Watch Margaret talk about the importance of legal services for veterans recovering from homelessness and mental illness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm3Xm6RO99I&feature=youtu.be

Happy 2016!

Now that the new year is upon us, it's a great time to look ahead at all of the upcoming events brought to you by Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven. If you have any questions about any of these events, please feel free to contact us at 203-562-0598.

Winter Garden Series

(January 23 - March 26)
Join Advanced Master Gardener, Rachel Ziesk, for a series of classes that will cover everything you need to be a successful gardener come Spring! Individual classes are just $20 or $100 for the entire 6-session series. Scroll below to see a full description of each class. 

Newhallville99

The Newhallville99 project is designed to celebrate the rich and vibrant history of New Haven's Newhallville neighborhood, and to highlight recent initiatives and accomplishments within this community. Newhallville99 is a way for everyone, whether they reside in Newhallville or not, to be inspired to engage with their communities, be proud of where they live, and look forward to a future of never ending possibilities.

NHS is current accepting submissions for the Newhallville99 project. Nominate your favorite person, place, or project in Newhallville! All we need is a photo and a short blurb. To nominate someone, simply email newhallville99@gmail.com

HomeBuyer Education Workshops

When it comes to deciding who to work with when you are in the market for a new home, NHS of New Haven knows that you have lots of options. So why work with us?

We use the information you provide to create a home purchase package that is unique to you. Our housing specialists understand that the process of purchasing a home can be stressful and confusing. When you work with us, you can rest assured that we will arm you with the resources and knowledge to make informed, unbiased decisions. We ensure that you are prepared for the responsibilities of homeownership and are more resistant to default and foreclosure. At NHS, it's our goal to make sure that you're purchasing a home that you can not only afford to buy, but afford to keep.

Click here to begin your journey to homeownership! 

Winter Garden Workshops (full descriptions)
January 23, 10am-12pm: Soil & Garden Planning
The most important component for a successful garden is soil health. Learn how to make and keep your soil healthy, as well as how to plan your garden for the most productive season.

January 30, 10am-12pm: Cool Weather Crops
Learn about starting your garden as soon as the snow is gone! Cool Weather crops don't mind the cold and give you a head start on the season. Most can be planted directly in the ground, saving any space you use for seedlings for other crops.

February 13, 10am-12pm: Warm Weather Crops
Everything you'll need to know about warm weather crops: which ones are best started indoors, or direct seeded into the ground. What fertilizers to use, what conditions each crop prefers, all the information for a productive growing season.

February 27, 10am-12pm: Container Gardening & Seed Starting
Some people have no access to garden space -- that doesn't mean you can't grow your own vegetables. Container gardening can be rewarding and supply you with more food than you thought! Learn the in's and out's of using containers for your growing needs. The class will also go through everything you need to know to start your own seedlings. Everyone attending will get to plant a six pack of seedlings to take home with them.

March 12, 10am-12pm: Edible Landscaping
Attractive plants or food? Why not have both? Lots of edible plants are beautiful additions to even an ornamental garden. Learn which plants will perform well in either a vegetable or ornamental garden, which ones not only produce food but create attractive areas in your garden. Also learn about weeds that are edible and nutritious, and invasive plants and how to get rid of them.

March 26, 10am-12pm: Pests, Diseases and Organic Controls
There are lots of pests and diseases that can affect your garden. Learn about the prevalent ones and what organic controls you can use to combat them for a healthy, productive garden.

From: https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2015/03/04/the-face-of-nonprofit-boards-a-network-problem/?

Within BoardSource’s 2014 Governance Index, “Leading with Intent,” there lies an interesting paradox when it comes to board diversity. Forty-five percent of the boards and 69 percent of the CEOs surveyed are dissatisfied with their board’s diversity. Not only that, but 71 percent of boards and 75 percent of CEOs think a more diverse board would make them better at fulfilling their mission. To continue...

From: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/04/what-money-can-buy-profiles-larissa-macfarquhar

The urge to change the world is normally thwarted by a near-insurmountable barricade of obstacles: failure of imagination, failure of courage, bad governments, bad planning, incompetence, corruption, fecklessness, the laws of nations, the laws of physics, the weight of history, inertia of all sorts, psychological unsuitability on the part of the would-be changer, the resistance of people who would lose from the change, the resistance of people who would benefit from it, the seduction of activities other than world-changing, lack of practical knowledge, lack of political skill, and lack of money. Lack of money is a stubborn obstacle, but not as hopelessly unyielding as some of the others, and so would-be world-changers often set out to overcome it. Some try to raise money, but that can be depressing and futile. Others try to make money, but it’s hard to make enough. There is a third, more reliable way to overcome this obstacle, however, and that is to give away money that has already been made by somebody else, and has already been allocated to world-changing purposes. This is the way of the grant-makers of the Ford Foundation... continues

Greetings To All,

Another New Year is upon us. I had a difficult time as to a great sentiment for this new year. So I settled upon  these three which I hope all will enjoy.

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.

                                                                   Henri Bergson

“ ... above all things lose no occasion of exercising your dispositions to be grateful to be generous, to be charitable, to be humane, to be true... ”    

                                                                       THOMAS JEFFERSON

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come.

                                                                   Alfred Lord Tennyson

All the very best to everyone in this New Year,

Patricia Illingworth

Applications are being accepted for The Community Foundation's 2016 Neighborhood Leadership Program.

The Neighborhood Leadership Program is an eight month training and grant program that supports community leaders in imagining, developing, testing and realizing projects which build community and provide positive outcomes in New Haven neighborhoods and contiguous towns.

If you are a resident of New Haven (or contiguous towns) who has demonstrated commitment to making a positive difference through resident engagement, and if you are eager to build skills, develop your capacity to increase your impact, and engage with other leaders in learning, practice, and project execution, you should apply to this program.

You will learn the skills and practices of:

• appreciating and using your personal strengths and core values
• building relational culture in your community and with other leaders
• understanding the resources and challenges involved in creating the community you want
• creating and using a group of allies to support you in your work
• designing and implementing a pilot project that will positively impact your community
• learning from your pilot how to modify or scale up your project
• developing and managing the human and material resources you need to produce effective positive impact

The Deadline to apply is Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at Noon. Visit http://ow.ly/Wc50i for more information and to apply.

The Quinnipiac River Fund, a component fund of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, makes grants for projects designed to benefit the environmental quality of the Quinnipiac River, the New Haven Harbor, and surrounding watersheds.

Applications are reviewed to verify:

• The need addressed in the proposal and other past or ongoing attempts to meet it;

• The degree of benefit to the Quinnipiac River;

• The expected results;

• The adequacy of the proposed action to the named problem.

Approximately $100,000 in grants is awarded each spring from the Fund.

The deadline to submit grant applications for the 2016 grants cycle is January 15, 2016. Click here to complete an online application.

Contact Denise Canning at dcanning@cfgnh.org or 203-777-7076 for more information.

More than forty years after Dr. King asked, “Where do we go from here?” American society is still grappling with the question.

From Chicago to Minneapolis to Baltimore, our nation is in the midst of a defining moment of racial, social, and economic change. For communities of color, this moment is particularly stark and has been magnified by the courageous #BlackLivesMatter movement, which emerged in response to a long history of police violence and criminal injustice against black men and women.

Social justice, racial equity, and systems change are critical for today's black men and boys, particularly given the barriers... more.

The Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA) is a national membership network that seeks to ensure the growth, sustainability, and impact of leaders and organizations committed to improving the life outcomes of Black men and boys. CBMA is a growing network that currently includes more than 4,720 leaders representing nearly 2,577 organizations and programs across the country.For more information

You have some money and want to make more. Right?  Sure you do.  But you also care about the world around you and want to make a difference.  What to do?

Jean Case has an answer: impact investing. Case was an executive at AOL and today she leads the Case Foundation, which promotes the power of investing to drive social change.  Case explains how you can start impact investing — and change the world while you make money.

What is impact investing, and why is it important?...

In the US, there are three distinct structures that to a stronger or lessor degree serve the citizens: public, corporate, and nonprofit. Each can affect the other in a number of ways recognizing that the public and corporate may have, through money, more of, but not exclusively, an impact on the other.

There has become more recently a clear recognition that nonprofits, (501(c) 3s in particular could and should exert their own strengths to influence what happens in the public sector while recognizing that a good number of nonprofits also serve as extensions of the will of the public. These have grants or contracts sometimes which represent a majority of their income.

So, it is not surprising that there are moments when the public sector, or more specifically, public sector characters, may no like what a nonprofit sector entity has done and consequentially, take away the "people's" money. One might of course question the sense of a nonprofit whose sustainability strategy includes more than 1/3 of its money relying on public funds but let's not make that the focus of today's discussion.

No, the real focus of today''s discussion is the situation going-on in Maine whereby the Governor, according to the Portland Press Herald, has " threatened to pull state funding from Good Will-Hinckley – a social service agency that serves at-risk youth with programs that include a charter school – if it didn’t get rid of its new executive director, Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves." One legislator when asked about the situation states: “This stuff does happen, said Rep. Deb Sanderson, R-Chelsea, a member of the Government Oversight Committee. “There’s strong-arming that goes on. Politics is dirty. At least he has the guts to go out and say it.”

So...right or wrong? Should the cost of doing business with the state be that contract arrangements are always at political risk should the nonprofit "misbehave" according to the contractor? Note by-the-way that I'm not stating that the nonprofit in question did anything that should put its money in jeopardy. I believe that the only consideration as to go-no go funding should be ouputs and outcomes. Did the nonprofit do what it said it would do (and if not, why not) and did the nonprofit achieve the results it intended? These in my opinion SHOULD be the criteria for go-no go funding (aside from the typical public sector budget issues).

What we don't know in Maine and what should be the focus of the conversation is indeed the rate of performance by the nonprofit in question. And yes, at least according to the Governor, the nonprofit is not doing everything the way the Governor would like. But here's where the nonprofit's board could exert its own political strengths and ensure that the Governor is held back from doing what he's attempting to do - contract in the weeds versus outputs and outcomes. This is where a nonprofit board and its members should "step-up" and make its voices loud and clear at two levels. It must tell the story of outcomes and effectiveness and move other legislators and the public to ensure that contracting is not a political whimsy activity.

Nope, I'm not thinking the Governor is doing "right" in stepping into a contractural relationship and while I don't have enough information, I am hoping that the board is doing more right and stepping-up as advocates of good process as well as good information to ensure that their good work is continued.

CTC is seeking nominations for the 2016 class of Women of Innovation! Submit a nomination today.

Who is eligible?
Any woman who is a successful innovator or leader in science, technology, engineering or math. Also any woman who has shown leadership in her community. Students at the high school and collegiate levels are eligible as well. 

When to nominate?
The nomination deadline is January 29 so hurry and nominate today. 

Learn More

The human mind is crazy!  I went from sitting on my couch laughing internally over an old Martin Lawrence show to listening to a sales pitch from Tony Little (the fitness guru) on a live QVC pillow sale, and before I knew it I  had my phone in my hand with the number dialed.  Anyway, the Martin Lawrence show had a particular character that I took notice of, “Tommy”.  I am pretty sure throughout the entire length of the series you never knew what he did for a living. Tommy was always dressed nice, new clothes, accessories and was always the one with cash.  The rest of the cast would always try to find out where, when, and how he got what he had.  That entire piece of his character’s backstory remained a mystery, but everyone on the show agreed he was somehow “successful”. 

Success, what is success?  How is it measured? Who measures it?  This became my mind’s newest obsession.  Unlike other topics, I could not get my mind off these questions.  That being said, I did what any educated and modern American would do when faced with an instant craving for information…I GOOGLED it.  “Success  definition”

suc·cess-/səkˈses/-

noun: success; plural noun: successes

the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

“the president had some success in restoring confidence”

synonyms: favorable outcome, successfulness, successful result, triumph; Hollywood ending

antonyms: failure

the attainment of popularity or profit.

“the success of his play”

synonyms: prosperity, affluence, wealth, riches, opulence

antonyms: poverty

a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity.

“I must make a success of my business”

synonyms: triumph, bestseller, blockbuster, sellout; More

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=success+definition

Much like the majority of society, I scanned through the top three results.  I was left with lingering questions.  Success is defined as someone who achieves desired aims, popularity, or profit.  Still, who is the one to say that is the true definition of success?  I know I have a lot of questions and not many answers, but I can provide a personal view point towards these definitions as well as give input on how success is measured and who measures success.

See, in today’s day and age many feel like they’re living their life “under a microscope”. We feel constantly in front of the world and easily susceptible to judgment thanks to social media and mass marketing.  The measure of success is portrayed, publicized, and sold in very specific ways.  This is similar to an individual struggling with their body image, always comparing themselves to others or unrealistic photo-shopped versions of celebrities.  People are quick to over analyze their own level of “success” and compare their own accomplishments to others.  This mindset will never lead to overall fulfilment rather an individual will be stuck on a never ending ladder of disappointments, because even if one reaches a specific goal it is never good enough.  Now you may say that never settling and striving for better results is an excellent way to progress.  If we were speaking in general terms you are correct but I’m not.  See, if you are able to take a step back and realize where you were and how far you have come and celebrate your accomplishments, then that would be an acceptable manner in which one would continually strive for a goal.

Unfortunately, many people have a hard time recognizing and promoting all the achievements they have reached over time and instead harp on what they have not accomplished.  I am speaking from experience because at times I tend to struggle with this myself.  As an individual with a noticeable disability I found myself comparing my circumstances to others from the get-go.  From youth to adulthood I was always complaining internally “Why didn’t I this”,” Why don’t I that.”  Specifically when it came to school and not being up to par with my peers.  School never came easy.  It took me so long to graduate college that there should be the title Dr. or “Rocket Scientist” before my name.   For years I watched my friends and acquaintances graduating and landing jobs with money.  The kind of money that got you out of your parent’s house, which was, of course, where I was at that time and an obvious area that I consistently compared to my peers!

Society absolutely factors money as a measure of one’s “success” and if you refer back to my in depth investigative GOOGLE search, one of the definitions referred to the amount of profit that one attains as a direct driver of “success.”  My mind bought in to that definition and led me to obsess over the need for a more “successful job”.  This continued up until a few years ago, I was so preoccupied with not having the “successful job” that it hindered me from realizing yet again what I had.  This kept me from realizing the opportunities within my own employer.  A lot of people do this, we need instant gratification and when it’s not provided we look elsewhere for it.

A few years ago, while temporarily employed, I sat on my parents couch surfing the World Wide Web for a more “successful” job.  I applied for a position with Ability Beyond in Bethel, CT.  Ability Beyond is an Organization that provides resources for individuals of all levels of (dis) abilities so that they may attain personalized independence.  My initial role was within one of many of those resource groups known as Career Development.  This is where we worked with clients to build upon their personal strength’s and enhance their weaknesses so that they become better equipped to land a career position in a role they would enjoy excelling at.  My case load of clients loved me, my colleagues respected me, my manager was always there to provide constructive criticism and most importantly, I was getting my clients jobs.  You would think that finally one would be happy, but as a very short time passed I began to slip back to my negative outlook at where I was in my life.  I was not making enough money, and all I had in my head was that GOOGLE definition and how money is the driver towards ultimate “success.”

As I plugged along in my position, internally lost, I worked face to face with clients of all ages, status levels, education levels and abilities.  One day out of nowhere it just hit me.  It was like I had finally GOOGLED the definition and answer to my life!  For months I sat across from individuals who met with me for assistance and guidance on how to make personalized improvement and as I educated them, they were educating me. 

Success is not something that anyone can measure with definitive accuracy, because a true definition of success is personalized.  It is not something that is searched for and found, it is created.  In the past when I was harping over what others were doing in life. I was only focusing on tangible items that society marked as status symbols and not actually questioning if obtaining those things would truly make me feel fulfilled. When I was not satisfied with earlier jobs I was quick to think that the only logical solution was to search elsewhere for “success”.  You have to evaluate what you yourself view as a successful goal and create attainable milestones.  As you reach each milestone celebrate it and cherish your accomplishments.  This will provide momentum and help you to realize that you are much further from where you were and even that much closer to where you strive to be.  This is easy to write, but not easy to maintain.  I find myself slipping up from time to time, but with practice and redirection it could be the difference between a life of fruitless outcomes and a life of promise and progression.

I began to practice what I preached, and within less than three years I had three new roles within Ability Beyond.  I could not be more thankful for this organization assisting me in my personal and professional growth.  In my current role as Founder of Talk the Walk I provide strategic resources for school systems, companies, and communities to attain all-inclusive environments.  This ranges from enrichment programs to strategic initiative development.  These initiatives are customized, and implemented to complement the overall needs of our clients.  We shift company and community cultures while generating return-on-investment, and increasing efficiency throughout, resulting in a boost in employee/community morale.  Our overall goal for each client that we work with is for them to realize there is always Ability beyond disability.  As a result they can enjoy a self-sustaining disability and inclusion initiative that becomes engrained in their company and community culture.  Every capable and qualified individual willing to work should be provided an opportunity to showcase their ability.  Everyone deserves to create their own definition of success!

Blurb about the writer:  Richard James Luby, an individual with Cerebral Palsy, is a proud member of the (dis)abled community.  He began to recognize that a disability is not a disadvantage, it’s a gift.  He utilizes his gifts to advocate, educate, build and unite all individuals so that they have the tools to realize their potential, internally and externally.  He promotes personal growth through his loud, in your face, outgoing, yet comforting characteristics

                                                                  Attention Community Leaders!

Register now for the next Neighborhood Leadership Program Orientation session on Monday December 7th!

The Neighborhood Leadership Program is an eight month training and grant program that supports community leaders in imagining, developing, testing and realizing projects which build community and provide positive outcomes in New Haven neighborhoods and contiguous towns. Join us to learn more!

December 7, 2015

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

Community Meeting Rm, 3rd Floor

70 Audubon Street, New Haven CT

Directions

Light dinner will be served.

If you are a resident of New Haven (or contiguous towns) who has demonstrated commitment to making a positive difference through resident engagement, and if you are eager to build skills, develop your capacity to increase your impact, and engage with other leaders in learning, practice, and project execution, you should apply to this program.

Click here for additional details about the eligibility criteria for participation in this program.

Please Register by December 5, 2015
  

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Lee Cruz at lcruz@cfgnh.org or call 203-777-7074.

Peace On Earth Toward All Men

Patricia Illingworth

Grove Street Cemetery

Do you remember the 60's bumper sticker: It will be a great day when the schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a new bomber? Well this article suggests that's exactly what the folks in Charlotte are doing - holding bake sales (not literally) to raise money for pretty big-ticket items.

The following Charlotte Observer article not only challenges the methods Charlotte nonprofit boards are using to raise funds, but calls board members "too scared" more willing instead to do "back door" fundraising then ask directly.

Sadly in my opinion, this article starts with the core premise that asking for money is indeed the job of board members. I pose that the answer is maybe it is but certainly not if that's not what members agreed to when they came on board. This must be the conversation in order to have the expectation. Are there consequences for not having board members ask for money? Certainly. But we also know there are a number of ways to finance a nonprofit and we also know there are some equally important roles for board members in addition to asking for money.

I would suggest that boards first must clarify why they are at the table - for what purpose and then they can get to the methods. I'm not sure that telling board members they are just too scared to ask for money is a true enough assumption. But this is certainly a conversation starter.
Charlotte nonprofits too scared to ask for money
Libraries are wonderfully deserving of financial support. But they shouldn’t have to throw a great gala to get it. John D. Simmons jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

BY CHRIS MCLEOD

Charlotte is the second-largest financial center in the country, so presumably we know something about money. We’re also home to Myers Park Presbyterian, Myers Park United Methodist and Christ Episcopal, among the largest congregations in their denominations, with budgets north of $5 million. And Elevation and Forest Hills Church, two of the fastest growing megachurches and Billy Graham Evangelical Association also call Charlotte home. Shalom Park, a nationally unique campus, is home to 14 nonprofits and two synagogues.

When I moved to Charlotte 12 years ago, this juxtaposition of big banks and big churches intrigued me. I was confident that I’d discover Charlotte was home to some of the nation’s most well-funded nonprofits. What I discovered surprised me.

Rather than a banking community that brought its penchant for capacity building to its nonprofits, I discovered a nonprofit community haunted by a narrative of scarcity and a shallow understanding of fundraising. We love to build shiny new buildings, but our nonprofits are starved for operating capital. Despite the community’s pressing needs, the majority of nonprofit boards would rather cut costs than raise money.

The reality is most of our board members find fundraising, well, somewhat distasteful. Many of our community leaders pretend to know very little about raising money, preferring to let Hugh McColl and Michael Marsicano do all the asking.

In Charlotte, we prefer to host galas to fund our low-income health clinic and homeless shelter and sell raffle tickets to support our public libraries rather than ask a donor face-to-face for a major gift to support the program costs and staff that make it possible. Given our financial institutions’ focus on efficiency and managing costs, one would think our board members would embrace the face to face major gift ask, since it is the most efficient and cost-effective fundraising strategy.

Our lack of fundraising leadership is forcing the hand of our nonprofits to adopt these desperate fundraising strategies. This trend of “lifestyle philanthropy” is not benign. If we are not careful, Charlotte will end up like many communities in Florida, where donors’ loyalty follows nonprofits hosting the most spectacular galas with little regard for the nonprofits’ mission. Today, nonprofits are training our donor community to give this way, with little appreciation that this is a losing game. While nonprofit leaders proudly announce their galas’ gross receipts, few understand that the actual net gain is dramatically less, often less than half of the gross receipts.

If we presume this “preference” is learned, we can hope that by providing opportunities for community leaders to learn the most efficient and cost-effective strategy for raising charitable capital, we can reverse this trend. If Charlotte is to respond to the incredible opportunities and challenges, we need to identify and teach the next generation of leaders how to raise money.

In 2016, Women’s Impact Fund and the Institute for Philanthropic Leadership will host educational programs that focus on fundraising leadership for board members.

The desire to make a difference is universal, regardless of one’s faith tradition. Fundraising is about inviting people to make a difference. What makes me hopeful about Charlotte is that it is a community of passionate people who dream big dreams and want to make a difference. Those who are going to make the greatest difference are those willing to learn how to invite others to make a difference.

Come join us. We can’t let Hugh and Michael have all the fun.

Chris McLeod is president of Giving Matters, Inc. chris@givingmatters

Summary:  The Connecticut Veterans Legal Center seeks a part-time Special Events Engagement Director to lead marketing and fundraising efforts for the fifth annual cycling event known as “The Ride for Veterans.” This third-party fundraiser scaled up significantly in 2015 thanks to its lead sponsor Point72 Asset Management, with about 80 people riding an estimated 3,000 miles and raising over $100,000. CVLC aspires to significantly expand ridership in 2016 and envisions The Ride becoming a popular event throughout Connecticut’s cycling and veteran communities. Hourly pay will be based on experience and qualifications and will be highly competitive. No benefits are provided with this position. 

Hours: 10 hours per week average, increasing as event approaches in June 2016.

Reports To: Executive Director

Works With: The Ride Event Committee and Event Planner

Performance Measures/Deliverables:

• • Meet specific targets for increased ridership
• • Meet specific targets for increased number of corporate, law firm and community-based sponsors and teams.

Responsibilities:

• Act as CVLC’s main liaison with law firms, corporate and community partners through in-person meetings, email and mail communications, and tabling and speaking events to encourage entities to form cycling teams and fundraise on behalf of CVLC.

• Lead the development of a marketing and communication plan to increase awareness of the event within CVLC’s network of law firms and corporations as well as new corporate and community partners.

• Create and maintain a list of potential event sponsors and development an engagement plan for each potential sponsor. 

• Develop and implement an online marketing strategy, promoting the event through websites and social media. 

• Develop marketing materials to promote the event.

• Work with event planner to incorporate sponsors and organizational message into the event.

Qualifications:

• Minimum of three years’ experience working in sales, non-profit development or another field with an emphasis on relationship management.

• Experience with event management, marketing and media campaigns and familiarity with donor relationship management.
• Superior verbal and written communication skills and an ability to connect with a range of potential partners in a variety of settings from pitching PR staff in corporate conference rooms to spaghetti dinners at American Legion halls. Must be comfortable soliciting potential corporate and individual donors.
• Must be organized, self-directed and results-oriented.
• Enthusiasm for cycling and a passion for veterans justice is a plus.
• Must have valid driver’s license and a vehicle in order to meet with sponsors throughout Connecticut.

About the CVLC:

The Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) exists to support veterans in recovery by helping them overcome legal barriers to housing and income. CVLC and VA CT’s Errera Community Care Center created the country’s first VA medical-legal partnership to integrate legal help into VA mental health, housing and addiction services. CVLC leverages the generosity of Connecticut’s attorneys by connecting half of the veterans it serves with no-cost, high quality assistance. Since 2009, CVLC has helped almost 1500 veterans rebuild the fulfilling lives they deserve.

To Apply:

To apply please submit a cover letter, resume, two references, and a professional letter/email sample to the CVLC’s Executive Director Margaret Middleton at mmiddleton@ctveteranslegal.org. Please email with questions. The position is open until filled and will be filled quickly so please send your materials as soon as possible.

~~~Greetings To All~~~

May I thank everyone who visited and supported Grove Street Cemetery

this past season.

The visual selected is from Victorian Trading Co highlighting

this enchanting season.

~~~~~Happy Thanksgiving~~~~~

Patricia B. Illingworth 

The following LA Times story describes a nonprofit board that I believe has seriously lost its focus and the mission. The story is about the County Fair which has morphed into an entertainment venue (that's ok - it more than pays the rent) but doesn't even have 4H at the annual fair anymore. Imagine! And of course the other big news - pays just under $1 million to its CEO! (Note, I generally believe the media is misguided in its focus on executive salaries but this may be an exception for me. Anyway, everyone is up-in-arms over the situation where the primary income is from Raves (you know, those concerts where kids dance and do drugs (so I'm told).

But the real story is about a board that might once have smartly recognized there was income to be made to offset expenses but in the process, lost sight of the why for the income and during the process, managed to lose lots of money and offend its very sponsors, the County. For shame, for shame, for shame!

Here's the story with a nod to the LA Times staff for focusing on the correct issues.

Head of money-losing L.A. County Fair Assn. made nearly $900,000 in total compensation
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Rong-Gong Lin II, Paul Pringle and Richard WintonContact Reporters

The Los Angeles County Fair Assn. was formed in 1940 to promote the region's then-booming agriculture industry. For generations, the nonprofit organization's annual fair crowned prize-winning hogs, taught children about crops and showcased thoroughbred racing.

But over the years, the association has morphed into something resembling a conglomerate, with little connection to farming or livestock. And its managers have become richly compensated even as the association loses money, a Times investigation has found.

The association controls a portfolio of enterprises that includes a hotel and conference center, a catering company and an equipment rental service. They are located on the county-owned fairgrounds in Pomona, sparing the association the obligation to pay property taxes. As a nonprofit, it also is exempt from taxes on most of its income.

Over the years, the Los Angeles County Fair Assn. has morphed into something resembling a conglomerate, with little connection to farming or livestock.

The organization has banked millions of dollars in government grants and received other support from taxpayers, according to its most recent federal tax filings. Despite the public subsidies, it lost a total of $6.25 million from 2010 through 2013 — though it rewarded its top executives with large bonuses and incentive pay in each of those years, the Internal Revenue Service records show.

The fair's chief executive, James Henwood Jr., 69, collected nearly $900,000 in total compensation in 2013, dwarfing that of other fair managers in California, according to the tax filings and state records. That same year, the association lost $3.4 million.

From 2010 through 2013, Henwood and four members of his executive team received a combined $2.8 million in bonuses and incentive pay, boosting their total compensation to $8.75 million, according to the tax filings. In those four years, Henwood averaged about $846,000 in annual compensation.
Los Angeles County Fair compensation

Other county fair compensation

"Running a fair is an executive position, and they should make some pretty good coin," said Michael O'Hare, a UC Berkeley public-policy professor who has studied the economics and management of fairs. "But this sounds to me totally crazy."
"Running a fair is an executive position, and they should make some pretty good coin. But this sounds to me totally crazy."- Michael O'Hare, UC Berkeley public-policy professor

As the association became more like a big business, it strayed further from its agrarian roots.

This shift came into stark focus in August, when the association booked a rave concert at the fairgrounds. Two young women who attended the rave were rushed to hospitals anddied of apparent overdoses. The deaths prompted the association and concert promoter Live Nation to cancel another rave that was scheduled for September's fair.

But a Halloween-themed rave Saturday and Sunday went on as scheduled. Police made more than 300 arrests, most for drug- and alcohol-related offenses.

A woman is arrested by California Highway Patrol officers at a security checkpoint for HARD Day of the Dead at the Pomona Fairplex on Oct. 31.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

Unlike most major fairs in California, L.A. County's is not run by a public agency. And although it works closely with county officials, the association has been free to compensate its executives as it sees fit and expand into other ventures.

In 2013, Henwood received more in bonuses and incentive pay than the association paid to the county for year-round use of the public fairgrounds, known as the Fairplex. A lease deal gives the association control of the nearly 500 acres in exchange for small shares of some of its revenues, such as 1.5% of the money generated by the fair and 5% of receipts from certain other events.

O'Hare and other experts say the association's current operations could jeopardize its tax exemption under IRS rules, especially because so little of the organization's business has to do with agriculture.

"It's so removed from agricultural pursuits that it calls into question whether it qualifies for a tax exemption," said Marcus Owens, a Washington attorney who once headed the IRS division on exempt organizations.

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The association's 244-room Sheraton Hotel and conference center are on county land, along with a number of for-profit companies it owns, including the Cornucopia catering firm that serves food at the fair and events such as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio.

"This isn't what you think of when you think of charity," said Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona), whose district includes the fairgrounds. "The government lands and subsidies are being used for the benefits of a few well-paid executives."

Torres said the raves are an example of how the association has lost its way.

"How many more liquor-licensed events is it going to run?" she said.

Henwood and the other managers declined to be interviewed.

In an email to The Times, association spokeswoman Renee Hernandez said the organization has embraced the "evolution" of Southern California agriculture, as represented by competitions for wine, craft beer, extra virgin olive oil and dairy products. She said the association has increased the number and variety of animals at the fair, although she did not provide details.

As a private nonprofit, the association is not subject to direct oversight by the Board of Supervisors or any other public body. It is governed by an 11-member board of directors. The panel is elected by the 60 voting members of the association, according to its media guide. The members, in turn, are selected by the board, whose president is former Cal Poly Pomona President J. Michael Ortiz.

In a telephone interview, Ortiz defended the fair executives' compensation, saying their pay was based on performance. He singled out Henwood's supervision of the construction of the conference center, which opened in 2012. Ortiz said the center has done well financially. Henwood, a former shopping mall manager from Orange County, has led the association for two decades.

Ortiz said Henwood has excelled at managing the association's Learning Centers programs. They provided vocational training to more than 600 students last year in auto mechanics, landscaping and other skills, according to the association's annual report.

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"We are training individuals in those areas to go out and do well in those fields," Ortiz said.

Asked why Henwood and his management staff were handed bonuses in years the association lost money, Ortiz said, "I don't think we have to explain." He declined to answer further questions and ended the interview.

Other board members did not respond to interview requests or declined to comment. They include local corporate executives, developers, an accountant and a fitness club owner, as well as Robert Dukes, an L.A. County Superior Court judge in Pomona, and University of the West President Stephen Morgan.

Some fairgrounds neighbors have called for a ban on the raves and restrictions on the number of other events, which they say bring noise, traffic and crime. Like Torres, the residents, who have formed a group called Protect Our Neighborhood, contend the association is a nonprofit in name only.

"They present themselves as people who run county fairs, where you milk cows and the kiddies can pet animals," said Jose M. Vadi, 71, a retired political science professor at Cal Poly Pomona. "Really, what they're doing is they're running a for-profit operation under the guise of being a nonprofit."

The association describes itself as "self-supporting," but it has turned to the government for financial assistance. Five years ago, the county issued $24 million in tax-exempt bonds that enabled the association to build the $28-million conference center at a reduced borrowing cost.

To help offset the cost of the center, the county gives the organization a discount on rent for the fairgrounds. The arrangement slashed the annual rent to an average of $200,000 from about $1 million in 2007.

County officials approved the rent rollback — it runs through 2022 — because they said the center would produce jobs and generate other "economic, social and public benefits." In 2009, as part of a finance agreement with Pomona, the association estimated the center would produce 280 full-time jobs.

Hernandez, the association spokeswoman, did not respond to a question about the number of jobs actually created. Based at the fairgrounds, the association employs more than 250 people year-round, not counting workers at the hotel, Cornucopia and other businesses, its media guide says. According to the guide, the hotel employs 115 people; no number is given for the conference center.

County Supervisor Hilda Solis, whose district includes the fairgrounds, declined to be interviewed about the association.
Hernandez said in an email that the county gets money from a tax that promoters pay to use the fairgrounds. She said the county also benefits from an agreement with the association that allows the Sheriff's Department to base its Emergency Vehicle Operations Center at the fairgrounds' motor racetrack. The center trains deputies to drive patrol cars and motorcycles.

"The use of the facility for EVOC is a much higher value than any property tax that would have been derived," Hernandez wrote.

The Sheriff's Department, however, has said that it does not get enough access to the fairgrounds because of the fair and other events held on the property. As a result, the Board of Supervisors has tentatively approved a plan to build a $10.5-million EVOC in Castaic.

A spokesman for the county assessor's office said the type of levy promoters pay at the fairgrounds — known as a possessory interest tax — often is significantly less than what property taxes would be for a similar property that is privately owned. Hernandez did not respond to a query of whether the association believes the county gets as much money from the fairgrounds as it would if it were taxed as private property.

Attendance at the fair has been seesawing. Once the largest county fair in the nation — it debuted in 1922, 18 years before the association was formed — the L.A. County event is now not even the biggest in California. It drew 1.2 million visitors last year, down from 1.49 million in 2011, state figures show. It reported 1.28 million visitors for this year's fair, which was four days shorter than 2014's.
LA County Fair loses attendance while others grow

According to the most recent tax records, the association was last in the black in 2009, when it had a net gain of $632,000 on revenue of $64.7 million.

It has reported different numbers to the state Department of Food and Agriculture, which collects financial information from most California fairs. In 2013, the association's filing with the department showed a gain of $4.2 million; on its IRS return, it reported a $3.4-million loss.

The reason for the gap in figures was not clear, and state officials said they did not know why the numbers varied so much. The experts on nonprofits said a possible explanation is that the state and federal reports might follow different accounting rules.

In recent years, other leading fairs have performed better financially than L.A. County's, according to state and county records. The San Diego County Fair brought in about as much total revenue in 2013, $66 million, as L.A. County's, at $68 million, and has long been profitable, according to state records. Timothy Fennell, CEO of the Del Mar Fairgrounds, where the San Diego County Fair is held, had a salary-and-benefit package that year of about $184,000, roughly a fifth of Henwood's compensation. The other four executives for the L.A. association also made more than Fennell.
Surpluses turn to deficits at L.A.County Fair Association

Like the fair in San Diego County, Orange County's event drew more visitors than L.A. County's this year and in 2014. The Orange County Fair regularly posts a profit, state records show. Its CEO made about $212,000 in 2014. Both the San Diego County and Orange County fairs are run by state agencies.

Given the experiences of the other counties, experts say, it is difficult to see the benefit to L.A. County taxpayers in having the association, instead of the government, operate their fair. When government turns over management functions to private entities, they said, the public is supposed to get more for its money.

"There should be efficiencies," said Rob Reich, co-director of Stanford University's Center on Philanthropy & Civil Society. "But it sounds like there is no evidence here that there are any."

"This has public subsidies of various kinds," Reich said of the association. "It gives all citizens an interest in the healthy management of the entity."

Because it is a nonprofit, the association does not produce earnings for investors, but it is expected to be fiscally sound and avoid losses, Reich said.

The association obtained its nonprofit status under the IRS code that exempts labor unions and certain agricultural organizations from taxes. Such an organization "must have as its primary purpose the betterment of the conditions of those engaged in agricultural pursuits," an IRS publication states.

"Activities that only remotely promote the interests of those engaged in agricultural pursuits will not qualify an organization for exemption."

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The experts say the association's nonagricultural businesses push the boundaries of its tax exemption. In 2013, it reported to the IRS about $25.6 million in total business revenue from the hotel and conference center, Cornucopia and other firms — taxable receipts unrelated to its nonprofit purposes to advance agriculture. The business proceeds were about equal to the association's revenue from the fair.

"The fact that the organization is operating a hotel 24/7, 365 days a year, that pattern is suggestive of an organization that is no longer being operated to further agriculture," said Owens, the former IRS official.

O'Hare, the Berkeley professor, said the association's exemption gives it a leg up over marketplace competitors that do pay taxes, such as nearby hotels and music venues.

"It's unfair to merchants who do not get the same tax exemption," O'Hare said.

Mario Ramos, 53, a member of Protect Our Neighborhood, agreed, saying the association functions like "a monopoly that's being subsidized by the government," squeezing out local businesses.

"I make the argument that it actually hurts us by them being there," said Ramos, a healthcare consultant.

The fair has stopped inviting the young people who belong to 4-H clubs to display their animals. The thoroughbred meets — once a staple of the event — have been moved to the Los Alamitos racetrack in Orange County.

Association spokeswoman Hernandez said the organization has expanded the acreage and programming dedicated to agriculture, including through classes at the Learning Centers. She did not respond to requests for information on how much it spends on those programs.

Hernandez said the association eliminated 4-H clubs from the fair because fewer children were showing their animals.

The fair's website says the event has gone "back to our agricultural roots." There were pens of cows, pigs and chickens at this year's fair, along with a petting zoo, a milking demonstration and an "urban garden" of fruit trees and vegetable patches, which is open throughout the year.

But most of the fair remained devoted to carnival rides, market pavilions for a constellation of nonfarm products — including hoodies, hot tubs, e-cigarettes and toe rings — and a concert series that featured ZZ Top and Patti LaBelle.

Joanne Kissling, 61, of Agoura Hills, said she and other 4-H leaders were stunned when the L.A. County Fair booted the clubs’ animals.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Joanne Kissling, 61, of Agoura Hills, said she and other 4-H leaders were stunned several years ago when the fair booted the clubs' animals. The 4-H exhibits are still welcome at other fairs, including Orange County's and San Diego County's.

"We were there one year, and we were gone the next," Kissling said of the L.A. County Fair, where her daughters used to present their goats, rabbits and guinea pigs.

"They don't really have what I consider a fair. A fair to me means the animals."