June 7, 2013 – On the afternoon of June 2, twenty-two representatives
from five local grassroots nonprofit organizations celebrated their completion
of The Leadership Classroom (TLC).
The year-long program is an initiative of the Central New York Community
Foundation. Participants learn advanced leadership skills alongside other
neighborhood leaders in an interactive setting. After participating in monthly
training sessions designed to enhance their leadership skills, each group
received a $3,500 grant to implement a project proposed and planned during
their training.
The Cannon Street Center – Light a Candle for Literacy program seeks to create a
positive learning environment for both parents and children to improve their
respective reading skills. Light a Candle
for Literacy will use its grant to develop and implement a literacy program
on Syracuse’s Southside that promotes shared reading activities at home for
parents of children who are at risk of developing reading difficulties.
Focusing Our
Resources for Community Enlightenment (FORCE) is a volunteer-driven
organization that offers cultural and educational programming to residents of
Onondaga County. FORCE is a returning member to TLC, and has graduated two
groups of community leaders. This year’s group will use its grant to implement Ready Syracuse, which will provide CPR
community outreach and education to residents of the Southside of Syracuse,
encouraging them to be active partners in community emergency preparedness.
The Good Life
Philanthropic Youth Foundation encourages entrepreneurial thinking among
at-risk children in the City of Syracuse by combining life coaching, personal
finance and entrepreneurial training with venture funding. Good Life will use
its grant to create a vending machine operation run by youth as part of training
youth in entrepreneurial and life skills.
Hopeprint, Inc. is
a home-based, community development organization that cultivates relationships
between the resettled refugee community and the community at large. Hopeprint will
use its grant to implement a youth leadership program that trains refugee
community members to be role models and leaders in community development in Syracuse’s
Northside neighborhoods.
The Wazigua Community
Organization of CNY supports the Somali refugee community through a variety
of community development, afterschool and citizenship programs. The
organization plans to use its grant to purchase additional uniforms and
equipment for its expanding Wazigua
Community Soccer Club, which promotes recreation and relationships among
youth on Syracuse’s Northside.
Participants of
this year’s TLC program were enthusiastic about the new skills they learned and
having formed new bonds that promise to have long-lasting effects on both
themselves and the community.
"TLC offered
the experience needed to transform concerned citizens into true community leaders,”
said Hasan Stephens of The Good Life Philanthropic Youth Foundation. “As
graduates of the program, we are now armed with the training and tools
necessary to effectively carry out our respective missions. By focusing on
fundamental organizational principles, we’ve become better equipped to create
lasting new breeds of community organizations, while building valuable
networks."
The Leadership Classroom is an initiative of the Central New
York Community Foundation. Established
in 1927, the Central New York Community Foundation encourages local
philanthropy by supporting the growth of a permanent charitable endowment for
the betterment of the region. The Community Foundation is the largest
charitable foundation in the region with assets of more than $130 million. It
awards close to $6.7 million in grants to nonprofit organizations annually and
since its inception has invested more than $100 million in the community. The
Community Foundation serves as the steward of charitable legacies for
individuals, families and corporations through the administration of nearly 600
funds. The organization also serves as a civic leader, convener and sponsor of
special initiatives designed to strengthen nonprofits that address the region’s
most pressing challenges. For more information, visit www.cnycf.org.
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