Page 26 - 2020 October Report

October Report 2022
Grant Program Committee minutes (draft) (3)
6. Mission statement revision
A proposed revision of the Foundation’s mission statement had been circulated. The proposed mission statement removes the term “disadvantaged,” considered by some to be outdated, and replaces it with “people who have financial need.” A discussion began about whether this is true, as some of the people served by JSF grantees are affected by systemic issues not necessarily related to financial need. The example was given of Eye to Eye, an organization that serves people with lack of access but not necessarily financial need. There was agreement that this should be reviewed further and brought back to the Committee in December. Bill offered to help, as he has done this type of work in the past.
The strategies for the 3 focus areas are still being revised. Per the Board Chair’s recommendation, the goal is that JSF strategy be: 1) clear and literal, 2) relate to the theory of change, 3) set out how the Foundation proposes to achieve this, and 4) inform the Grant Program Committee in its decisions.
7. Discovery Project
Bobby reported that JSF has engaged 2 Discovery Associates from each of the 3 funding areas. These 6 Discovery Associates will attend an annual in-person meeting starting this fall in Tampa. The focus of the initial gathering will be to familiarize the Associates with the mission, strategy and culture of JSF. Ultimately these Associates will help by leveraging their network to connect JSF to potential grantee partners the Foundation might not find without them. Because the mission revisions will not be finalized by then, there was agreement that the existing mission statement will be shared with the Associates.
8. Disability programing a. VIA
Malcolm welcomed Tammy Owen, President/CEO of VIA, along with Renee DiFlavio, Senior Vice President, and Becky Landy, Grant Writer. All appeared before the Committee via Zoom. An application had been circulated, as well as notes from a videoconference held on June 23, 2022. VIA requests $145,483 over 2 years to enable the organization to transition to a permanent job coaching staff.
Tammy explained that VIA has been in the workforce development business for many years. Over time, the age range of the people the organization works with has expanded. Initially, the training program worked well with per-diem staff as job coaches because the work had been seasonal. However, the current labor shortage has made hiring per-diem coaches more difficult. Compounding this is the fact that the clients often have multiple diagnoses, so serving them is more complex. That led to the determination that a new model is needed. The proposal for full- time coaches includes the requirement that they be cross trained to perform other workforce development activities. Renee explained there is a woman, Cassie, currently on staff as a job coach who is legally blind. The plan is for Cassie to help train and onboard the new job coaches.
Tammy said the hope is to move the program toward a revenue-neutral position since VIA would no longer have to turn away clients. Last year 20 clients were turned away at a loss of $20,000 in revenue for VIA.
Asked about the matching dollars, Renee said VIA will leverage JSF’s funding to fully cover the cost of the job coaches. VIA projects the cost to be $90,911 for the first year and $92,729 for the second year. If awarded JSF funds of $73,709 in Year 1 and $71,774 in Year 2, VIA plans to apply for matching funds from trusts and foundations to make up the shortfall totaling $38,156 over the 2 years. Renee and Tammy were asked about the sustainability of the program beyond the first 2 years. Tammy said that would depend on the generation of new clientele. To that end, a 6-month
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