Spring 2011

The Columbia Foundation is pleased to recognize the following funds established since Fall 2010. These families and businesses join our growing list of over 290 funds in contributing to our community.

Thank You Again to our Annual Spring Party Sponsors!

Ways to Give

Kudos

Operational Grants 2011

New Grant Program to Launch in October 2011

In August of last year, The Columbia Foundation sent a letter to Howard County nonprofit organizations to announce that we were discontinuing our project and operating grants, and would launch a new grant program in October 2011. 

Our new Community Grants Program replaces the operating and project grants with one streamlined grant application.  Organizations are no longer required to have submitted a project grant prior to applying for operating funds. 

The staff and board reached this decision following our strategic planning process.  Our Grant Review Committee incorporated feedback from our nonprofit partners and gave much thought to how we can be the most responsive and effective moving forward.  With only one grant submission period per year, reviewers will get a more complete picture of what is needed in the community and can be more responsive to the nonprofits and their clients.  Although we did not award project funding for 2011, we will have a larger pool of funds available for the new program in 2012.

At The Columbia Foundation we are now offering informational sessions to familiarize the nonprofit community with our new application and procedures. If you would like to learn more we are holding sessions on July 26th and August 10th. For more information visit us at www.columbiafoundation.org. 

After Child Protective Services removes a child from a home, individuals from various government agencies determine where the child will live both immediately and months later. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) are used in jurisdictions across the nation, and in Howard County, to help serve Voices for Children (VFC). VFC helps find CASA volunteers for children who are in need of a stable home. The organization's most recent Columbia Foundation grant was for $2,500 in operational support. 

VFC recruits and trains community volunteers who serve as CASAs.  The CASA meets with the child, the biological and/or foster family, schoolteachers, social workers, therapists and others in the child's life, and reads the child's case record.  After having formed the most complete picture possible of a child's needs, the volunteer writes a report to the court suggesting what placement is in the child's best interest and what specialized services the child and family will require.  In 2010, Howard County's Juvenile Masters accepted 98% of the CASA recommendations, showing strong indication of the weight these reports carry in the courts.

According to VFC Executive Director Pam Grady, nearly 75% of children in the Howard County program are 13 years old or older, and unlikely to be adopted or returned to their families.  Most live in group homes as a result.  While they can remain in foster care until they are 21, many sign themselves out at 18.  Without proper support, adolescents aging out of foster care often face homelessness, substance abuse or incarceration.  In fact, in their November 2010 "Plan to End Homelessness," the Howard County Department of Citizen Services identified youth aging out of foster care as a risk factor for homelessness.  VFC offers individual and group life skill training sessions for these at-risk adolescents.  Many have had little or no family guidance and their futures would be bleak without the support offered in the VFC workshops.

Another source of extra support for older children in foster care is the St. Clair Family Foundation Fund, a donor-advised fund established with The Columbia Foundation in 2007.  Foster and then adoptive parents themselves, Duane and Janis St. Clair are now working with Pam Grady and Former Maryland State Senator Chris McCabe to set up "Fostering Futures," a network to help older foster children in Howard County.

The network is a way to engage members of the community with older foster care youth. Duane, Chris and Pam are planning informational meetings with community groups to enlist individuals interested in joining the network.  Participation can be simple and indirect, such as responding to an email about someone who is in need of a bus pass to get to work or a gift card for a new suit of clothes.  Or, it can be more hands-on, such as becoming a tutor or a mentor to a young man or woman in foster care.  The hope is that Fostering Futures will be one more way for people in Howard County to make an immediate difference in one person's life, and possibly serve as a model for other jurisdictions. 

This is one more example of how philanthropy connects people who have shared interests, energy and resources.

If you would like more information about Voices for Children, visit their web site at www.voicesforchildren.org or call 410-740-0933.

For more information about Fostering Futures, contact fosteringfutures@voicesforchildren.org.

It's now 29 years and counting since The Columbia Foundation has held its first Annual Spring Party.  Whether this was your first time, or your 29^th, it was the party that everyone in Howard County has always made a point of attending.  This year's event was held on Tuesday, May 5, from 5:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.  The Howard Hughes Corporation graciously provided The Spear Center as the venue once again. 

As we like to say, once you arrive, there's nothing else to do but be part of the scene.  Eat and drink at the full buffet from Clyde's, catch up with old friends, make some new contacts, hang out on the terrace overlooking the lake and listen to the music of the Columbia Orchestra. 

It's also the Foundation's only fundraiser of the year.  We owe many thanks to M&T Bank, our first-ever Presenting Sponsor of the party. With M&T's generous support, along with that of our Platinum, Gold and Silver sponsors, proceeds benefit the grants program.  These difficult financial times make our grants - and your support - more important than ever.

Ball in the Mall

Where did you celebrate New Year's Eve?  If you didn't spend it at The Mall in Columbia, you missed out on not only a great party, but an opportunity to support The Columbia Foundation.

Many thanks to the Mall management and staff who brought back this Columbia tradition. The last time the Ball occurred was in 1987, and back then, proceeds also went to the Foundation. This year's event kicked off the Mall's 40^th anniversary celebration and over 300 guests enjoyed the live music, dancing, dinner and drinks. A photo display at the event took guests through the mall's history beginning in August 1971.

We extend a sincere thank you to General Growth Properties for hosting the event that raised $13,000 for our grant budget.  Thanks also to the Sheraton Hotel which donated a portion of the cost of all rooms booked by party guests.