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Fall 2011 E-Newsletter
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Impact corner
 
Right now we're celebrating 7 years of research that shows that since starting with New Futures:
-- 75% of families say that they have increased their involvement in their children's reading and homework
-- 81% of families feel they are better able to meet their basic needs
-- 72% of families feel that their community cares about them.
A special thanks to our volunteer, Susan Hautala, who has dedicated her time to New Futures for over ten years to help us conduct statistically significant evaluations.
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Why I like New Futures...
...Because we have fun, intelligent, and dedicated staff like Valerie Cohen. Valerie has been a New Futures staff member, working on behalf of our children and families, for almost 18 years! Valerie will be "retiring" from New Futures at the end of October, and we wish her the very best in her next adventure. Stay tuned for a word from Valerie and more details about her impressive history with New Futures.
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Thank you for support from the Burien community!
We're happy to extend a huge thank you to a few outstanding Burien community members:
-The Presbyterian Women of Lake Burien Presbyterian Church chose New Futures to receive the proceeds of a charitable silent auction on October 8th.
-Angela and Matt Zielinski and Pepe Ramos of Azteca Restaurant donated proceeds from lunch sales to New Futures on September 17th.
-On September 16th, the Burien Elliott Bay Brewhouse & Pub donated lunch to our crew of 17 volunteers who were building a fence around our community garden as part of United Way's Day of Caring.
Please join us in thanking them for showing true community spirit.
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From the Desk of the Interim ED
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 School is well under way and it's time to pull out the winter gear. At New Futures, programs are starting up and I'm learning more about what we do every day for kids and families in South King County. I am honored that our Board of Directors selected me last month to serve as Interim Executive Director. As a long-time, passionate supporter of New Futures I thought I had a pretty good idea of what happens at our four community learning centers. Reports, data, facts and figures, certainly tell part of the story but not all, not by a long shot. I immediately learned about two new exciting initiatives; one involving home visits to parents of very young children and the other, a partnership with the school district and the state looking at the results of our programs going back ten years.
These are two great examples of the depth of our programs and the goals that we strive for. We've learned that it isn't enough to just provide after-school programs or stand-alone youth programs. We start with those programs, with our children, at the center. We then look at parents, as they are the first layer of support for children. After that, we consider relatives, siblings, immediate community members as the next layer of influence and support. Finally, we work with the institutions that support and influence the communities that we work in: schools, government, businesses, churches, community groups, etc. By working together, we make each other stronger, more resilient, more successful, and ensure that every child has an opportunity to learn, grow, succeed and thrive. We are starting work with children at earlier ages because that is where our experience and the research are leading us. At the same time we are evaluating the sustained, long-term impact of our approach so that we can grow what is already working to address the academic and life achievement gap our kids face.
On my first day in the director's chair I went out to each of the sites to check-in and introduce myself to our staff and our kids. What I saw at each and every site was children learning, laughing, proud, eager, and full of promise. I also saw parents engaged in their children's lives and in their success. I saw staff members who are talented and fiercely devoted to the kids, their families and each other. Our participants may not yet realize that they are on their way to creating a new future, a brighter future than the one they started the school year with, but we know that they are doing just that. What an honor it is to help them and learn from them along the way. I can think of no greater work than that.
Jenn Ramirez Robson
Interim Executive Director
jennr@newfutures.org
206.248.9647
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Thanks to 2011 Benefit Breakfast
sponsor, KCTS
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 KCTS and their V-Me service were proud sponsors of New Futures annual event this year. Even better, they created video spots for us that were broadcast as public service announcements. Thanks to their generosity, we realized a successful event and reached a large, community audience. You can watch the spots and other New Futures videos by visiting our website.
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The conversation about the community garden at New Futures The Heights at Burien has been going on for a while. Many generous community members, organizations, volunteers and New Futures staff have offered their hands, support, and advice over the years - Sustainable Burien, Seattle Tilth, property management at The Heights, and City of Burien to name a few. Though the garden once thrived, in very recent years the lack of utilization and love began to show. Resurrecting the space only seemed logical if we could give it a good-looking, well-built, protective fence.
Enter: Eric Bush, a 10-year Day of Caring veteran, and his colleagues from Microsoft.
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"On 9/16/11, 11,000 volunteers from 122 companies shared their time and talents on 416 projects and donated an estimated $1.1 million worth of labor." (uwkc.org)
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Though Eric and his team had never heard of New Futures, they came across our project's posting and decided that not only could they donate their time and fill a very practical void in the community, but they could also employ real-world knowledge. Eric and others had experience engineering fences, but they also saw this as an opportunity to have fun getting their hands (really) dirty, learning from one another, and seeing the tangible impact of their work at the end of the day. Because they brought camera equipment and knowledge with them as well, you too can see witness their project from start to finish on our website by clicking here!
Elliott Bay Brewhouse generously fed the entire group, Mother Nature cooperated, and community members eagerly offered what help they could. One gentleman, a resident of the community for only one month, picked up a shovel in the morning and didn't let go until the project was finished! His commitment encouraged us all, and when team leader, Eric Bush was asked about his impressions of the community, he noted that the Heights appears to be a safe, family & community oriented place and it was very rewarding to provide something he knows the residents will enjoy.
A special thank you to our 2011 Day of Caring volunteers, as well as the past, present AND future friends who helped put the "community" in "community garden".
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Forget the rain, let's walk to school!
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New Futures' After School program participants and their families gathered last week to share a healthy meal, talk, laugh, explore, and exercise all before the opening bell at school. October is 'Walk to School Month' and New Futures' students who attend Mount View Elementary did exactly that. Grateful for the delay of the day's expected rain and energized from a healthy breakfast, the group took the 1.2 mile scenic route through Lakewood Park from our site at Arbor Heights to Mount View. The event brought our staff, participants, parents and families together to have fun and exercise while also encouraging everyone's involvement at our students' school; our 'Walk to School Day' deliberately coincided with the Principal's Coffee Hour at Mount View. One of the ways New Futures helps its children succeed in school and in life is by partnering with families to help them communicate and connect with their child's school. Our 'Walk to School' helped accomplish this goal, and we were happy to squeeze in a little exercise and have a lot of fun while doing it!
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New Futures partners with families in their communities and with educators to ensure that children succeed in school and in life.
Our integrated, culturally relevant programs in low-income apartment complexes build skills, foster connectedness, and promote strengths.
www.newfutures.org
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