and/or career-related growth.  Measurement tools for each project will include pre- and post-questionnaires related to student learning and project accomplishments/implementation; and student and client satisfaction. A few possible (very general) measurement statements might be:  “My life/someone else’s life/the community was changed in a positive way…(how)”;  “I increased my job skills/added to my resume…”; “I met new people…”;  “I received school credit…”; “I feel I made a difference…(how). 

The San Juan Island Family Resource Center (SJIFRC) was created in 1998 to become the center of resources and referral for families on San Juan Island.  The creation of the SJIFRC was accomplished through the encouragement, work, and support of the local school district, many organizations and individual community members. Major funding was provided by the Washington Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, United Way of San Juan County, and the San Juan County Community Public Health and Safety Network.

Through its collaboration as a fiscal agent on the Gates Foundation grant, the SJIFRC would receive the funding to manage and/or act as the lead agency of the community project related to human services activities. The mission of the SJIFRC is “to make a positive difference in the lives of children, youth and families, primarily through professionally-supported relationships with trained and qualified adults, and to assist children, youth and families in achieving their highest potential by providing committed staff, volunteers, and standards of excellence”.  Existing programs are multi-faceted:  a prenatal through age three years home visiting program which includes a Welcome Home Baby program; interactive play and story times for parents and their young children; a school-based Readiness To Learn (RTL) Program addressing non-academic barriers to success in school for youth ages 8 through 18 years; a community-based Mentoring Program which matches adult volunteers one-on-one with youth ages 6 through 14 years; parent education classes and support groups; and an extensive program of financial assistance to assist families in meeting basic needs of housing, food, clothing, transportation, utilities, and medical and dental expenses.

Targeted populations of these programs are socially and economically isolated children, youth, and families, though services are not limited to just these populations. Programming has been designed to improve each participating family’s ability to function and the children’s ability to survive and thrive.  The SJIFRC is closely partnered with the San Juan Island School District  through its Readiness To Learn program.  SJIFRC’s staff are on site every day of the week working with staff, students and their families.  Other local partners in programming as well as funding are the San Juan Island Public Library, San Juan Island Parks and Recreation, San Juan County Public Health, United Way of San Juan County, San Juan Island Community Foundation, the San Juan County Community Network, service organizations, and private individuals.

A five member board of directors from the community oversees the work of the FRC.  Board members set resource center policy, set the annual budget, oversee income and expenses, and hire the director, who serves as the fiscal officer.

Lead staff for this component of the project will be Joyce Sobel, a 27 year resident of San Juan Island, the Director and a full time employee of the SJIFRC with 34 years of experience working with children, youth, and families. Sobel has successfully written and managed multiple grants in prevention, alternative programs, and youth mental health.  She supervises a paid staff of five (5) employees representing 2.5 FTE, and a volunteer staff of 24.  Total current paid FTE is 3.5.  The 2002 annual budget is $170,350.        

Once the “Center” is created and operating smoothly, it will become a launching pad for

an on-going series of projects.  Annual expenses will be increasingly covered through at least three funding streams, for example:  revenues from a new, student-run business;  revenues from leasing workstations within the “Center”; and a local business and non-profit donor program.

Many of the “clear direction” projects reflected in the application of the San Juan Island Family Resource Center will have been established and/or completed before the end of the third year of the grant.  The foundation for trainings and on-going community needs assessments and asset building projects and a service learning ethic will have been built and will be self-sustaining through extensive, direct student and community involvement.

Proposed projects which will be further defined and refined by student action, such as Peer Tutoring, Parenting Education, and student technology assistance will have become an integral part of the work of the SJIFRC.  Funding for the continuation of such projects will come from United Way of San Juan County, San Juan Island Community Foundation, SJC Community Network,  Comprehensive Health Education Foundation, Children’s Trust Foundation, and other grants which will be sought from both the government and private sectors.

The proposed remodel of the buildings donated to the SJIFRC will be completed, and both current and future sources of revenues will continue to fund the daily operating expenses of running the resource center.  In four years of existence, the SJIFRC’s budget has increased from $45,000 to its current budget of $170,350.  We see every reason to indicate that the SJIFRC will continue to be an effective and integral part of our community.

Interaction between Friday Harbor High School and the SJIFRC (and other fiscal agents) will initially focus on setting up the “Center” as the hub from which the community project will reach out to the community; and a place where proposed and future activities will be strategized and designed, implemented and evaluated. The SJIFRC will have representatives on the Community Council.  This Council will meet monthly and be composed of fiscal agency staff, students, school staff, and community members.  It will be responsible for defining the general set of elements as guidelines for project implementation, and establishing the experiential ladder to categorize the projects in order that each project integrates with or expands student learning objectives and the school’s project-based curriculum.  As stated throughout this proposal, students will be paramount in all decision-making processes. This infrastructure is critical to the success of the community project, and is the most important first step.

Staff and board members of the SJIFRC have extensive experience and expertise in conducting needs assessments and asset mapping/asset building surveys; service learning; outcome-based measurement; and volunteer management.  They are knowledgeable about project design; the creation and use of measurement tools; and evaluation techniques.  Since the programming of the SJIFRC is so multi-faceted, coordination of projects is a constant activity of the staff. Joyce Sobel, Director (resume attached); Margaret Johnson and Gail Leschine-Seitz, staff members, would be responsible for working with “Center”, students, and school staff to implement and coordinate student-run projects.  Board members Samantha Garl, Marty Huleatte, and Carol Marble are experienced in at least one of these areas and are able to assist in planning and execution of related proposed projects.  An already great team of people anticipates partnering with a larger number of island citizens to promote youth development, community collaboration, and a sustainable future for our youth through support of this Schools-Communities Initiative.

The success of the stated mutual goals and objectives will be achieved through a concerted and collaborative effort on the part of all designated partners and community supporters of the work accomplished.  Overall goals have been formulated as a result of the Community Forum and subsequent meetings.  Each component of the community project and the individual projects will, as previously stated, have measurement tools built in.  The Community Council, reports from students and staff, community members, and recipients of services will evaluate the actual results of completed work and report them to the community and the Gates Foundation.  Determination of the success of these combined efforts will be seen in the results of each and every individual and/or collaborative project; and in the continuation of the concept and project/s beyond the life of the grant. The students and the citizens of San Juan Island will have a happier, healthier, and more sustainable way of life. 

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