Minutes: September 23, 2008

Minutes of the Board of Directors, The Special Hope Foundation

After receiving proper notice via e-mail on September 8, 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
• Ashley Hoskins, Guest

Minutes Approved

The first order of business involved the review of the minutes from the previous Board Meeting on May 13, 2008. All reviewed and accepted the minutes.
 

Review of Existing Business

Updates from Previous Grantees:

• Clausen House: A video presentation was shared with the group.
• PET: Production and volunteer support has increased considerably.  There is currently a wait list for new volunteers.
• KIDPOWER: We have received several letters of recommendation from organizations serviced by the program.
• Shared Adventures: Reported a successful summer beach program.
• Special Olympics: They have received interest from several states through their DVD.
• CAARR: Their goal was to train deaf counselors.  They only trained 7, instead of the 17 they had planned on but they felt the program has been beneficial.
• Community Mainstreaming: Further progress on their Sweet Comfort Bakery.
• Oak Hill: We received their evaluation.  They thanked us for funding them, and were hoping to shift some funding to printing costs.
• Asha Kiran: Sent us an update.  The government has decided to help fund their organization because of their excellent progress.  This would have not been possible without the support from Special Hope.

Lynne went to the Association of Small Foundation annual conference that she will be sharing information from at the retreat.  They had different level classes of classes, and Lynne sat on in on the highest level ones and found that we are doing really well in comparison to most of the other conference attendees.  Reported on our involvement in “cutting edge” philanthropy as defined at the conference.

Committee Reports

Finance & Investments Committee – Mary Wilson

In the budget vs. actual report, we had the largest variance so far.  This is primarily due to the fact the the Berkshire Hathaway stock has still not been liquidated yet.  This is a timing issue as to when the foundation should claim the capital gains.  In addition, our accounting fees have been higher due to having to pay for the audit and tax preparation.  There was also a computer purchase that wasn’t budgeted for, and new letterhead had to be printed because the foundation address changed due to the move.

Grant Review

The board was asked if anyone has any personal connection to any of the following organizations: Abilities United, Friends of Children with Special Needs, Goodwill Industries of El Paso, Kids Included Together, Mother Lode Rehabilitation, New England Business Association, North Star Foundation, Sunsine Kids Club, Teach SOCIAL! and The Rebuilding Alliance. No one had any connection.

Abilities United (formerly CAR)

We have given to them twice before and they have done well.

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

Friends of Children with Special Needs

They are asking for money (which will be pooled with other donations) in order to expand their organization. They heard about us through Parents Helping Parents. They raised a large amount of money in a short period of time because they are a part of a larger close knit community. It is a small membership organization similar to a YMCA for people with special needs. They are trying to break the traditional cycle of hiding special needs children away. The center is new with several classrooms.  They are looking to build a satellite center. They need $100,000 from the project and are asking us for $50,000 of that. Lynne did a site visit to the Fremont site. They are innovative because it’s inclusive. It was brought up that 50% of the project seems high.  It was proposed to fund 25% of the project instead of 50%.

A motion was made to fund Friends of Children with Special Needs for $25,000 (50% of the original request) and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

Goodwill Industries of El Paso

The project aims to help teach students about retail experience by creating a store that the students would run. It was brought up that they were unsure about how much retail experience they could get in this store. They were also wondering how many students attend the school. There is some confusion over what will be sold at the store. It seems like it’s a risky investment but possibly a good risk.

A motion was made to fund Goodwill Industries of El Paso for $20,000 and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

Kids Included Together

Originated in San Diego. We would be paying to improve marketing materials. It is mostly to produce podcasts and to get information online. Everyone agreed that the online content was well put together and impressive. There is some confusion about why the client’s fees don’t cover all the cost.

A motion was made to fund Kids Included Together for $25,000 and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

Mother Lode Rehabilitation

Due to the fact that the the special needs clients don’t actually become true mentors, it appears that this program is far less innovative than they appear on first glance.

A move was made to not to fund Mother Load Rehabilitation, which was unanimously passed by all present.

New England Business Association

There is some concern that it will be too difficult for the disabled individuals to run their own businesses. However, these businesses are very simple. Originally there budget was $31,000 and now they have cut it down to $25,000. The partnership with the college shows innovation.

A motion was made to fund New England Business Association for $25,000 and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

North Star Foundation

This is the small foundation who trains assistance dogs to help special needs children.  We all love this one.  In addition to training dogs, funds would be used to look at past placements and research outcomes.

A motion was made to fund North Star Foundation for $13,000 and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

Sunshine Kids Club

The grant for organizational capacity building is fairly substantial but it seems like she has a good foundation for success.

A motion was made to fund Sunshine Kids Club for $94,000 and was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

Teach SOCIAL!

Lynne was able to meet Dr. Pam Crooke. The idea is to have these social classes over a long period of time. The research aspect of the project seems like it will help make the organization more well respected. At the current time they can only train 250 people but they are hoping to expand to public schools. They originally requested over $200,000 and are now asking for $50,000.

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

The Rebuilding Alliance

Although the idea behind this group shows promise, it is questionable as to whether they could carry out their goals.

A move was made to not to fund The Rebuilding Alliance, which was unanimously passed by all present.

New Business

• The retreat was discussed again. An idea to rent a house in the Napa area would be possible on the 23rd and 24th of January. If possible, we might be able to do a site visit at Dream Catchers.
• Forces for Good hasn’t had as many people confirmed as we hoped and so we need to get on top of contacting people to see if they can come. An e-mail reminder will be sent out.
• The next board meeting will be at the retreat on January 23rd-24th in Napa.

Adjournment

There being no further business to come before the meeting, upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m.

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Lynne O’Hara, President

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Ed Hoskins, Secretary