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Prosperity Candle: Passionately Growing One Candle at a Time

25 Jan

In April 2010, a few weeks before Mother’s Day, Prosperity Candle founders Amber Chand, Siiri Morley and Ted Barber drove from their Boston office to JFK Airport in New York City to pick up their first ever shipment of candles. These candles were made by 50 women – “chandler-entrepreneurs” – living in war-torn Baghdad, Iraq. This was the first test – would the candles survive the journey? Apprehension was quickly replaced by pride and joy at the sight of perfectly made, unscathed candles. They made it, and for the first time Chand, Morley and Barber saw the fruits of their labor. “As of today”, wrote Morley, “50 women in a place of conflict have been given the opportunity to start their own businesses.”

Abeer, Iraq

Through candle-making, Prosperity Candle is providing women who live in regions ravaged by armed conflict, and human and natural disaster with an opportunity to rebuild their lives and share their stories with the world. Launched in 2009, this small (but growing) social enterprise has had a tremendous impact, one candle at a time. Their mission is bold but they’re finding success in a simple philosophy: “Every candle is a vehicle for social change and global connection.”

After that first shipment, sales would provide the next important test. Mother’s Day, just around the corner, provided the perfect opportunity to launch the product. Each candle is sent with the name of the maker on the label. The receiver can then go online to Prosperity Candle’s Voices to read the chandler’s story and even send her a message. There was an outpouring of messages from mothers across the US who weren’t simply enjoying their candles but deeply affected by the woman-to-woman connection the gift enabled.

With an effective supply chain, the final test was that of their guiding philosophy: How did these women, living in one of the world’s most dangerous cities, feel about their new business? After their second shipment, Prosperity Candle touched base with Women for Women International, its partner in Iraq. Once again the feedback was positive and heart-felt. Most notably, Morley asserts, these women believe that their candles fulfill a higher social purpose and are enabling them to connect with others across the globe.

(Read their inspiring testimonials here.)

Prosperity Candle has since begun working with women refugees from Burma and Bhutan who have resettled in West Springfield, MA. The company is also exploring opportunities in Haiti, Rwanda and Afghanistan, and developing partnerships with larger organizations – both for- and not-for-profits – that share their mission.

Naw, Moo Kho, Mee Mee, West Springfield, MA

This young organization has completed an astounding ten Catchafire projects. We’re extremely proud of the pro bono professionals who have worked with Prosperity Candle to help them build capacity, share their story and make an impact. Morley says her Catchafire professionals have provided the organization with “energy, expertise and objectivity,” three qualities that a young social good organization thrives on. She also noted that great pro bono professionals not only provide much-needed skills but also a shared passion for their cause, and a sense of flexibility that a growing organization needs. Morley talks fondly of pro bono professionals like Stephanie Leydon, a communications specialist, who comfortably and effectively “put herself in our shoes” to meet their specific needs and of others, like copywriter Sara Buschkamp, who, in their initial meeting, eloquently stated, “you can’t read the label from the inside of the bottle” and provided the organization with new energy and a fresh perspective.

Prosperity Candle currently has a blog that’s integrated into their WordPress website. They’re looking for a technically-skilled and creative pro bono professional to help them create a playful, spirited and reflective WordPress blog that’s distinct from their website. Click here if you’re interested in being a part of this organization’s incredible narrative.

Boston Founding Members working on environmental protection: sustainable solutions to big problems

16 Nov

The public is becoming increasingly concerned about the environment. The impact of human activity on the planet is far reaching and there is growing concern about access to clean water, overpopulation, the depletion of natural resources, and the burning of dirty fuels. Gone are the days when we can lean on Government to solve these problems alone. Government, business and citizen alike, we must all play our part. It is the nonprofit and social enterprise sector however, that by and large, is leading the way in environmental stewardship. Today we feature four of our Founding 30 Boston-based organizations who are working to protect the environment and tackle these problems. What makes these four so compelling, is not just their impact on the environment, but their approach to tackling a combination of social and environmental issues simultaneously.

SolSolution has a dual focus: to generate clean, renewable energy and improve the quality of education in low-income communities. Their model is simple but effective – funds from the sale of solar-generated energy are diverted to underprivileged schools.

They’re ambitious too. Their 2020 goal is to provide 1 GW of solar power to U.S. schools, effectively saving $200 million in energy costs, which is donated to schools in need. How are they reaching their target? The SolSolution Educational Power Purchase Agreement (E-PPA) provides clean energy at a low, fixed rate, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and freeing up schools’ budget to be spent on much needed resources.

Help SolSolution! Learn how you can promote their case, go solar, make a donation or simply “Shop and Eat!”

Wegowise is bringing clarity and simplicity to a complex but popular issue in the green space – Energy Efficiency Investments. In addition to helping those grappling with the confusing science and finance of energy efficiency, Wegowise is also using its resources to serve low-income housing communities – precisely where their work can have the most meaningful impact.

They have created a low-cost and easy-to-use online tool that “gives expert answers to non-experts.” This tool helps users get the most out of energy efficiency investments, especially in the affordable housing sector, where resources are limited. As a social enterprise, Wegowise also combines the benefits of a revenue stream with a mission for using energy more wisely. Visit their website for a demonstration of how the Wegowise tools work, as well as pricing plans.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) combines the expertise of scientists, economists and lawyers to address environmental threats to the climate, oceans, ecosystems and people’s health.

Science, Economics and Partnerships: EDF was founded by a small and passionate group of scientists, who remain firm in their belief that rigorous science will help us identify and understand the most serious environmental problems and most effective solutions. Armed with scientific facts, EDF appeals to the marketplace. EDF have demonstrated time and time again that the right incentives can attract people and capital investment from the markets to solve environmental problems. Finally, EDF scientists partner with lawyers and major corporations to ensure lasting solutions.

EDF has been in operation for over 40 years and has many success stories to share. Visit their site to learn how EDF wrote the 1990 Clean Air Act, changed the way people think about commercial fishing and how they became the first nonprofit to partner with a big business in the US.

Founded in 1973 by the League of Women Voters and the Boston Shipping Association, The Boston Harbor Association (TBHA) promotes a clean, alive and accessible Boston Harbor.

Harbors are often the hub of industrial activity for seaside cities. That doesn’t mean they can’t also be beautiful, green, and safe public spaces. TBHA works closely with all the harbor’s stakeholders – from developers, environmentalists, waterfront businesses and local government – to develop sustainable solutions for environmental protection, industrial and commercial activity and public access. Among its many initiatives, TBHA has ensured the success of various renewable energy projects, the development of its popular waterfront and a program to remove over 240 tons of marine debris from the harbor’s waters.

They also host a number of free events that encourage both locals and tourists to get involved and enjoy the harbor. Visit their website to see what is happening in the upcoming weeks and learn how you can get involved.

Promoting arts and culture… and doing good

15 Nov

Boston is home to a number of world-class museums and galleries and a bourgeoning arts and culture scene. Two relatively new social good organizations, ArtVenue and Design Museum Boston, have been created with the purpose of promoting, nurturing and spreading this growing art scene. They’re also two of Catchafire’s Boston Founding Members. Read on to learn more about their work.

Next time you’re in Boston, perhaps in a coffee shop or ice cream parlor, and your eye catches a fine piece of art, chances are it’s by a local artist and for sale – all thanks to ArtVenue. This new Boston startup (founded April 2011) is forging new and meaningful relationships between local artists and venues.

Their goal is not just to help local artists promote and sell their work but to spread art throughout Boston’s communities and strengthen the relationships between artists, venues and art enthusiasts. ArtVenue is making new locations accessible to artists and art more accessible to the public and potential buyers. For an artist, selling their work is more often than not a difficult and intimidating prospect. With ArtVenue facilitating the connection between the artist and venue, arranging shows and the selling art is now a much simpler process. For co-founder Dan Vidal, this is an important aspect of the art business. His enthusiasm for this project was born out of frustration with the difficulty of buying and selling art. ArtVenue is making the business part easy, and they are being recognized for this, having been selected as one of MassChallenge’s $50K Gold Prize Winners.

Are you an artist or do you know of an artist looking to promote his/her work? Perhaps your business would like some original artwork for its walls. If so, visit ArtVenue.com for more info.

Design Museum Boston describes itself as “an innovative nomadic museum at the forefront of design education and promotion.” It’s also a nonprofit organization and entirely volunteer-run. Their mission is to unite the Massachusetts design community around two common goals: (1) to educate the public about the role of design in their lives, and (2) to demonstrate how design provides practical solutions to real world problems.

How are they accomplishing this? Design Museum Boston hosts regular events – both physical and virtual – showcasing the breadth and impact of Massachusetts’s design work. Their exhibitions allow audiences to see the design process from a social, economic, and environmental perspective, from where they can truly appreciate the role of design across the urban landscape and in their daily lives.

In addition to Creative Capital, an ongoing and public exhibit in Boston, Design Museum Boston hosts regular events, including exhibits, lectures, conferences and tours, across the city and at select venues throughout the state. Visit their site to learn more about upcoming events, sign up for their newsletter and discover how you can get involved.

We’ve only scratched the surface of Boston’s social good sector! Tomorrow we dig deeper with our Boston Founding Member series. Tomorrow’s causes: energy and the environment…

Tackling Women’s Issues in Boston and Abroad

14 Nov

Last Friday we proudly announced our Boston Founding Members, the first 30 Boston-based organizations to join Catchafire. Today we’re in the Massachusetts capital to welcome them in person and celebrate their membership. Over the next few days we’ll be sharing their stories in a series of blog posts. Today we’re featuring three of the Founding 30. Covering education, healthcare and gender equality in the US and Africa, these three terrific organizations are tackling women’s issues in their own unique way:

The Science Club for Girls (SCFG) provides educational programs for girls in underrepresented communities. More specifically, these programs focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for K-12th grade girls. All the programs are free and the girls work closely with mentors who foster leadership, and promote tertiary education and careers in science and technology. SCFG was founded in 1994 by two parents concerned about gender equality in STEM-based industries. Today it serves over 1,000 girls in five cities across Eastern Massachusetts and in Pokuase, Ghana.

SCFG was recognized with one of six national MetLife AfterSchool Innovator Awards in 2010 and was a recipient of the Nonprofit of the Year award from the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce in 2009.

Interested in volunteering as a mentor with SCFG? Read more here.

In 2001 Megan White Mukuria, a New England native and Harvard graduate, traveled to Kenya on a one-way ticket. Her mission: to start businesses for street children. She quickly became a global leader in the issue of menstruation management, having witnessed first-hand the impact of this issue on women in Kenyan society. Fast-forward six years to 2006, Megan founded ZanaAfrica, a public charity that promotes African-led innovation in the areas of healthcare, education and the environment to achieve sustainable and replicable solutions to poverty.

ZanaAfrica now has two major programs underway:

    • Sanitary pads: Each month 868,000 Kenyan girls miss 3.5 million school days. The free distribution of environmentally friendly, locally made sanitary pads is helping to keep Kenyan girls in school.
    • Empowerment and EmpowerNet Clubs: With the help of mentors, these clubs help primary and secondary students to make informed decisions about their sexuality and other important life choices. These clubs include a Microfinance-for-University program crafted to help schoolchildren get into and stay in university.

The organization is always looking for future donors and volunteers. Follow the links to see how you can support their cause.

The Komera Project is alleviating poverty in Rwanda by providing girls with secondary education. These girls, who otherwise would not have received an education, are improving their earning potential, their health and their sense of self-worth. With each additional year of school boosting a girl’s potential earnings by as much as 15 – 25%, The Komera Project is also effectively elevating the position of women in a post-genocide Rwanda where they represent 65% of the population.

How did it start? In 2006, Margaret Butler, a primary school teacher, spent the year in a remote Rwandan village. During this time, she hosted a girls-only “fun run.” At the start of the first race, the crowd cheered “Komera” – “be strong and courageous.” Ten of the runners went on to receive scholarships for secondary school and the The Komera Project was founded. Today the organization supports 35 scholars, providing each with tuition and boarding costs, uniforms, health insurance, travel expenses, and the resources they will need to live comfortably and concentrate on their work.

Visit their website to learn about The Komera Project and how you can get involved.

Tomorrow we will feature ArtVenue and Design Museum Boston, two of our Founding 30 promoting arts and culture in Boston.

Boston Founding Members innovating on traditional notions of the “Foundation” & “Incubator”

10 Nov
Boston Rising, Greenlight Fund and CropCircle Kitchen fall under the headings of “foundations” and “incubator”, respectively, but each of them is generating impact in a new and innovative way.
Boston Rising is a fund to end the cycle of poverty in Boston by clearing a path for the next Rising Class. Taking a new approach to an old problem, the organization is fairly new in the Boston foundation landscape, but is already generating waves. The Boston Rising team believes that by tapping into the power of local communities, providing access to the right resources and empowering the Rising Class, they can break the cycle of poverty in urban neighborhoods. The organization recently launched the first-of-its-kind resident-led fund, the Grove Hall Trust, to bring choice and control to the residents of a Boston neighborhood.  Grove Hall Trust is funded on two core beliefs: communities know what they need to improve their outcomes, and sustainable impact comes from shared risk and responsibility. Learn more about the groundbreaking work that Boston Rising is doing here and read CEO Tiziana Dearing’s recent article for the Huffington Post.
The Greenlight Fund seeks out innovative, high-performing nonprofits in cities across the country and supports their successful expansion into the local Boston community.  Primarily, these organizations address issues affecting low-income urban children and families in key areas such as education, youth development, workforce development, and health. The Greenlight Fund was conceived to address the obstacles that prevent innovative, high-impact nonprofit models in other cities around the country from spreading. While social entrepreneurs across the US are creating powerful solutions to the many daunting challenges of our time, communities do not hear about innovations in other places that could effectively address the challenges they face. The spread of social innovations is limited because there is no vehicle dedicated to identifying unmet local needs, finding and replicating innovative approaches to meet these needs, and adapting the approaches for success in the local community. Greenlight seeks to achieve this for Boston, and eventually for other cities as well. Another innovative approach Greenlight has adopted to help their members build capacity is to support them for Catchafire membership. This year, Greenlight provided partial sponsorship for two of their members, Raising a Reader and Youth Villages, to join Catchafire as Founding Members.  Read more about their unique approach here.
CropCircle Kitchen is Boston’s only shared use kitchen and culinary business incubator. Founded as a new 501(c)3 non-profit in August 2009,  CropCircle currently supports about 25 culinary entrepreneurs and their fledgling businesses, providing technical support, training, oversight, and mentoring through the early stages of a new food business. Most importantly, CropCircle Kitchen has a deep commitment to sustainability and truly believes in the local food movement and rebuilding the original food economy through an “organic renaissance”. By nurturing entrepreneurs, their mission is to support the local economy and small businesses, a truly unique cause in our class of Founding Members. Read more here.

In tomorrow’s profiles – Boston Founding Members who are behind women’s issues

5 Boston Founding Members passionate about education

9 Nov
Boston, with 26 universities, is fertile seeding ground for startup social enterprises and nonprofit organizations focused on education. Today’s diverse group of Founding Members all share a passion for education. Read on to learn more!

City Year  is one of the seminal education organizations in the United States, with locations across the country, South Africa and the UK. The organization unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, providing them skills, opportunities and inspiration (or confidence?) to change the world. As tutors, mentors and role models, these diverse young leaders help children stay in school and on track, and transform schools and communities. As CEO and Co-Founder Michael Brown stated in City Year’s 2010 Annual Report: “Education is the foundation of the American dream. Yet more than one million students give up on school in the United States every year. The high school dropout crisis is a national epidemic that requires bold action.” City Year is taking action. In a 2010 survey of students, 80% of the 4,400 respondents agreed, “City Year helps me learn, and helps me believe I can succeed.” Learn more about City Year here.

The dream for Year Up was born in Boston, through what was perhaps one of the most impassioned college application essays ever received by Harvard Business School. Inspired by his experience as a Big Brother and equally appalled by the injustices of the Opportunity Divide he witnessed whilst mentoring his Little Brother, Gerald Chertavian, Year Up’s Founder and CEO, wrote his Harvard application essay about his dream to open an urban school for young adults. Year Up’s mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by providing urban young adults with the skills, experience and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. In its first year, Year Up mentored 22 students in Boston; it is now a nationwide movement that will serve over 1,400 students in nine cities across the country this year.

The Right Question Institute (RQI)  is a unique organization. It’s mission is simple yet powerful: To help individuals in low and moderate-income communities learn to advocate for themselves and participate in decisions that affect them. The organization develops uncomplicated but impactful methods for teaching sophisticated self-advocacy and democratic skills to people of all educational, income or literacy levels. They then disseminate these tools to institutions in a “train the trainer” method. For instance, the organization has helped health educators, nurses, doctors, and other health staff use the Right Question Strategy to support patient efforts to participate more actively in their own health care and promote more patient-provider shared decision-making. To read about the universal relevance of RQI’s methods, click here.

For the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC), “…the establishment of a network of schools diverse in their configuration but united in their commitment to educate and affirmatively develop boys and young men of color is critically important.” Ron Walker, COSEBOC’s Founder and Executive Director, has 4 decades experience as an educator and spent the last 15 years as leader of a national school reform project. To realize its mission – of re-imagining and transforming the schooling experience for males of color and help them attain success – the organization builds networked learning community of educators, researchers, policy-makers and caring adults who support school leaders with high quality professional development. To read more, click here.

Raising a Reader (RAR)’s mission is to engage parents in a routine of daily “book cuddling” with their children from birth to age five. This fosters healthy brain development, parent-child bonding, and early literacy skills critical for school success. Operated through a variety of host agencies, RAR rotates a set of bright red bags filled with award-winning children’s books into the homes of participating families on a weekly basis. In its short ten year history, Raising A Reader has already reached 811,000 children. Its long term goal is to extend its reach as a leader in early literacy family engagement and eventually reach one million children. In 2006, 2007, and 2008 Raising A Reader was named one of the top 45 social entrepreneurs changing the world by Fast Company Magazine.

In tomorrow’s profiles – Boston Founding Members who are foundations and incubators behind nonprofits and entrepreneurs

A talented class of Boston Founding Members

8 Nov

With one week to go until our launch in Boston, our Founding Class of 25 is nearly full! We are truly excited to have a class of organizations large and small, representing cause areas that run the gamut from poverty alleviation to design and culture. Over the next few days, we will be profiling a selection of these Founding Members on our blog. Our first group to be profiled are passionate about alleviating homelessness and poverty. Read on to get to know them and the causes they are passionate about.

Pine Street Inn is one of Boston’s most well known nonprofit organizations. They believe that “everyone deserves a place to call home” and provide shelter and nourishment and compassion to hundreds daily. Pine Street Inn began its journey four decades ago, offering approximately 200 men suffering from alcoholism a safe alternative to the streets of Boston. Today they serve over 1,300 men and women daily, and provide a comprehensive range of programs and services, including housing, outreach, shelter and job training, but their ultimate goal is to make permanent housing a real possibility for all.  Pine Street Inn is poised to open two new houses in Boston on November 12th, one of which is dedicated completely to veterans of the US Armed Forces. Check out the celebrations for these openings here.

Housing Families has established itself as an force committed to ending homelessness for families. In 1986, community members concerned about the crisis of homelessness among families in Boston’s Metro North cities of Everett, Malden, and Medford created what is now Housing Families Inc. (HFI).  HFI’s current services include a children’s after school program, an eviction prevention program and a housing stabilization program, and they have grown into one of the largest operators of affordable housing for homeless and very low-income families in Massachusetts. As one beneficiary put it: “The help we received and continue to receive from Housing Families has helped to accelerate the constructive changes in my life, and I know I am taking positive steps toward my aspirations.”  Read more success stories here.

Elizabeth Stone House provides homeless families and individuals with a goal-oriented, outcome-driven environment. By helping to resolve the underlying drivers of homelessness – domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental illness – Elizabeth Stone House seeks to help families and individuals attain and maintain permanent housing, personal safety, and economic stability. The Stone House’s residential programs include a three-month Domestic Violence Shelter and an 18-month Transitional Housing Program. They also provide a number of community support groups and personal economic development programs.  Over 500 women, children and men have been served through the Stone House’s programs. Get involved here.

Tomorrow’s profiles – Boston Founding Members who are passionate about education!

Find Your Cause: Green Guerillas

8 Sep

Meet Green Guerillas

Green Guerillas uses a unique mix of education, organizing and advocacy to help people
cultivate community gardens, sustain grassroots groups and coalitions, engage youth, paint
colorful murals, and address issues critical to the future of their gardens.

In 1973 Liz Christy, a Lower East Side artist, gathered her friends and neighbors together to clean out a vacant lot on the corner of Bowery and Houston Streets. Calling themselves the
Green Guerillas, these visionaries created a vibrant community garden and sparked the modern community gardening movement in New York City.

Green Guerillas tapped the time, talent and energy of their members. They took on projects as varied and interesting as the city itself – they threw seed “green-aids” over the fences of vacant lots, installed window boxes, planted flowers in tree pits – and helped people transform city- owned vacant lots into community gardens that serve as botanic gardens, vest pocket parks, urban farms and as expressions of art, ecology, and culture. More than three decades later, Green Guerillas is a vital 501c3 nonprofit organization, and there are more than 600 community gardens in New York City with a whole new host of challenges.

How Green Guerillas Does Good

Green Guerillas engages in a variety of program activities to achieve their vision and mission. Primarily, they

  • Gather and distribute information on critical issues to New York City’s community garden groups.
  • Distribute plants, materials, and advice to 200 community garden groups to help them grow more food, strengthen their gardens, and manage healthy, vibrant green spaces.
  • Provide organizational assistance to dozens of groups to help them recruit new members, hold effective meetings, engage the community, organize events, and ensure the long term viability of their community gardens and their grassroots groups.
  • Serve as the fiscal sponsor for 20 community garden groups to help them obtain and manage grant funding that supports events, garden improvements, and outreach campaigns.
  • Rally community members to breathe new life and new energy into 10 underutilized community garden sites.
  • Help the Phoenix Community Gardeners continue to establish their large Fulton Street site as an urban farm, a community garden, and an outdoor educational center.

Work That Matters

Fighting Hunger, Improving Food Choices: Green Guerillas uses the Harvest for Neighborhoods (H4N) Campaign to help central Brooklyn community gardeners grow thousands of pounds of fresh, healthy food for their families, their neighbors and for distribution to local soup kitchens and food pantries. The H4N Campaign helps gardeners grow fruits and vegetables in neighborhoods that lack supermarkets and green grocers, helping change the food equation in important ways. By supporting 3 emerging community farmers markets, Green Guerillas is helping community garden leaders provide thousands of their central Brooklyn neighbors with access to fresh healthy food to help create healthier neighborhoods.

Creating the Next Generation of Environmental Leaders and Food Advocates:  Green Guerillas engages youth as true partners in New York City’s community gardening and urban farming movement. The Youth Tillers program engages 10 central Brooklyn teenagers  in paid urban agriculture internships that challenge them to grow food, build compost bins, strengthen food-growing community gardens, and teach 200 other kids where their food comes from. 3 Summer AmeriCorps members  work at the core of the Harvest for Neighborhoods Campaign as they tend harvest beds, help gardeners grow more food, lead garden workdays, organize events, and help garden groups recruit new urban farmers. The Youth Mural Project  and the Youth Gardening Project put trowels, seeds, seedlings, and paint brushes in the hands of more than 250 children and youth to help them garden and paint murals as they learn about food, art and nature in the city.

Green Guerillas’ Impact

 In the past year alone, Green Guerillas:

  •  Organized 3 comprehensive plant giveaways for 170 community gardens that provided gardeners with a wide variety of vegetable seedlings, herbs, annuals and seeds to help them boost their harvest and add splashes of color to New York City neighborhoods
  • Organized community workdays to increase and improve growing areas at 14 gardens
  • Helped gardener leaders organize community events to bring in more garden members and increase accessibility to local healthy food production at 16 community gardens
  • Targeted ongoing organizing efforts at 10 underutilized gardens
  • Conducted ongoing community outreach connecting community groups with each other to share ideas and resources
  • Helped 90 community garden groups grow thousands of pounds of fresh, healthy food
  • Gave 3 community farmers markets the assistance they need to help them become established as sources of fresh fruits and vegetables for thousands of Brooklyn residents of all income levels
  • Engaged 15 young people in well organized internships to help them become urban farmers. community organizers and food advocates
  • Helped garden groups become sustainable by providing fundraising assistance and fiscal sponsor services to 20 community groups
  • Through the COOL FOOD Campaign, helped 40 garden groups understand season extension and access the supplies they needed to plant for multiple harvests in the same growing season. As a result, gardeners were able to double their harvest out of the same planting boxes.

Catachfire’s Pro Bono Impact with Green Guerillas

Stay tuned – Green Guerillas is new to Catchafire and will be posting their first projects soon!

Get Involved

To stay updated on when Green Guerillas needs help,  please favorite the Green Guerillas page on Catchafire. (You need to be logged in to do this.) We’ll alert you as new opportunities to get involved become available.  If you want to learn more about this great opportunity, email community@catchafire.org.

Find Your Cause: Alpine Learning Group

6 Sep

Meet Alpine Learning Group  

Alpine Learning Group provides learners with autism and their families comprehensive, scientifically-validated educational and behavioral services designed to foster individual growth and personal achievement. In 1988, New Jersey was home to only a few behaviorally-based school programs serving children with autism. Confronted with the challenge of securing an appropriate and effective educational program for their children with autism, a small group of local families joined with autism specialists to found the Alpine Learning Group. Originally housed in the basement of a local community house, Alpine Learning Group opened the doors to its first four students in 1989. In 1991, there was 1 child in every 3,000 diagnosed with autism. Today, it is 1 child in every 100 nationally, and growing. Over time Alpine Learning Group’s Education Program has grown steadily, and now serves twenty-nine learners with autism, aged 3 to 21 years, and 8 adult learners at their temporary Adult Learning Center in Ridgewood. Alpine also serves many families as part of their Outreach, Social Skills and Early Detection Programs.

How Alpine Learning Group Does Good

Alpine Learning Group’s primary program focus is their educational program, which is based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Scientific research has demonstrated that ABA is the safest and most effective treatment for autism. ABA is widely recognized by educators and professionals as the only intervention leading to comprehensive, lasting improvements in the lives of individuals with autism. In fact, ABA has been endorsed by a number of state and federal agencies, including the U. S. Surgeon General and the New York State Department of Health. Some of the key tenets of ABA include:

  • Individual assessment of each learner’s strengths, challenges and learning style
  • One-to-one and highly structured small group instruction
  • Monthly educational clinics bringing together families, learners, and staff
  • Systematic data analyses to track learner performance
  • Intervention in both structured and natural settings

Alpine Learning Group has many other programs which support and align with their educational program and ensure they are addressing their vision from a number of different perspectives. Their Peer Modeling Program provides some preschoolers with autism the opportunity to learn from typically developing peers. The Early Detection Program provides parents comprehensive in-home training services to address problem behavior and to promote language and social skills. Unique mentorship and training opportunities to professionals seeking training in applied behavior analysis, special education, and autism treatment are also available through the Mentorship and Training program stream.

Alpine Learning Group’s Impact

The words of families and individuals whom the Alpine Learning Group has helped are powerful indicators of the impact they have had on the autism community. Clinicians also speak highly of their success in developing support programs for those living with autism.

“At Alpine Learning Group, our son is treated with respect and his life has dignity and purpose. His future is full of possibilities and they never cease to amaze us! “ - The Omaechevarria Family

“Your use of positive social reinforcement and noncontingent attention provides your program with a very positive, nurturing base. Staff were very warm and spontaneous with the students who often appeared pleased to interact with staff and visitors. The use of multiple staff to train the students throughout the day emphasizes flexibility and facilitates generalization.” - Dr. David Wacker, External Evaluation 

“The supported volunteer program is a great opportunity for our son to practice different job skills while interacting in the community. This is terrific preparation for adulthood.” - Merri Duchak, parent

Catchafire’s Pro Bono Impact with Alpine Learning Group

Alpine Learning Group is new to Catchafire and has just posted their first project. They are looking for a pro bono professional to help them with a Brand Messaging project.  Alpine Learning Group has chosen this as their first project because they have expanded their services and need to redefine their brand messaging to reflect this diversifaction and position within the field of autism education. This project will help Alpine Learning Group to convey their mission, values, and personality to the outside world.

Get Involved

If Brand Messaging is not in your skillset but you would like to get involved, please favorite the the Alpine Learning Group page on Catchafire. (You need to be logged in to do this.)  We’ll alert you as other opportunities to get involved with the Alpine Learning Group. become available.  If you want to learn more about this great opportunity, email community@catchafire.org.

Find Your Cause: The Partnership at Drugfree.org

2 Sep

Meet The Partnership at Drugfree.org  

The Partnership at Drugfree.org

The Partnership at Drugfree.org helps parents and families prevent, intervene and find treatment and support for drug and alcohol use in their teens.  By bringing together renowned scientists, parent experts and communications professionals, the Partnership at Drugfree.org translates current research on teen behavior, addiction and treatment into easy to understand, actionable resources at drugfree.org.  They also offer hope and help to the parents of the 11 million teens and young adults who need help with drugs and alcohol. The Partnership began with an idea to harness the power of the media, coupled with compelling research-based consumer advertising, to turn the tide on drug abuse trends, specifically among teens and youth. At the time, the nation was in the throes of the crack cocaine epidemic and they focused their efforts on reducing demand for those drugs through proven-effective public service advertising (PSA) campaigns. Today, crack and cocaine use is down 70 percent. Over the past several years, The Partnership has expanded their work, now including underage drinking, and focused on parents as their key leverage point, not only in preventing teen substance abuse, but in getting help for a child who is struggling with drugs or drinking.

How The Partnership at Drugfree.org Does Good

Across the nation through community education programs, The Partnership at Drugfree.org has trained more than 1,500 professionals who are working daily with local leaders, concerned citizens, parents and teens — in neighborhoods, schools, civic organizations, community centers and churches — to deliver research-based programs designed to help communities prevent teen drug and alcohol abuse. They have both a Parent and a Scientific Advisory Board, which ensure that the information and guidance offered to parents is grounded in the latest research, is focused, relevant and scientifically accurate. The Partnership partners with prominent organizations to reach wide audiences and leverage the power of brands that teens support.  In Spring 2010, they collaborated with the Major League Baseball Players Association and introduced a new online campaign, “Healthy Competition: A Resource for Parents”.

The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) is an example of how The Partnership at Drugfree.org contributes to the field of substance abuse prevention. This  research is the longest-running national research study of parent/teen behaviors and attitudes about drug and alcohol use in the United States. The teen sample is administered in private, public and parochial schools, and the parent sample is conducted through in-home interviews. PATS keeps parents and caregivers informed about what substances pose a threat to kids and families, while serving as a beacon for parents and alerting them to new trends in teen substance abuse.

The Partnership also puts on an annual gala and a series of special events in cities across the country where they recognize the support and significant contributions of individuals, corporations and foundations.

25th Anniversary Gala - Promise of Partnership

Promise of Partnership Healthy Families, Healthy Futures Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Partnership at Drugfree.org’s Impact

Over the past several years, The Partnership at Drugfree.org has expanded their work and their online resources. They have developed new resources for multicultural communities including the new bilingual Parents Toll-Free Helpline, 1-855-DRUGFREE. 2010 was a notable year for The Partnership – amplified by the voice of their first-ever celebrity spokesperson, Melissa Gilbert, best known for her role in “Little House on the Prairie,” they reintroduced themselves in October 2010 as The Partnership at Drugfree.org. They also unveiled their new website, a completely redesigned, user-friendly gateway to all of our programs and resources. In terms of resources, The Partnership at DrugFree.org created a set of e-books focused on teen and young adult intervention and treatment that guide parents to get help for a child in trouble with drugs or alcohol. The e-books lead to practical tools and consolidate the most current information at drugfree.org, saving parents from often fruitless searches for support and advice. One of the best indicators of the impact that The Partnership at Drugfree.org has had, however, are personal testimonials:

“The Partnership at Drugfree.org offers state-of-the-art and highly engaging resources for parents and youth. In kid language, ‘It rocks.’ In parent-speak, ‘It’s just what I needed!’ — Ken Winters, PhD, Adolescent Expert

“This website has really helped me to not feel so alone and has given me a lot of good ideas about how to approach things.” — Joy (comment on Intervene blog, The Partnership at Drugfree.org’s blog)

“I am a mother just recently entering this difficult path. My husband and I are lost when it comes to dealing effectively and rapidly. Thank you for all the information you provide for people like us.” — Hannah Brown (comment on Intervene)

Catchafire’s Pro Bono Impact with The Partnership at Drugfree.org

The Partnership at DrugFree.org will soon be seeking their first pro bono professionals! Stay tuned for how you can get involved!

Get Involved

Please favorite The Partnership at Drugfree.org on Catchafire. (You need to be logged in to do this.)  We’ll alert you as other opportunities to get involved with The Partnership at Drugfree.org become available.  If you want to learn more about this great opportunity, email community@catchafire.org.

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