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Jan 11

Five things learned from a year of INNovation Fund grants

By Feature, Programming

By Kevin Davis, CEO, Investigative News Network |

Last winter was the third round of the INNovation Fund, a micro-grant program managed by the Investigative News Network to help with business experimentation in nonprofit and public-media newsrooms across the country.

Unlike for-profit organizations, nonprofit news organizations do not have equity to leverage when seeking capital for business investment. Furthermore, most grantmaking puts limitations on the amount of overhead allowed on any given grant.

Yet nonprofit newsrooms are expected to iterate and innovate to increase the amount of engagement with their target audiences, reduce their dependence on existing funders and diversify their revenue streams to become sustainable.

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Jan 04

Food nonprofits making a difference

By Feature, Programming

By Tove K. Danovich, founding editor, Food Politic |

As the Good Food Movement has grown over the last decade so too have the number of organizations dedicated to helping more sustainable food find its way to as many people as possible. Though many individuals have worked to raise awareness, numerous victories have been made from collections of people volunteering their time and donations to fund food projects they hope will make a difference.

Though I wish this could be a thoroughly scientific best-of list, there are simply too many great nonprofits around – national and local. (This is a great problem to have!) The purpose of this list is to share some great organizations that you might not have heard of. They appear in alphabetical order within categories.

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Jan 04

Second Helpings’ approach to food insecurity

By Feature, Programming

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors |

The problem was an old one: hunger in America. Or more specifically, hunger in Indianapolis. What was needed was a new solution, and with that forward thinking, Second Helpings was born.

In 1998, three area chefs – Kristen Cordoza, Bob Koch and Jean Paison — saw tremendous waste in the food service industry. At the same time, they could see that local nonprofit food service programs were struggling to provide nutritional meals. Surely, there had to be a way to channel the excess in one area to fill a need in another.

The trio took their chef’s hats off for a moment and put their business minds to work. Their creation — Second Helpings – was launched as a food rescue and hunger relief organization. And in doing so, Second Helpings had yet another mission: to train young chefs.

Second Helpings spokeswoman Betsy Whitmore wasn’t involved with Second Helpings when it began, but she has seen it grow to the successful organization it is today.

The Second Helpings formula works like this: the community kitchen accepts donated perishable and overstocked food and in turn daily prepares nutritious meals, and distributes them free of charge through local social service agencies. Second Helpings also trains unemployed and underemployed adults for meaningful careers in the culinary industry. The food comes from wholesalers, retailers and restaurants.

“The first 60 meals went to Holy Cross Family Shelter, and it was salad and a stew. The model — taking rescue food and making sure it’s prepared for nutrition and balance – hasn’t changed. The chefs were very smart about knowing, ‘Here’s this overage, here’s this need, how do we connect this?’” said Whitmore, the communications manager, who keeps the organization’s first meal ticket on her desk as a reminder.

Whitmore said Second Helpings was just something the chefs knew they had to do. One chef said it was not a project she found, it was a project that found her. Because they worked in the food industry, hunger was a problem they couldn’t understand.

What Whitmore believes has changed in 17 years is the face of hunger.

“What people don’t understand is what hunger really looks. Most of them are working families. They’re people who may have had major life changes, change in jobs, things like that. She said most of the people who receive food from Second Helpings, food pantries or feeding programs are from working families.

On a daily basis, Second Helpings volunteers prepare and deliver 4,000 meals. Last year, the nonprofit prepared and delivered 955,869 meals to 80 social service agencies. Forty-seven percent went to children, 31 percent to adults, 17 percent to families and 6 percent to seniors.

From a food standpoint, it adds up to about 2.3 million pounds of food. Kroger, Trader Joe’s, US Foods, Dr. Pepper Snapple group, Fresh Thyme Farmers Market and Sysco, are the top retail contributors, each contributing more than 100,000 pounds.

People who run food drives, for the nonprofit are typically asked to collect pasta and rice because those are not perishables. Weekly the organization goes through 70 pounds of rice and 350 pounds of pasta, which they incorporate into the meals. And while technology has been used by some operations, Second Helpings uses people to gauge what’s coming in and what’s going out, typically taking inventory by sight.

“We do everything by weight. Everything’s by weight because from a tax standpoint, whether it’s a can of beans or a rack of lamb, it’s pound for pound,” she said.

Whitmore also mentions the savings to the local nonprofits on the receiving end of the food. “Those agencies don’t have to spend that money on food, so they can use their dollars and resources to help people better,” she said. Whenever Second Helpings on boards a new agency, it makes sure the organization and nonprofit are ready.

Whitmore mentions, another food source in the community, St. Vincent DePaul at 30th and Rural. One unique element is its grocery store set-up.

“There is a lot of dignity that is put into it,” she said. “I think that awareness and education has changed. I think that people are starting to get a better understanding of what hunger really looks like in a community. There will always be some who don’t understand. But I think the more we educate people, so that people realize that it’s not just soup kitchens. Hungry people are your neighbors.”

There are also sites that serve meals provided by Second Helpings, which have food pantries. Families get a meal and have food for tomorrow. Some of the stigma, too, is reduced at the community-feeding sites.

“Nobody wants to show up and say, ‘I’m here because I’m hungry.’ I think it’s nice to know that it’s not just one way that we’re feeding people. One model that may work for one family may not work for the other.”

At these sites, besides getting a hot, nutritious meal, people get introduced to foods. Vegetables are often added to mac and cheese or a curry dish will be distributed.

“In a lot of ways, hunger is something people deal with very privately. It’s a dignity thing. But if it’s a community meal where my neighbors can just sit down and eat, it’s OK. I like to think of it as the extended family table because you don’t sit next to someone at a communal table and not eventually talk to them,” she said.

Whitmore said she sees the need increasing, and Second Helpings has seen a 12 percent growth in meal production annually.

“The model that we have here is always poised for growth, and we’re always reassessing what does our future look like, and what is our plan for the future if growth happens. It’s something you have to do, because especially when you’re dealing with hunger relief, it is tied to so many other problems in the community,” she said.

Dec 08

Technology helps food banks handle holiday surge

By Feature, Programming

By Erica E. Phillips, reporter, Wall Street Journal Logistics Report |

Each year, food donations coming in to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee surge from November through December to nearly double what the charity receives in the rest of the year.

It is a deluge of everything from canned soups, boxed cereal to crated vegetables and fruits, presenting an operation that depends largely on volunteers with a logistics challenge. To handle the rush, Second Harvest is relying on the sort of technology that retailers and other private companies use to manage the spike in activity that comes with the holidays.

The charity, part of the national network of 200 food banks that operate under Feeding America, uses logistics software made by Exact Macola to help manage the more than 30 million pounds of food it delivers from its warehouses each year. Exact Macola, a Dublin, Ohio-based company, sells business software to small and medium-size companies.

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Dec 08

“Common market” offers innovative solutions to fresh food distribution problems

By Feature, Programming

By John Bare, vice president, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation |

The third wave of innovation in urban ag is upon us, and it’s all about supply chain and distribution.

The first wave of innovation demonstrated the potential to grow fruits and vegetables in the middle of cities. Worldwide, now 800 million people are doing it.

The second wave of innovation revealed the sweeping demand among low-income families for fresh produce. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that SNAP spending “at roadside farm stands, farmers markets, and directly from local farmers” reached nearly US$19 million in 2014, “a nearly six-fold increase since 2008.”

The next challenge is finding efficient ways to aggregate and distribute fresh produce to small-area geographies and to neighborhoods that lack sufficient density to attract traditional suppliers. In a world where we have digitized nearly every transaction and substituted virtual for personal transactions, the innovative solutions here will have an old-school look. There will be trucks, refrigerated warehouses, and personnel washing, bagging, and delivering food.

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Dec 08

A “whole health” approach to improving access to food and food education

By Feature, Programming

By Philip Sambol, vice president of operations, Good Food Markets for SSIR |

I grew up working in my father’s restaurant. My father grew up working in his father’s restaurant. Food and food service are in my blood; it’s an intergenerational passion, and it has led me to spend the last few years trying to work out why food deserts exist. The more I have looked into it, the more incomprehensible it has become. There are people crying out for local grocery stores — or any store selling fresh food — and yet not enough is happening. I thought it was because no one was listening to communities, but I have come to realize that listening is not enough; we must do. But doing is tough, and requires that we constantly ask new questions and find new solutions.

If you’re going to think about food in the United States, there’s no better place than New Orleans; “the Big Easy,” as it’s known, is a food lover’s paradise. I arrived there in late 2012, with some savings and an income stream of royalties from my previous life. I spent the latter part of that year and early 2013 volunteering with various “food access” nonprofits, and meeting with long-time food and social justice activists to understand the problems. These conversations kept leading me back to the Lower Ninth Ward, an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — 80 percent of homes were destroyed or demolished. Many of the buildings remained in a state of disrepair, gutted and without electricity, and many of the former residents were still looking for a way to get back home.

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Dec 01

Is Indiana ready for its changing demographics?

By Feature, Programming

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors |

Ellen Miller is an optimist, a person who sees the glass as half full. She looks at statistics that show the nation’s 65-and-over population is expected to double to 83.7 million by 2050. And while many see that as cause for alarm, Miller sees it as an opportunity.

“It’s no surprise to anyone that our society is aging. We’ve known it’s coming. It’s predictable,” said Miller, executive director of U-Indy’s Center on Aging since 2001. “People like to frame the aging of our society as, ‘Oh, my gosh, our society is aging.’

“It’s just as easy to say, ‘Cool, our society is aging, we’ve never had these kinds of demographics before.’ What’s the opportunity to think about this and use it to our advantage?”

In 2010, Indiana’s 65+ population was 13 percent, but by 2030 that will increase to 20 percent. The foremost question appears to be: Are we ready for this changing demographic?

That is precisely what the Central Indiana Community Fund’s (CICF) Senior Fund is focused on. Miller, H. Ken Bennett, executive director of the Center for At-risk Elders and Jim Leich, the CEO of LeadingAge Indiana, are three of the fund’s advisers, and each brings first-hand work experiences to the discussion table.

Since 2003 when the Indianapolis Retirement Home closed, the $10 million endowment which resulted has gone to support programs and opportunities for low- to moderate-income older adults in Central Indiana. The fund was placed at CICF, which manages it and relies on 10 advisers to help make grant decisions.

Over the past several years, the advisers have approved proposals that push the needle on issues such as community housing, social and civic engagement and the arts. The fund accepts requests in four areas of interest.

  • Basic needs. Among the services in this interest area are transportation, food and emergency food and services.
  • Health and wellness. Includes prevention and screenings and neighborhood community wellness and fitness programs.
  • Environment of choice. Services can be affordable housing and home modification programs and support for strengthening residential care programs for low-income adults.
  • Life-affirming opportunities. Creation or support for programs for seniors to thrive culturally and intellectually.

In 2009, the fund committed three years of support for the Elders at the Table (EAT) Initiative. The project brought service providers together to improve the food delivery system for seniors, and not only provide access to nutritious food and meals, but include chances to socialize. Key to the project was service providers working collaboratively.

“You shouldn’t have five service providers home-delivering meals in one area and zero in another,” said Miller. “Those organizations that we brought together are still working together.”

Although a portion of the grants still provides operational support for some programs, the Senior Fund has worked to spur new thinking said Leich.

“We’re always looking for new and innovative things. We’re seeing more innovative ways to do home modifications. We’ve seen some volunteer programs pop up,” he said.

These three advisers would like to see more grant requests in the environment of choice and in life-affirming opportunities areas.

Bennett, who has practiced elder law for 33 years, said one grant from the Senior Fund has helped nursing homes restructure to ease the paperwork burden and increase staff time with residents. Another grant funded adult daycare, Joy’s House, a nonprofit with innovative programming. Still another provides funding to Connect2Help 2-1-1 to help caregivers find information and referrals.

And while there is work to provide diverse programs for seniors on a local, state and national level, Miller said there has been a gradual shift in thinking.

“It cannot be just because it’s a nice thing to do for older adults. It needs to be ‘We need a healthier society, we need an economically sound society’ and it’s good on all of those fronts,” said Miller. “It’s this kind of general shift towards, ‘Let’s think about how we can support people of all ages.’”

In 2002, the United Nations’ Madrid Plan of Action challenged communities to think about ways to make cities and towns accessible to all, and that’s exactly what the statewide Lifelong Coalition has been working to build.

For several years, Marie Beason, the director of Special Initiatives at the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance, has spearheaded the group made up of public, private and philanthropic partners. They work across public and private sectors to secure broad, inclusive support for policies, investments and direct services that support more age- and ability-friendly communities.

Bennett urges groups to think about new long-term care models for Hoosiers. He cites Dr. William Thomas’s work, and said Thomas’s first project was the Eden Alternative in the 1990s. Bennett thinks another Thomas initiative, the Green House project, which designs group homes in residential neighborhoods where 11 to 12 elders – and their caregives – live together, is worth studying.

Bennett said how long-term care is funded in the state is the next big issue. LeadingAge’s Leich, who runs Indiana’s association of nonprofit retirement communities, said some communities are continuing to grow and do innovative things. But overall it is a stressful time as the funding changes. He is seeing more nonprofits working collaboratively and consolidating.

“In some ways our association serves as their corporate office. We do a ton of training, we did 54 education events last year, and we’re increasing that this year,” said Leich.

With an aging demographic comes the need for an array of services for everything from independent living for healthy vibrant people to end-of-life care for those in nursing homes.

“I think the challenge is being able to figure out how do we allow people to progress in that continuum in the best way, in the most independent way that they can,” said Miller.

At one end of the spectrum, U-Indy’s Center is working with IU’s Regenstrief Institute and IU’s geriatrics department to find ways to decrease unnecessary hospitalizations for nursing home residents.

Called the OPTIMIST project and funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, the partners have been studying the root causes and systems that need changes, then suggests those modifications. Indianapolis was one of seven demonstration projects funded for four years, and the project has just applied for a second round of funding.

“We’re really excited to be a part of that one and our role at Center on Aging is to be involved in the education portion — what do staff who are working in nursing homes need to know to understand — knowledge, skills and ability – to be able to make this kind of transition,” said Miller.

There are other new programs that target specific populations. One in particular is for adults who have no one to help with medical and care decisions. In 2010, Robin Bandy and Dr. Lisa Harris began Wishard’s Volunteer Advocates Program, as the hospital struggled to find guardians to make health-care decisions for patients who did not have family members available. In 2013, it combined with the Center for At-Risk Elders (CARE) and began operations as a nonprofit. Since then CARE has assumed guardianship for 205 adults, 118 of which are adults over the age of 65.

And there is other work that still needs to be tackled. One area that Bennett sees a need for improvement is advocacy for elder issues.

The only way, according to Miller, that legislation and perceptions are going to change is awareness. The fact that the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) and other state agencies and organizations have an aging piece on their website is a win.

“We need to be ready to care for this aging population, but also determine how we benefit from the aging and use legislation to allow people to age with the maximum dignity, maximum choice, maximum independence for as long as they’re able.”

Miller said there are a number of Indiana schools that have aging studies programs and Bennett mentioned law schools that have elderly law courses. But is it enough?

“If I had my way, there isn’t a student who came out of undergraduate education without having a course in understanding the aging of our society and their own aging. Aging isn’t something to say, ‘Oh, I hope it doesn’t happen.’ How do we understand the aging of our society, the aging of our families and those that we love and care for, and the aging of ourselves?”

Dec 01

Center for At-Risk Elders (CARE)

By Feature, Programming

Center for At-Risk Elders (CARE)
H. Kennard “Ken” Bennett, executive director, senior counsel
120 E. Market St.
Suite 1190
Indianapolis, IN 46204
www.indianacare.org

When Ken Bennett started practicing elder law 33 years ago, it wasn’t with the intention of running a nonprofit. His practice focused on health-care advocacy.

During the course of his private practice and through personal experiences, he realized there was no surrogate decision-maker to help remedy issues of neglect, abuse and exploitation of elders. Prosecutors administer Indiana’s adult protective services.

Bennett said the state’s adult protective services don’t go far enough.

“They focus on criminal prosecutions. That isn’t to say that they won’t step in to provide remedies, it’s just that they don’t have internally the ability to do much about it,” said Bennett.

In 2008, the Adult Guardianship State Task Force was convened to determine the need and support development of adult guardianship services across the state.

As a result of that work and a grant from Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), there are now 10 volunteer guardianship programs around the state, a state office and Volunteer Advocates for Seniors and Incapacitated Adults (VASIA) statutes passed in Indiana.

In 2010, Robin Bandy and Dr. Lisa Harris began Wishard’s Volunteer Advocates Program (WVAP) as the hospital struggled to find guardians to make health-care decisions for patients who did not have a family member available. The idea was to provide temporary, emergency guardianships up to 90 days and then turn them over permanent guardianship to other agencies with guardianship programs and services. Bennett worked as a volunteer on several cases.

“There was nobody that the law recognized with health-care decision-making authority, and this posed a significant problem for the hospital because you cannot very well treat someone except in emergency situations without consent,” said Bennett.

In 2013, the Center for At-Risk Elders (CARE) and began operations as a nonprofit. Since then CARE has assumed guardianship for 205 adults, 118 of which are over the age of 65.

Beyond legal guardianship, these services can include getting the individual an immediate medical assessment, liquidating assets, filing an application for benefits, including Medicaid, finding appropriate housing and checking in regularly with the person.

“As we were working together, Wishard got to know CARE, and it dawned on me, and it dawned on them, ‘Well, CARE’s the best nonprofit to take over our program.’ They were coming to the end of a funding cycle, through Retirement Research Foundation,” Bennett said.

Volunteers come from all walks of life, but have one thing in common — they are willing to go the long haul.

“We have about 65 trained volunteers, and we do a one-on-one match. These folks will live for years. So you may be matched with somebody, if you’re willing to go that long, for many, many years.”

Volunteers at CARE are medical students, law students, social workers, retired nurses and retired palliative care nurses. Part of CARE’s funding comes from three area hospitals and state funds that were split evenly between the volunteer groups in the state.

“It’s really a remarkable volunteer group, but all come from the same commitment of wanting to help. I think there’s a lot to learn on everybody’s part on how best to recruit and train. I think it’s also fair to assume that we will never have enough volunteers for the demand,” said Bennett.

Right now, callers who are not part of CARE’s referral network have to be turned away. But Bennett hopes as CARE finds ways to increase funding, it can be expanded to the public at large.

Dec 01

Joy’s House

By Feature, Programming

Joy’s House

Tina McIntosh, president and CEO

  • 2028 Broad Ripple Ave.
    Indianapolis, IN 46220
  • 1615 Castle Ave. (new)
    Indianapolis, IN 46227

http://www.joyshouse.org

When Tina McIntosh was a student at Ball State University, she volunteered at an adult day center in Muncie, and that experience planted a seed.

In 1999, McIntosh launched Indianapolis-based Joy’s House and 10 years later, expanded its Broad Ripple operation. The agency recently announced the opening of a Southside location near the University of Indianapolis.

All this hard work and innovative programming recently won the local nonprofit a prestigious national award. This fall, the National Adult Day Services Association gave Joy’s House its top prize — outstanding and innovative adult day center — and encourages others to learn from its model.

“We might be scared to be in a room with people who have dementia or Alzheimer’s, because we don’t understand it. We think they’re sad and drooling and kind of sit around waiting to die, when the reality is, and I tell people a lot at Joy’s House, sometimes they may be a little sad, but they’re not waiting to die. They are lively and fun,” said McIntosh.

While Joy’s House’s primary work is to provide innovative day programs for adults, McIntosh realizes that caregivers needed services, too. She says that 1 of 3 adults is a caregiver for someone. Last year, that figure was 1 in 4.

“We have pulled together folks in Indiana who do caregiving programs. There is so much that needs to be done.”

About two years ago, WIBC (93.1) approached Joy’s House to seek input on a potential radio show.

“Caregiver Crossing” was the result and is a program for listeners who are caring for a loved one or who will be one day. The hour-long show can be heard on Saturday mornings from 7 to 8 a.m.  McIntosh co-hosts the weekly show with Terri Stacy and guest experts join them to discuss the many aspects of caregiving. The show has been No. 1 in its time slot for over a year.

“It is a program that has become an on-air support program for caregivers. We have a lot of fun in the process. It’s overwhelming how many support areas there are. And I truly mean that. It’s overwhelming in a good way. It’s just been an honor to have people reach out and kind of say, ‘Here’s our situation, what advice can you give.’

“I found myself talking on the phone with people countless times, I might not have all the answers for them, but sometimes they just need a place where someone’s going to listen.”

The radio program is just one part of Joy’s House’s education caregiver program. Twice a year, there is a free one-day retreat for caregivers. It also provides CARE Kits, a binder full of template information to help someone think through either when they are caregiving or when they are just looking toward the future. All medical and home information is in one place.

“We’ve given out over 1,000 of those into the community, and actually 1,000 more are arriving at our door any day. All people have to do is reach out to Joy’s House to get a kit free of charge.”

Nov 17

The challenges posed by aging global population

By Feature, Programming

By Scott Simon and Ina Jaffe, NPR |

One-fifth of the U.S. population will be 65 or older in 15 years. NPR’s Ina Jaffe talks with NPR’s Scott Simon about the aging of the population worldwide and the challenges it presents.

SIMON: The U.S. population is aging, but it’s not just the U.S., is it?

JAFFE: Oh, no, not at all. In fact, some other countries are ahead of us. Japan, for example, a quarter of the population there is already 65 years of age or more, and the populations of some Western European countries are already at that 1-in-5 level that the U.S. is headed for.

SIMON: Whatever else happens in this discussion, should we remind ourselves it’s the result of some good news – that people are living longer?

JAFFE: Well, it is a result of people living longer, but only in part. In North America and Western Europe, people are living longer. But there’s a bigger reason for the aging of populations and that’s that people are having fewer children. That’s what you see in Eastern Europe and Russia and Turkey. And sub-Saharan Africa is not aging as quickly as other places because reproduction rates are higher there.

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