What
We
Do.
What We Do.
Initiatives & Trainings
When the Community Foundation received a $15 million bequest from Helen Schuyler in 2004, that gift presented an amazing opportunity. Here was a chance to step up, identify an urgent community need and address it in a way that would make a lasting difference.
As we polled local leaders for ideas, one issue kept surfacing, early childhood education. Too many children entering kindergarten lacked the skills they needed to succeed. Working with the players in the early childhood field and supported by the county as well as local school district superintendents the School Readiness Project (SRP) was off and running.
The goal of the program, to increase the number of children arriving prepared for kindergarten academically and socially and physically ready to learn. Launched in 2006, SRP has been comprehensively meeting the needs of Chemung County’s children, birth to five years old. This grass-roots effort aims to improve the children’s overall well-being and readiness for school, measured by a range of academic, cognitive, social, emotional, health and physical indicators. SRP unifies the community’s rich offering of early childhood services into one cohesive system.
Academics in the field of Early Childhood Education were engaged to prepare a baseline study evaluation to determine the actual school readiness level. At the end of 5 years, a follow-up evaluation revealing the results of the project was also performed. See both evaluative results below.
The Community Foundation plays an active role in the growth of our region, not only through financial support, but also by developing initiatives, trainings and programs to fill specific needs in the communities we serve.
About Initiatives
Besides providing funds for agencies and projects in the community, we work with other non-profits, through creative and innovative initiatives, to fill gaps identified within our region. We pull together resources, add our skills and others and work with regional agencies to bring about social change.
Below are five initiatives we have supported in our community. We are always looking for new ways to serve the Elmira-Corning and Finger Lakes region, If you see a need in our community and want to discuss ways to develop solutions, contact us!
Leadership Advancement Award
The Leadership Advancement Award provides experienced non-profit executive directors with sabbatical funding to avoid burnout and stagnation through rest, exploration, and personal reflection. This opportunity encourages executive directors to step fully away from day-to-day work responsibilities. During the leader’s absence, agency staff will maintain operations and work with board members, committees, volunteers, and each other to assure the returning executive is not overwhelmed with tasks upon their return.
Executive Directors (or equivalent position such as President or CEO) with at least ten years of paid service to their current organization are eligible to apply. The sabbatical period must be two to three months to be considered for funding.
Building Bridges Across the Community and the World: Finland Education Experience June 2023
Finland is widely considered to have the most effective educational system in the world. Sending a large group of local PreK through grade 12 teachers and staff to learn directly from their Finnish counterparts would be a community grant investment with the potential to impact generations of local students. It would also create new relationships among local educators in the short-term that would deepen partnerships between schools and districts.
Chemung County School Readiness Project
We partnered with Chemung County, local experts in the field of early care and education and area school districts (Elmira, Horseheads, Elmira Heights) to create the School Readiness Project (SRP). The goal of the program, to increase the number of children arriving prepared for kindergarten academically and socially and physically ready to learn. Launched in 2006, SRP has been comprehensively meeting the needs of Chemung County’s children, birth to five years old. This grass-roots effort aims to improve the children’s overall well-being and readiness for school, measured by a range of academic, cognitive, social, emotional, health and physical indicators.
Quality of Life
The Quality of Life Assessment examined four areas critical to the vibrancy of a region – Arts, Culture & Recreation, Education, Community Development & Civic Affairs, and Employment & Opportunity. The Quality of Life Assessment incorporates data from an online survey that collected responses from nearly 1,000 local residents as well as information published by governmental agencies and non-profit organizations.
Examined metrics were selected based on national best practices as well as discussions with the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes, Inc. and other local stakeholders. Ultimately, this Assessment will help the Community Foundation and its allied partners better understand the areas of greatest need, illuminating where investment of time and resources promise the greatest lasting impact on quality of life in the region.
Smart Works
It’s no secret that we are losing our young professionals due to the student loan debt crisis. While the definition of a young professional can vary, generally they are characterized as highly entrepreneurial, civic-minded people between the ages of 21 and 40 with a college degree. And, they’re more economically important than you might guess.
That’s why the Community Foundation created Smart Works. If you are a graduate with a four-year degree or higher and student-debt, the Community Foundation will reward your volunteerism and professional investment in the Southern Tier with a monthly student loan payment program called Smart Works. The intent is to ease young professional’s financial burden by making monthly student loan payments to a lender, thereby having more money to invest locally as well as have the power to reach your personal and financial goals faster than ever.
Smart Works is a student-debt repayment program for young professionals living and working in the Southern Tier. If selected for enrollment in Smart Works, participants will receive a $7,200 annual and renewable benefit for up to ten years in the form of monthly student loan payments (up to $600) paid directly to lender(s).
Applications are currently not being accepted for the Smart Works program.
Women Leaders Launchpad
To address the need for strong leadership in non-profits, and in conjunction with Savannah Consulting, we offer the Women Leaders Launchpad initiative to support women. An immersive and intensive exploration of self-awareness and transformative leadership, this program welcomes middle/senior managers and emerging leaders in non-profit organizations who want to change the trajectory of their lives and careers, and their organizations’ effectiveness.
Objectives:
The program includes a formal work style/personality assessment and report (FEBI), 360-degree workplace pre-assessment, four three-hour group workshops, and three 90-minute individual coaching sessions over a four-month period.
Trainings
Email info@communityfund.org for more information.
40 Grants in 40 Weeks
Gratitude Summit
Human service positions tend to be high stress/low pay roles within our community. The cost of turn-over is high, financially and the in the toll it takes on clients when they have to establish new connections with social workers, case managers, and other caring professionals.
Research conducted by Eaton Corporation has identified peer-to-peer gratitude moments as a proven method to reduce voluntary turnover within large organizations. An employee that receives 20+ moments of recognition annually has only a 2.6% probability of leaving compared to the 9.9% probability of leaving for an employee with zero-to-two moments.
Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes, launched the Gratitude Summit in 2019 hosting hundreds of nonprofit professionals in a day-long event that introduced the science behind gratitude in the workplace and to determine what strategies are already in place. Since then, the summit has provided resources from leading experts in the field that intentionally support the safety net that so many of our community members rely on.
100 Classrooms
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first community foundation, staff visited 100 different classrooms in Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben counties by the end of 2014, teaching students in grades K-5 about philanthropy. Students first learn what the word philanthropy means and the kind of philanthropist they would like to be. Each classroom then brainstorms the needs they see in their communities and ends the lesson by awarding a $100 grant to the local charity of the students’ choice!
Quickarts
Some opportunities appear out of the blue and vanish if you don’t grab them fast. Those are the opportunities we had in mind when we formed QuickArts, a mini-grant program supported by the Community Foundation’s Helen Schuyler Fund and administered by The ARTS Council for the Southern Finger Lakes.
QuickArts offers grants of $50 to $500 to artists and arts organizations in Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben counties. It includes two programs, QuickArts: Go! and QuickArts Community Arts Money in a Jiffy!
QuickArts: Go! helps individual artists seize unique chances to benefit their work or career development. For example, a grant might help an artist travel to give a reading or performance or to exhibit his or her own work. It might fund one-on-one study with a mentor, pay for materials to make work for a specific opportunity or help an artists in a number of other small but crucial ways. QuickArts Community Arts Money in a Jiffy! supports community-based arts and cultural activities such as readings, performances, workshops, festivals, concerts, screenings and extra-curricular art activities for students.
FLXCalendar
The calendar is an events resource for the Southern Finger Lakes area so that locals, transplants and savvy travelers can easily and reliably locate comprehensive regional event information, discover new events and organizations, and connect via engaging content that continually reminds us why this region is so unique. The calendar is populated by the active curation of a comprehensive events listing managed by local community member, Amelia Harnas and funded by the Community Foundation.
FLXGives
FLXGives is a 24-hour online celebration of the Finger Lakes region. It connects generous community members with the causes they care most about. It is a day to celebrate all that the Finger Lakes are and the critical role nonprofits play in making our community great.
Further Resources
We understand that grant writing, locating stable funding sources, and other aspects of managing a non-profit can be overwhelming. We have created a list of helpful resources for non-profits to help make it easier for you to reach your goals.
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