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PRESIDENT'S REPORT
By Kaye Schmitz
 | | Kaye Schmitz |
Dear FPP Members,
Tax Season is finally over, so to all of you who have given all of your free time to helping other folks file their taxes for free...congratulations! I hope you will be able to take a deep breath and relax for a minute before starting your volunteer recruitment for next year again. As we have been out in the Florida regions for the FPP Regional Meetings, we have heard from many of you that your number of returns was up from last year and that your dollar amount of Earned Income Tax Credit is WAY up! Way to go, everyone, and thank you on behalf of all Floridians who have benefitted from your efforts.
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FPP Regional Meetings
Speaking of the FPP Regional Meetings, we had three very successful meetings during April, in Jacksonville, Orlando, and Hollywood, FL. I want to say a special thank you to all of the hosts-Family Foundations in Jacksonville, Heart of Florida United Way in Orlando, and Hispanic Unity of Florida in Hollywood.
The meetings were well attended and we had special presentations on a number of very well received topics. For example, in Jacksonville, we had presentations on the 2011 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey Results and the Family Foundations Debt Free Pledge Campaign by Dawn Lockhart. In Orlando, we had presentations from the Volunteer USA Foundation and Public Allies and in Hollywood, we had a presentation from I Can! E-File! a California-based self preparation income tax program. There will be repeat presentations from most of these organizations at the FPP Conference, so if you haven't registered already, please do so and sign up for the presentations you may have missed at the Regional Meetings.
There will be two more Regional Meetings in Ft. Myers and the Florida Panhandle so stay tuned for final information about them.
The FPP will present FPP and Ways to Work Florida
The FPP will do both a plenary session and a workshop at the Florida Association for Community Action (FACA) Conference on May 11 and 12 respectively about Ways to Work Florida. Linda Brost, from national Ways to Work will be there with us and we will talk about the program together. Please make plans to come to our workshop if you are planning to attend the FACA conference (see sidebar for dates and location).
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Great Response to AmeriCorps Grant Request
The FPP is planning to apply for a number of AmeriCorps members who will then be located in a number of the FPP member organizations' work locations. We put out the call for commitments to locate members within various parts of the state and filled our original slot of ten full time members in a day and a half. Our final count is 17 full time AmeriCorps members requested by FPP member organizations. We'll keep you posted as to how it goes.
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Update for the 3rd Annual FPP Conference
The registration website is open and thanks to Fifth Third Bank, we have a number of registration scholarships available. There are a VERY LIMITED number of them, so we are trying to use them for those organizations that simply won't be able to attend the conference without one. If your organization needs a scholarship, please fill out the form on the FPP website.
As we get closer to the conference, please remember to:
- Sponsor a ceramic piggy bank for $50 and enter it in the conference contest. To get your pig, please contact Krista Martin at United Way of Marion County at kmartin@uwmc.org or Bill Mills at bill.mills@bankonfl.org. We will have pigs available at each of the Regional Meetings. And...we accept credit! You can take your pig and we will bill you. We've already sold a number of them, so don't miss out on your opportunity.
- Send pictures to me at kayedschmitz@bellsouth.net, by May 16, 2011, that highlight your events, staff, clients, awards-or anything you like. See the pictures we have here for ideas. We will put all of the pictures we receive into a video collage for the conference.
- Shoot a very short video of your clients-5 minutes or under-that illustrates this year's conference theme, "Looking Up In a Down Economy." Then send us your videos by May 16, 2011. We will show them throughout the conference. Let your organization shine!
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
Kaye D. Schmitz
President /CEO
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FPP ADVOCACY-
VOLUNTEER PROTECTION
By Ted Granger and Evan Goldman
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Ted Granger, left and Evan Goldman
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Countdown to Session's End
Heading into the final two weeks of session, legislative leaders are at loggerheads on how to address the $3.5+ billion budget deficit, and the $3+ billion gulf separating the House and Senate budgets. In addition, dozens of bills are piling up in both chambers waiting to be heard. As in most years, many of those bills will die on the vine, waiting to be heard when the handkerchief falls for sine die.
At this point in the process, two of the three FPP legislative priorities have been definitively addressed. The Title Loan bills (SB 990; HB 877) that would have allowed lenders to charge up to 246% on title loans are dead. The FPP vigorously opposed these bills. Legislation the FPP supported, SB 116 and HB 1399, that would have instituted reasonable, common sense regulation on debt collection practices used by debt buyers are also dead. It is likely we will work on these bills over the interim and attempt to have them favorably considered by the 2012 legislature.
FPP legislation clarifying that Florida's Volunteer Protection Act shields volunteers and their employers from liability even when employees receive compensation from their employers while volunteering on the calendars in both Houses, having passed all of their referenced committees. CS/CS/HB 647 filed by Representative McBurney and CS/CS/SB 930 filed by Senator Lynn are among many bills that await hearing on the House and Senate floors. Over the next couple of weeks we will work hard to make sure that they are indeed heard and passed. Please be ready to call your legislators to remind them of the importance of this legislation and to ask them to do everything they can to get the bills passed before session's end.
Respectfully,
Ted and Evan |
 | Bill Mills
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BANK ON FLORIDA
By Bill Mills Director of Strategic Initiatives 
| The National League of Cities (NLC) released their Bank On Cities toolkit in April. Entitled "Bank On Cities: Connecting Residents to the Financial Mainstream", this is a comprehensive 112 page booklet aimed at helping cities throughout the Unites States start their own Bank On programs. It was produced by the Institute for Youth, Education, & Families (YEF Institute). The YEF Institute is a special entity within the NLC. NLC is the oldest and largest national organization representing municipal government throughout the United States. Its mission is to strengthen and promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance.
The tool kit "provides a step-by step guide while taking into account the diverse circumstances facing individual cities and towns." It is "designed to offer suggestions and strategies that city leaders can adapt to meet the needs of their communities." This guide is currently linked to the home page of NLC's website at: www.nlc.org.
The Bank On Florida Marketing Committee will be using this tool kit to customize a Bank On Florida "In-A-Box" for the regions throughout Florida that wish to start their own program. This group is one of several committees working to ensure that we bring this wonderful program to all the corners of the state. If you are interested in learning more about this, please visit www.BankOnFL.org and attend the Bank On Florida session on the third day of the FPP conference. We will have some invaluable information and exciting speakers in this session for anyone considering starting a Bank On in your area. See you there!
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"Link to 2011 Financial Literacy Survey"
By Dawn Lockhart
Attached is a link to the results of the 2011 Financial Literacy Survey from the National Foundation of Credit Counseling that details the results of the 2011 Financial Literacy Survey that was shared at the most recent FPP Regional Meeting. One of the most surprising things for us was to find that more than 50% of the respondents thought it was okay to default on their mortgage. These results and others are found in the following link - http://www.nfcc.org/NewsRoom/FinancialLiteracy/files2011/NFCC_2011Financial%20LiteracySurvey_FINALREPORT_033011.pdf
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Public Allies
By Brittany Richards
FPP member, Heart of Florida United Way (HFUW), is currently hosting an Ally as a community outreach specialist to help connect residents in a disadvantaged Orlando community with financial resources. Brittany Richards, Senior Manager of Community Investment for HFUW, says, "Our Ally, Aiesha Louis, has been a terrific addition to our team. We really appreciate the talent and enthusiasm she brings to our work." Richards adds, "A Public Ally is a tremendous value for any nonprofit. And we are particularly grateful to JP Morgan Chase for funding our part of the financial commitment that makes Aiesha's time with us possible."
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Teach Children to Save
By Crystal Elkins
The Campaign for Working Families hosted the 15th Annual "Teach Children to Save" Week during the week of April 25-29, 2011. Representatives from local banks visited more than 100 local 4th and 5th grade classrooms throughout Volusia and Flagler Counties to teach students the value of saving. Lesson plans are prepared and developed by the ABA (American Bankers Association) Education Foundation. Started by the ABA Education Foundation in 1997, more than 60,000 bankers have reached some 2.8 million young people through its "Teach Children to Save" program. Campaign for Working Families coordinates this effort with the elementary schools in Volusia and Flagler counties. Program volunteer Bill Mills of the Florida Prosperity Partnership says "Without savings, you can't build wealth. It's important to teach children about saving because without that basic knowledge, we won't be able to survive as a country." Approximately 2,500 local children will be reached through this initiative.
The Campaign for Working Families (CFWF) is a prosperity campaign started in 2004 by the Community Foundation of East Central Florida and a coalition of community service agencies, governmental, and corporations that want to lift people out of poverty and put more money back into the pockets of low-to-moderate income families in Volusia and Flagler counties by providing free tax return preparation, offering financial education to help individuals manage their money in a way that helps them build financial assets, provide outreach and education about the Earned Income Tax Credit, and promote and encourage saving. |
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SAVE THE DATE FOR FPP EVENTS
(Click on date for more information)
SAVE THE DATE FOR MEMBER AGENCY EVENTS
May 10-13, 2011 - Florida Association of Community Action.
Rosen Plaza Hotel, 2700 International Drive, Orlando, FL
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The Florida Prosperity Partnership (FPP)
| The Florida Prosperity Partnership (FPP), was formally established in March 2009, evolving from a number of parallel and earlier efforts to create a statewide coalition dedicated to improving the financial stability and capability for low-to-moderate income Floridians.
FPP PURPOSE: To convene individuals and organizations with the desire to leverage their talent, resources, and passion to improve the prosperity of Florida's families.
FPP VISION: All Floridians have equal opportunities to attain financial stability.
FPP MISSION: Establish a statewide collaboration holistically focused on providing life-enhancing services to Floridians.
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FPP Executive Committee
Janet Hamer, Chair
Sr. Community Development Manager
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Daniella Levine, Vice-Chair President and CEO Catalyst Miami (Formerly Human Services Coalition)
Sandra Bernard-Bastien, Secretary Dir. Of Public Affairs/Org. Dev. Children's Services Council of Broward
Ted Granger, Treasurer President United Way of Florida Evan Goldman
CSC of Broward County George Owen
Regions Bank Maureen Quinlan
United Way of Marion County Mike Smith
TD Bank Board Members Erbi Blanco-True
Great Florida Bank
Amanda Clements
United Way of the Big Bend
Anika Coney
Hillsborough County
Sokoya Finch
Florida Family Network
Michael Gutter
University of Florida
Valerie Hendriex
Wachovia a Wells Fargo Company
Dorothy Inman-Johnson
Capital Area Community Action Agency
Iris Jones
BB&T Bank
Karen Landry
War on Poverty
Rosa Morgan
Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Kasha Owers
United Way of Palm Beach County
Felipe Pinzon
Hispanic Unity of Florida
Brittany Richards
Heart of Florida United Way
Michael Roush
National Disability Institute
Ellen Stoffer
United Way of Tampa Bay
Barbara Travis
Internal Revenue Service FPP Staff
Kaye Schmitz
President and CEO
Bill Mills
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Penny Zaphel
Coordinator of Special Projects |
FPP Funders
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To become a member of the FPP or submit articles for this newsletter, please contact Penny Zaphel at
floridaprosperitypartnership@gmail.com
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