Family Re-Union 8: Family and Community

Selected Links for Family and Community

Roundtable #10

Effective response to community needs by local, state and federal government and foundations

Foundations
Note: The following is just a partial list of the many foundations and organizations who generously support initiatives in communities across the United States:

The Pew Partnership for Civic Change
The partnership is a national initiative committed to community building, especially in the smaller cities of the nation. The Partnership works with communities to: create new ways for citizens to address tough community issues; to build trust between diverse sectors of the community; and to communicate innovative community-building strategies.

Pew Charitable Trusts
The Pew Trusts fund innovative health and human service programs designed to promote health and well-being of American people and disadvantaged communities.

The David and Lucille Packard Foundation
The Children, Families and Communities program of the Packard Foundation was created to help to develop, sustain, and disseminate efforts to reverse the many threats to child, family and community well-being.

Coalition of Community Foundations for Youth
CCFY is a national network of 115 action-oriented community foundations committed to improving the lives of children, youth and families at the local or statewide level. The coalition members strive to develop local partnerships that foster positive action for children and youth within their own communities.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation
The foundation supports a variety of projects with an emphasis on new technology applications in education, health and human services, the arts and humanities, and civic development in the communities served by Bell Atlantic. Types of programs supported by the Foundation include: use of the Internet in the classroom; telemedicine application development; technology applications for after-school programs; arts in education programs online; and community development integrating technology.

The William Penn Foundation
A private foundation that seeks to help improve the quality of life in the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania. Interest areas include: community revitalization; healthy development of children youth and families; natural and physical environment; and arts and culture.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation
A private foundation dedicated to helping disadvantaged children in the U.S. The Foundation annually publishes "Kids Count" a compilation of data and analysis of critical measures of child well-being in the United States. New initiatives include the "Rebuilding Communities Initiative" and the "Neighborhood Transformation/Family Development Initiative."

The Blandin Foundation Community Leadership Program
The Community Leadership program provides leadership training for leaders from Minnesota rural communities. It is intended to develop leadership networks which will foster healthy, viable communities.

The McKnight Foundation
The Foundation strives to help individuals, families, and communities become more productive and self-sufficient. Areas of support include: children, families and communities includes a Welfare to Work Initiative) ; the arts; the environment; and research and applied science. The Foundation's work is primarily in Minnesota though it also supports international programs in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Neighborhood Funders Group
A national network of grantmakers working to expand support for organizations that help low-income people improve their communities. Members include close to 150 foundations, trusts, and community collaboratives.

MacArthur Foundation: Program on Human and Community Development
This program supports the development of healthy individuals and effective communities through its focus on: access to economic opportunity; building community capacity, and; child and youth development. The program supports these primary themes through funding for research, policy analysis, and direct interventions.

Ford Foundation: Community and Neighborhood Development
The Foundation seeks to revitalize low-income communities and to alleviate urban poverty. Focus is on building indigenous leadership and helping to create support systems that sustain community physical and human capital.

General Mills Foundation
An example of a foundation partnering with community and church leaders, civic leaders, law enforcement and neighborhood block clubs to help rebuild and rehabilitate a troubled Minneapolis neighborhood.

Response to Community Needs; service learning

Education Commission of the States
Link to information on "Learning in Deed: making a difference through service-learning," an initiative funded by the WK Kellogg Foundation that promotes the linking of community service experiences with classroom learning.

Compact for Learning and Citizenship
A concept paper on this initiative of the Education Commission of the States. The compact's mission is to increase student achievement through service-learning and school-related community volunteer opportunities.

Campus Compact
This is the website of a membership organization which supports community service activity among students, faculty and administration on over 600 college and university campuses across the country. The site contains links to model programs for service-learning, lessons from the field, and case studies. There are links to related resources such as guidebooks for establishing service-learning programs. Vice President Gore referred to Campus Compact at Family Re-Union #8 when introducing an initiative to encourage universities to become more active in their local communities.

Learn & Serve America
Learn & Serve America supports service-learning programs in schools, colleges, and community organizations across the Untied States. This site provides links to programs such as AmericaReads, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps as well as links to research and resources related to service-learning.

National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
Housed at the University of Minnesota's Department of Work, Community and Family Education, the clearinghouse is a comprehensive information source that focuses on all dimensions of service-learning. Contains access to the Learn & Serve America newsletter, service-learning videos, and facts on the current status of service-learning programs in the United States.

Colorado State Service-Learning Homepage
A project of "Communications for a Sustainable Future" at Colorado State University, this site contains links to service-learning information, courses, conferences, and national networks.

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health
A non-profit organization that fosters partnerships between communities and educational institutions and seeks to improve the education of health professionals, civic responsibility and the overall health of communities. Based at the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California, San Francisco, Partnership research projects include: service-learning in nursing education; a national evaluation of service-learning in health professions; and a national study of academic health centers and their surrounding communities. The Partnership also provides service-learning training and technical assistance.

Other partnerships:

Wingspread Declaration:
Renewing the Civic Mission of the American Research University.
On-line document from the Wingspread Conference held in December, 1998. The document presents strategies for renewing the civic mission of American research universities.

National League of Cities: "Futures Report"
The NLC Futures Project provides a structured process for looking at themes relevant to emerging issues in cities and municipalities. The reports are issued after two years of research on a particular theme or topic relevant to community needs. The reports encourage local officials to rethink issues, legislation, or municipal policies on current problems in light of emerging ideas from research and practice.

Empowering Individuals and Communities: University and College Programs
Part of the U.S. Government's "Livable Communities" website, this one will link you to information on university and college programs that connect communities with the resources and expertise available at universities near them. The site contains information on eligibility, funding, and program examples. Applications for funding are available through the HUD website

University of Minnesota Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA)
CURA connects university faculty and students with the organizations and public institutions working on significant community issues in Minnesota. This site offers links to CURA programs, publications and faculty listing.

CYFERNet Community
A site of the National Children, Youth and Families at Risk Initiative. Lists collaboration resources, cooperative extension resources, as well as information on State Strengthening Projects related to children, youth, families and communities at risk.

U.S., State and Local Gateway links
Contains a comprehensive listing of links related to government services for families and children. Includes Federal and National Best Practices.