Minutes: May 13, 2008

Minutes of the Board of Directors, The Special Hope Foundation

After receiving proper notice via e-mail on April 29, 2008, a quorum of the Directors named either by the Incorporator or listed in the Articles of Incorporation, constituting the Board of Directors of this Corporation, held their meeting at this time, on the day, and at the place set forth as follows:

The following Directors, constituting a quorum of the full Board, were present at the meeting:

• Lynne O’Hara, President
• John O’Hara, Vice-President
• Ed Hoskins, Secretary
• Mary Wilson, Treasurer
• Carrie Jones
• Tracie Sloat (via speaker phone)

Minutes Approved

The first order of business involved the review of the minutes from the previous Board Meeting on January 22, 2008. All reviewed and accepted the minutes.

Review of Existing Business

Trip to Connecticut: Lynne visited five previous grantees.

• Oak Hill – We funded the development of a sex education program and a sensory integration room.  Although they cut some corners while creating the room, it still has many positive aspects.  Lynne watched the various stations being used, and could see how they were being put to good use.  We watched a video that described the sex education program.
• Arc of Farmington Valley – We watched a slide show of the visit which included pictures of the inclusive art class.  We also watched an excerpt of the theater program.
• Northstar – Lynne visited and got to see some of the puppies.
• Unified Sports – This was the highlight of the trip.  There are 8 divisions where Division 1 is the highest functioning group and Division 8 was made up of people who needed the most help (this program was the most restrictive as far as limiting the rules of the particular sport for safety reasons).  For example, in the higher numbered divisions, the typical kids aren’t allowed to score, they are there to help facilitate the special needs participants.  We also watched the marketing video that we funded for Special Olympics Unified Sports.  This focus of this video was initially going to be created for just Connecticut, but the focus is now geared for a national audience.

Updates from Previous Grantees

• Stepping Stone – We previously funded this rec program, and we heard about a success story where one of there members lost 100 lbs.
• Community Mainstreaming Associates – This is the group who is opening a bakery, and they are ready to start construction.
• Arc of San Francisco – We funded the production of a video, and they have begun filming.  A blurb about us was written in their newsletter.

Committee Reports

Finance & Investments Committee – Mary Wilson

Summary of the Budget, Year Ending 2009: Investment income is at 3% (a conservative estimate) and was based on estimates of liquidation of Berkshire stock.  Increase in rent is due to our having to move again because of a change in ownership of the building.  Meeting arrangements have been budgeted for a future retreat (January).  There is a conference trip planned in the travel budget.

Budget vs. Actual March 31 2008.  The variance on the income from stocks, is due to the number not taking into account all sorts of aspects.  (It was an educated guess).  Another reason for the variance is a problem with the IRS having our fiscal year different than it actually is.  On line 3 our investment income is higher than expected which is great.  Office supplies continues to be off because we purchased a computer.  The copy and printing is the cost of printing the letterhead.   Accounting fees are higher than anticipated.  Travel is still off, it could be because of an unaccounted for airline ticket.  A refund came which accounts for the 80,000 variance.

We also looked at the portfolio summary in which everything is in order.

We looked at the grant distributions to date.  We currently have $384,585 in requests.  If we granted them all, we would be over by $55,000.  For the next period we already have $626,600 in requests.

Grant Review

The board was asked if anyone has any personal connection to any of the following organizations: Benetech, Campfire of the Midland, Center for Independent Living, Circle of Friends, East Bay Innovations, Loving Lampposts, Public Policy Institute of California, Special Kids Crusade, TransAccess, UW Autism Center.  John and Lynne know the researcher at UW Autism Center and it was on Lynne’s initiation that he submitted a proposal.

Benetech
We all really liked this one.

A motion was made to fund Benetech for $50,000, and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

Campfire of the Midland
This is a small program, and has yet to be formalized in any way.  Although some of the things that they are trying (like a peer-to-peer model) show some potential, there are too many red flags at this point.

A move was made to not to fund Campfire of the Midland, which was unanimously passed by all present.

Center for Independent Living
The center is located in Berkeley.  The main problem with this program was that it wasn’t very innovative, and it does not challenge public perception.

A move was made to not to fund the Center for Independent Living, which was passed by a majority.   Tracey still felt that there was enough merit to fund them.

Circle of Friends
We started by watching a video, which we all loved.  The program is based on inclusion at the high school level. Each individual has 5 friends, they get 5 lunches with different people and 5 phone calls per week.  The peers get good training to direct and help with social cues, not just sit there and learn to tolerate the special needs individual.

A motion was made to fund Circle of Friends for $30,000, and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

East Bay Innovations
East Bay Innovations is requesting money for a new project that addresses the needs of the developmentally disabled who are successfully living and working in the community.  The program tries to hit problems from all different angles.  Their goal is to cross-train as much of their staff as possible in order to fill in the gaps in their existing programs.

A motion was made to fund East Bay Innovations for $20,000, and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

Loving Lampposts
Wired magazine is very interested in the film, and would like to write an article about it.  Our portion would almost cover the rough cut.  This will give them something to show to get more funding, and also will allow them to participate in film festivals.  Tracey is concerned that this movement is promoting that autism will isolate autistic people in the same way as the deaf.

This is similar to the deaf community where half feel that they were born the way God intended, and that they should stay together as a strong isolated group.  The other half tries to get cocclear implant and be more like hearing population.

A motion was made to fund Loving Lampost for $50,000, and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

Public Policy Institute of California
They are asking us for help with the legal part.  How critical is this piece?  Why aren’t the other funders funding this piece?  Is it a little pet thing that will be lost?  31% of the budget goes to overhead, this could be another red flag.  Assuming he is going to do what he says he will, this could impact thousands of kids. Tracey thinks that there is a lot of value in this organization.

A move was made to fund the Public Policy Institute of California for $25,000, which was passed by a majority.   Ed & Mary were concerned that the other funders were not funding this piece as well as other red flags.

Special Kids Crusade
Special Kids Crusade is a group of parents who used to do funding for a different group.  They incorporated so they can raise money for themselves.  They don’t have a long-term sense of where they are going.  What they are asking for in this proposal seems sound.  They have actually accomplished a lot so far, so there is promise.  They have been funded by other foundations that require an extensive screening process.

A move was made to not fund the Special Kids Crusade, and was unanimously passed by all present.

TransAccess
We all liked this one

A motion was made to fund TransAccess for $30,000, and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

UW Autism Center
This one is very interesting.  The new machinery is much less invasive than previous tools.

A motion was made to fund UW Autism Center for $100,000, and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

New Business

• We are due for a retreat this year.  When should we schedule it?  Should we tack it on to a regular meeting or have it stand alone?  The location will be Napa, it can be Sept Jan or May.  Heather McCleud Grant could come and facilitate part of our meeting.  We will nail down a specific date via e-mail.  Somewhere around the 23 & 24.  Try to make it there by 8:00 p.m. for a meeting, then the next morning Heather would join us, we would have lunch, then in the afternoon finish some business and we’re free to go.
• ASF Association of Small Foundations is having their national conference, and Lynne will be going.
• Office Relocation, Lynne is currently looking for a new one.  Rent is going up here to $800 per month, which will be temporary.  
• The next meeting would be Sept 22nd
• Then Jan the 20th but probably moving to 23, 24
• Next May will be 12th

Adjournment

There being no further business to come before the meeting, upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 8:08 p.m.

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Lynne O’Hara, President

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Ed Hoskins, Secretary