Kudos to Our Terrific Project imPACT South LA Staff for their Success with Our Clients!

Friends Outside in Los Angeles County appreciates the hard work by our Project imPACT South LA staff  who recently reached and even exceeded their goals for this City of Los Angeles, Office of the Mayor, funded grant.  Project imPACT provides reentry employment services in addition to behavioral health and legal services to persons with criminal records from four locations across the City.  Our project is located on-site at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.

Our hard-working staff, Michael Tompkins, Job Specialist, James Agnew, Peer Navigator, and their fearless leader, Arthur Smiley, are to be credited for achieving the following contract outcomes:

Contracted Goal Actual Outcomes
Outreach to 210 participants Outreached to 308 participants (146% of goal)
Enroll 99 clientsEnrolled 101 clients (102% of goal)
Assist 56 clients to obtain employment 59 reentry clients have been employed (105% of goal)

Congratulations to Arthur and his team on this outstanding achievement!

Mary

Mary Weaver, Ex. Dtr.

Help for Nonprofits

Dear Friends of Friends Outside in Los Angeles County:

Please go to link below and take needed actions.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES ACT / S. 3548) would provide four months of operating expenses from March through June as grants provided the funds are all used to pay staff making $100,000 or less annually. (Bill not  passed yet)

https://www.thenonprofittimes.com/finance/nonprofits-seek-60-billion-in-stimulus/?utm_source=Full+NPT+Active&utm_campaign=3b00c42dc7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_05_14_02_27_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_639f323152-3b00c42dc7-97193487&mc_cid=3b00c42dc7&mc_eid=1fc6c29fc7

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3548/text

Thank you!

Mary Weaver
Executive Director

The Day the World Changed – Update from Friends Outside in Los Angeles County

So, let me deal with the obvious first . . . yes, I am still here.  The top two candidates for my position turned down the job offer, perhaps due to the salary.  The Board is continuing the search.

I want to let you, our supporters, know that our clients are continuing to be served by our 22 member staff who are working safely from their homes. This includes services to individuals by telephone, text, email, and via U.S. Mail and workshops via a platform such as WebEx or Zoom.   I am in daily contact with our five managers who are in daily contact with the staff they supervise.  We are having weekly team meetings to check-in with one another, share information about new resources, strategize how to best deliver services, ensure that we are meeting the requirements of our grantors, and generally to keep spirits up.  And, I am in touch with grantors to ensure that we are providing services to their satisfaction while remaining in compliance with Governor Newsom’s order to stay at home.

Concerns include whether new grant opportunities will be made available down the road and how individual fundraising will hold-up, understanding that people for the most part are going to be focused on their own survival, including some who are losing their jobs.  But, one of my biggest concerns is that as I listen to press conferences and news sources whichI believe to be legitimate, I have yet to hear mentioned the special needs of nonprofits when discussions take place about what Congress is considering in the bailout packages.  I am, therefore, encouraging each of you to contact your representatives in Washington D.C. and remind them of the important work that is performed by our sector, providing services that will be needed now more than ever as human need escalates.  Please ask them to “have our backs” when the bailout packages are put together.  I also encourage you to go to this link and read the story from CNN which explains this need in greater detail:  https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/20/opinions/coronavirus-extinction-level-event-charities/index.html

Of course, your donations will be welcome, too, but I believe that advocating to Congress at this critical time is the most important act you can take on our behalf and on behalf of those in need.

Wishing you all good physical and mental health as we navigate uncertain waters from our individual lifeboats.

Mary Weaver
Executive Director