Grantee Spotlight: Supportive Parents Information Network

The Supportive Parents Information Network (SPIN) is a grassroots organization that has successfully taken on the enormous challenge of lifting women out of poverty in San Diego for the past 13 years. SPIN provides assistance in many shapes and forms to San Diego’s under class: women and children living at or below the federal poverty line.

SPIN operates on a bare bones budget with the help of volunteers who are current or past clients. SPIN’s (unpaid, volunteer) director, Joni Halpren, knows that they can’t solve all of their client’s problems but she realizes that it does not take very much at all to make a huge difference in their lives. Ms. Halpern feels that all it takes is a little attention, compassion, and involvement.

“The power of love and the confidence in the ability of each of us to do good!!”

SPIN tackles important local social and political issues. San Diego County is one of the hardest counties to get public assistance and food stamps. When the organization’s members continually ran up against the County’s practice of limiting access to Food Stamps and other forms of assistance, SPIN began documenting the barriers. SPIN, along with other advocacy groups, provided a report to the County Supervisors with 69 recommendations calling for systemic change that would allow greater access to the resources for poor women and children in California. In response, the County Board of Supervisors hired a special investigator to investigate the allegations and to review the recommendations put forth by these organizations. The investigator concurred with the findings and they have been forwarded to the HSSA.

SPIN is hopeful many of the recommendations to improve low-income assistance will be put into practice. Their advocacy work has gained a positive move forward for low-income individuals in San Diego. SPIN is special in that their programs are led by, run by, directed by and utilized by the poorest women in our community. By building leadership among its members, SPIN helps these women find their voice and teaches them how to use it.

SPIN also runs a Tutorial and Scholarship program where every two weeks clients and their children (ages 3-17) meet at the First United Methodist Church in Mission Valley to support learning. Tutors are provided thru an internship mechanism, but they are few and SPIN is always looking for volunteers to spend two hours every other week helping kids learn science, math and reading.

Currently, they lack the resources to strategically plan beyond helping clients with day-to-day issue. SPIN wants to be able to serve more women in an effective and efficient way.

“Women Give San Diego was drawn to SPIN because their work is deep down in the trenches,” Dana White, WGSD Grants Committee member. Women Give San Diego was able to help SPIN at a crucial point in their organization’s history. WGSD granted SPIN $10,000 over two years. The funds will be spent on creating a model for sustainability for the organization. This will be accomplished through working with a consultant and the Board of Directors. One of their goals is to hire a new Director. They also hope to be able to begin tracking outcomes, replace ancient computers, and keep abreast of the technology advances that could assist SPIN. It is time to take SPIN to the next level.

SPIN provides much needed tutoring for their children, provides food when food stamps and money dries up three weeks into each month, and teaches women how to climb out of poverty one painful step at a time. In order to continue to provide these programs and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their services, they must improve the infrastructure of the organization. WGSD is thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of this next step.

Written by Dana White, WGSD Member

WGSD Co-Founders in the news (again)!!

La Jollans Gayle Tauber and Jan Tuttleman, who co-founded Women Give San Diego, a donor circle of the Women’s Foundation of California, announced the organization’s first granting cycle since its launch in 2009. The group chose three grantees to receive $46,000 over a period of two years. Just in Time for Foster Youth, an organization that helps young women in the transition from foster care to independent adulthood, Dress for Success, which assists low-income women with career building and life management, and Supportive Parents Information Network (SPIN), which promotes self-sufficiency through money management, were the three organizations chosen to receive the grants."We are so pleased by the progress and success of Women Give San Diego over our first year,” Tuttleman said. “The impact of our granting to these great San Diego organizations will be felt far and wide. They will not only improve the lives of women and girls in our community, but will also give them the ability to help their families and, by extension, strengthen their communities. We welcome anyone who wants to join our organization and help us make a difference in the lives of women and girls in San Diego."

Read more: San Diego Community News Group - People in the news Feb 10 — Feb 17

Published in the The San Diego Community News Groups and La Jolla Village News.

WGSD Founder, Linda Katz, in the news!

Check out the article online:http://delmartimes.net/?p=21174 or read below.

Del Mar resident is co-founder of a women’s donor circle

ByArthur Lightbourn
Contributor

After 30 years as a community volunteer and civic activist in San Diego, Linda Katz has come to a conclusion with a unique twist.

“With so many challenges facing the world,” the 57-year-old local resident says, “rather than focusing on what’s wrong and how can we fix it, I prefer to look at what’s right and how can we make more of it.”

Her most recent philanthropic endeavor is as co-founder of Women Give San Diego (WGSD) that provides grants to nonprofits in San Diego that are helping low-income women and girls achieve economic security and self-sufficiency.

WGSD is a newly formed donor circle of the Women’s Foundation of California, which for 30 years has been supporting and training women leaders and providing opportunities for hands-on community activism. It currently has nine donor circles throughout the state.

Local donor circles connected to larger philanthropic organizations, such as the Women’s Foundation of California, are catching on across the country, Katz says. They have become a trend and model for effective, targeted philanthropy.

“While we need to think globally,” Katz added, “we need to act locally.”

Katz co-founded WGSD a year ago with La Jolla residents Gayle Tauber and founding president Jan Tuttleman.

They are convinced that when women and girls become thriving members of a community, their communities also thrive and do better.

With a growing membership of 78 women, the San Diego donor circle announced recently it is providing $46,000 in its first grant cycle to three local nonprofits committed to increasing the level of self-sufficiency and security among San Diego women and girls.

The grantees will receive the funding over a period of two years.

The organizations selected for funding are: Just in Time for Foster Youth and its program supporting young women in their transition from foster care to independent adulthood; Dress for Success, which assists low-income women find and retain jobs and build careers; and Supportive Parents Information Network (SPIN) promoting self-sufficiency through loan funding, banking opportunities and advocacy efforts.

In keeping with the organization’s determination to include women of every generation in their membership, 40 percent of WGSD members are under the age of 40. Members in their 20s are asked for a minimum gift of $250 a year; members in their 30s, $500 a year; and founding members $1,000 to $25,000 a year.

As a 501(c) (3) nonprofit, WGSD membership fees and donations are tax deductible.

Non-member donations are also welcome.

WGSD members, in addition to contributing money through their membership gifts, are also being encouraged to bring in their talents to the organization and to serve as volunteers and mentors with the nonprofit grantees selected for support.

Katz was born Linda Narramore in Phoenix, Arizona, where she grew up with two older brothers who “took really good care of me,” she said. Her father was a career-long executive with AT&T.

“My mom and my dad were always active in the community and I volunteered as a little girl with my mom. We were candy-stripers in a senior center and in hospitals. We were raised with the idea of how lucky we are and how fortunate with what has been given to us and how wonderful to have the ability to give back and share with others.”

At Arizona State University, she majored in textiles and clothing in business; and after college went into retail. She became a buyer for a department store where she met her husband, Mel Katz, who was also a buyer.

“We moved to San Diego from Scottsdale. My husband and his best friend bought a franchise here, Manpower, a temp help personnel agency. My husband’s business partner’s wife is my best friend. So the four of us rented a car and moved here 33 years ago.”

She worked for a time as a buyer for Bullock’s Department Store.

“When we had children, it wasn’t a particularly family-friendly field to stay in, having to work nights, holidays and weekends; so when we started a family, I chose community work as my career.”

She and her husband have three grown children. “They are all four years apart, (31, 27, and 23) and I tease that’s what 10 years on the Planned Parenthood board did for me: three children and nobody in college at the same time. Perfect family planning.”
Katz is also the founding president of The San Diego Women’s Foundation, and past board chair of Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties, LEAD San Diego, Senior Community Centers, and Children’s Hospital Auxiliary.

Asked what specifically prompted her to co-found Women Give San Diego, she said, after turning 50 and seeing the passing of a number of her good friends, she realized how special every single day is and how every day has to matter.

She also decided that she would only be involved with organizations and activities that fuel her “positive energy and bring out the best in me.”

“So, with limited resources and limited time, I have found that if I concentrate and dedicate myself to bettering the lives of women and girls, the world will be a little bit better, a little bit quicker.”

Katz believes there are all sorts of reasons why women should be involved in philanthropy. “We live seven years longer than men. Women make most of the philanthropic decisions in families. I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but I think women give 5.3 percent of pre-tax dollars to charities; men give 1.3 percent.

“And yet women don’t necessarily have the confidence and the knowledge to be the philanthropic decision-makers that we are going to be called upon to become.”

WGSD helps develop that confidence and knowledge in philanthropy, Katz said.

Before she and her companions formed WGSD, they commissioned a study that concluded there is a clear and compelling need in San Diego to focus on economic security and sustainability for women and girls and that those most in need are immigrants, military families, and the elderly.

More information on Women Give San Diego is available at its website: www.womengivesd.org

Quick Facts

Name: Linda Katz

Distinction: One of three co-founders of Women Give San Diego, a newly formed donor circle of the Women’s Foundation of California, providing grants to nonprofits in San Diego that help underserved women and girls achieve economic security and self-sufficiency.

Born: Phoenix, Arizona

Education: B.S. degree from Arizona State University with a major in textiles and clothing in business.

Family: She and her husband, Mel, have been married 33 years. They have three grown children: Lindsey, 31, Ashley, 27, and Jeffrey, 23; and three grandchildren.

Interests: Volunteerism, community activism, family, reading, and participating in the 60-mile Susan G. Komen Marathon for the Cure of breast cancer. Although she never had breast cancer, her closest friend is a cancer survivor and they have walked or crewed together in 10 marathons so far.

Physical Regimen: Daily walks with her 3-year-old Labradoodle, Charli; circuit training three times a week; and Pilates twice a week.

Recent Reading: “Little Bee,” a novel by Chris Cleave about the fates of a teenage Nigerian orphan and a well-off British couple.

Favorite Foods: Mexican

Favorite Vacation Spot: Costa Rica

Philosophy: “Do unto others…and each of us has different gifts to give and together it all makes magic.”

Short URL: http://delmartimes.net/?p=21174

WGSD in the San Diego Business Journal!

San Diego Business Journal

Women Give San Diego provided $46,000 in funding to three organizations committed to increasing the level of self-sufficiency and security among San Diego’s women and girls. Just in Time for Foster Youth, Dress for Success and Supportive Parents Information Network will receive a share of the funding over a period of two years. “The impact of our granting to these organizations will be felt far and wide. They will not only improve the lives of women and girls in our community, but will also give them the ability to help their families,” said Jan Tuttleman, founding president

Meet WGSD Grantee: Dress for Success San Diego

“During my time of greatest hardship, I was lifted by the kindness and support of women who gave from their hearts. Inspired by their compassion, I committed myself to building an organization that would help women overcome challenges and achieve independence.”

Sylvia McKinney fled a life of domestic violence with her five children and put herself through school eventually gaining her masters degree. During her journey, she was given help and support by women, so she vowed that she would, in turn, give back to help women who are striving to improve their quality of life. In 1999, Ms. McKinney founded Dress for Success in San Diego, one of over 100 independent affiliates of Dress for Success Worldwide.

“We all walk different paths. I believe all women can overcome their challenges and succeed. My goal is to offer a helping hand along the way; to let women know that they are not alone and that the future holds promise.”

According to the San Diego Economic State of Women (study conducted by Women Give San Diego), the definition of economic health is attaining economic self-sufficiency by meeting daily needs. This means that women need to have access to enough reliable resources to provide for their basic survival without relying on government or outside aid. This self-sufficiency is gained through employment or business earnings. Dress for Success San Diego is helping women gain economic self-sufficiency by providing the support and resources necessary to succeed in an interview, retain a job and build a career.

The mission of Dress for Success is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Women Give San Diego recently partnered with Dress for Success San Diego to help them meet their mission by committing $10,000 to provide the much-needed equipment for their Women’s Workforce Center. The funding for this new state-of-the-art facility will provide four individual computer stations with internet access as well as a fax and copy machine, plus additional resources and furnishings.

In the Center, Dress for Success San Diego will be reinforcing the principals that the women learned during their job readiness training by reviewing their resumes, conducting a career assessment to identify their skills and helping them develop a career plan. The Center is open from 9 am to 4pm so that clients can utilize its resources at their convenience. Most of these women do not have access to computers in their home – something we take for granted. Thanks to the funding from Women Give San Diego, all of these services are offered at no cost. The Center offers more than just help attaining a job, the objective is assist clients as they set and strive for higher “life goals” associated with economic self-sufficiency through gainful employment.

Our goal at Dress for Success San Diego is to provide a “framework of supportive services” to facilitate our clients’ transition to social and economic self-sufficiency. Thanks to the grant from WGSD, an essential piece of that framework will soon be in place. Our new computer lab opens up a wealth of resources to the low income women served at our facility, empowering them to succeed in every phase of their journey – from confidence building and resume preparation to job searches, communication, skill building and life-long learning. Computers are ubiquitous to most of us, taken for granted as they facilitate, enhance and simplify our lives. Thanks to WGSD, the playing field is now more level for our clients. The world is at their fingertips.

-Lisa Schalon

President, Dress for Success San Diego Board of Directors

Recently, the Dress for Success San Diego facilities moved to the new Family Justice Center (FJC) complex in downtown San Diego. In this new space, they have adequate office space, a room dedicated to the career center, an open area for the boutique, a private dressing room as well as access to a conference room for agency meetings and training. The new FJC partnership enhances their ability to serve victims of domestic violence and the location is more accessible to clients of partner agencies.

The benefit of training and employing a woman has a long lasting reach not just to the women but also to their families. Once children see their moms working, they model this behavior. It breaks the cycle of trans-generational dependence on government assistance. Ultimately, benefiting future generations.

Women Give San Diego is very excited to partner with Dress for Success San Diego by helping women gain self-sufficiency through employment.

Written by WGSD member, Renee Herrell, M.A., CFRE (reneeherrell.wordpress.com)