On July 12, VOICES hired TJ McKillop, who will serve as the Education Navigator for the Foster Youth Navigation Program, funded by Impact100 Redwood Circle's inaugural Impact Grant. TJ is a California native who grew up mainly in Roseville.

He attended Westmont College, a small liberal arts school in Santa Barbara, where he studied Sociology and was captain of the men's soccer team. After several years working and travelling, TJ entered Sacramento State's Master's Program in Social Work. After graduating in May 2016, he and his wife Rachel moved to Santa Rosa to be closer to family. They have a 4 ½ month old son, Danilo.

 

TJ spent a year in Northern Ireland doing Peace and Reconciliation Studies; mainly interfaith work with Catholic and Protestant students. He also worked with Outward Bound, taking at-risk youth through the Florida Everglades. Although he also spent time as a finish carpenter, he's always been drawn to working with youth.

 

TJ's first 2 months at VOICES have been very busy! His first objectives have been to conduct outreach and establish partnership teams (i.e. social workers, SCOE foster youth coordinator, TLC's transitional Housing Placement (THP) team) and to conduct outreach to eligible youth. He is currently cultivating collaborative partnerships with 20 eligible youth as they pursue post-secondary education.

 

He is fully prepared to support students through the priority registration period (Nov. 7-20, 2016 for foster youth) for the Spring 2017 semester (he was hired after the deadline for the fall semester). In addition to providing support with registration, scholarships, coaching, linkage to services, and counseling, his most-important role is to provide emotional support to these youth.   

TJ was pleased to have several of our members attend the August and September barbeques.  He really appreciates the support that he has received from the Impact 100 members and is enthusiastic about working with the Grants Liaison Committee going forward.

If you have questions, comments or want to help, PLEASE contact our Grants Liaison team (do not contact VOICES directly).

We will be having an Introductory Grant Committee meeting on Saturday, October 1^st at Yulupa Co-Housing complex from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.   We welcome all members that might be interested in learning about the grant application process or might want to participate in some aspect of the grant selection activities.

 

We have been working hard for the past few weeks developing a timeline, refreshing last year's application process and breaking down the grant committee tasks into manageable parts.   The nomination letters will be going out to the membership October 6th for the 2017 Impact 100 grant.

 

Please contact Laurie Parish for information or questions at

ImpactGrant@impact100redwoodcircle.org

 

Karen Thompson, Laurie Parish and Carol Lynn Wood, Co-Chairs

In early August Impact 100's Leadership Team approved a plan to disburse a portion of leftover grant funds to member-nominated non-profits. A total of $25,000 was allocated for five grants of $5,000 to be awarded in early December. Members were asked to nominate a community non-profit organization which would be invited to apply for a grant. Letters of invitation were sent to 36 organizations in early September; they were asked to respond by October 7 with a 1-2 page proposal for utilizing grant funds.

 

The timeline for the Community Grants process includes these significant milestones:

Community Grant Work Group leaders Judy Farrell and Shirley Ward are pleased to have received helpful support from our sister organization Impact 100 Sonoma Valley. Eligibility criteria and evaluation worksheets were adapted from materials graciously shared by colleagues experienced in small community grant review. Thank you to the members of Impact 100 Redwood Circle who nominated a variety of non-profit organizations representing the arts, environment, education, human and animal services. Awardees will be invited to a membership meeting in 2017.

 

Members interested in leading or joining the Community Grants Committee in 2017 would be most welcome!