Minutes: January 23, 2009

Minutes of the Board of Directors, The Special Hope Foundation

After receiving proper notice via e-mail on January 5, 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

Minutes Approved

The first order of business involved the review of the minutes from the previous Board Meeting on September 23, 2008. John O’Hara found that the address was incorrect.  All reviewed and accepted the minutes with this change.
 

Review of Existing Business

Updates from Previous Grantees:

• Hope Technology School: we received a quick update from them.  They used the most recent grant distributions for staff development, tuition assistance, and their new Prep Center.  They also mentioned the NBC news coverage that was picked up by affiliates around the world.  (the board watched the video).
• Oak Hill, Hartford Ct: received an update.  They have implemented a 60 hour program with 11 additional students this past summer.  They have also completed the writing of their student manual which needs to be reviewed and revised.
• Sweet Comfort Bakery & Cafe: The construction of the baker is almost complete, and they will be opening their doors the beginning of 2009.  They have a new brick facade, and they are waiting for furnature to be delivered.  The kitchen equipment is being installed.  Their ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for the end of January.
• Asha Kiran, India: Things still seem to progressing with future funding from their government.  They are continuing to use the rest of the Special Hope grant money.  They thanked us not only for helping the people, but helping them build experience and credibility.
   

Committee Reports

Finance & Investments Committee – Mary Wilson

Budget vs. Actual report.  The percentage at the bottom is significantly different than what we have seen in the past.  On line 4, we estimated 1.5 million of Berkshire stock would have been liquidated.  Because of the economy, this has not occurred.  They are remaining cautious, and estimate that it will be between 5 and 10 years before all of the stock is liquidated.  The bottom line is that we have spent less that we budgeted, so it offset the changes in value due to the economy.

The pie chart page shows that the value has gone down about 14% ($2,000,000).  We are in a much better situation percentage wise, than we were a couple of years ago because the stocks and bonds are more stable.  We are very close to the correct percentages now.

There is plenty of cash right now.  There are advantages to granting shares of Berkshire stock as opposed to distributing cash, and this helps shift the balance of the stocks and bonds, as well as helping with capital gains tax.

Our current cycle is strong, so we will probably grant most of the proposals this time.  Even so, we are going to have to cut some both this and next cycle.  We need the grant totals to come in around $260,000 each cycle.

Consent Agenda

Summaries will only be written for the recommended ones so that the board can concentrate on the proposals that are on the fence, or ones that there are concerns that need to be discussed.

• A motion was made for us to adopt a Consent Agenda, and it was unanimously approved by all who were attending.
• A motion was made to accept the consent agenda which was unanimously approved by all who were attending.

Mary had some concerns about the “Community Legal Aid Society, Inc.”  She felt like they were asking for general operating money, and not funds for specific purposes.  Lynne described what they do in more detail:

They bring expert disability law, advocacy to a special needs person who is in juvenile hall.  It turns out that there are a lot of kids who have a disability that leads to a variety of behavioral issues.  Often it is easier for the school district to get them moved out of the classroom by moving them into the juvenile system.

Mary was concerned that there wouldn’t be much impact, since the problem is so widespread, and this program is in Delaware.

Very little is being done in this area. If this model is successful, it could be used as a pilot program, which is encouraging.  The great thing about this program is that maybe it can prevent some of that by catching the problem at the very beginning.

It is very difficult for a parent to even find an advocate in this situation, and if they can find one, it is usually in an expensive private practice.

Mary decided leave it on the consent agenda after discussing the proposal in more depth with the board.
 

Grant Review

The board was asked if anyone has any personal connection to any of the following organizations: Association of Educational Therapists, Best Buddies International, Community Legal Air Society, Pathway at UCLA Extension, Hope Technology School, JumpStart Learning to Learn, Supported Life Institute.  Mary has a connection with the Hope Technology School, and will excuse herself during the grant review of their proposal.

Association of Educational Therapists
It is possible that what they are doing could become the standard, and we could look back and be glad that we were part of that.  However, there is no guarantee that this is the group will be the ones who set the standard.  There are very few of these programs in existence at this point.  They are certainly doing some interesting things.  Are they more than tutors?  Do they help with emotional problems?  They don’t have any psychology classes, and only one class that deals emotional problems.  This was a real red flag.

There isn’t a strong reason to support this one.

A move was made to not fund Association of Educational Therapists for $30,000, which was unanimously passed by all present.

Best Buddies International

Granted through the consent agenda.

Community Legal Air Society

Granted through the consent agenda.

Pathway at UCLA Extension

Granted through the consent agenda.

Hope Technology School (Mary excused herself from the discussion and vote)

This one was not on the consent agenda because of the large amount.  The school gets better and better all the time.  Their proposals are complete and right on.    It is possible that funding their general costs are not stretching them in the right direction.  It would be much more exciting if there were specific projects.

They have not significantly expanded fundraising program.  They need to put projects together, because it’s easier to get funding for specifics like equipment, etc.  It’s possible that they need a consultant to look at the big picture and help them identify what needs to be done in order to take them to the next level.  A grant for something like this would be in order.  We will put a message once again to encourage them to do this like we have many times in the past, although it has been a couple of years.

Next meeting we will develop a challenge grant.  We will talk about it offline because it will need to be carefully worded.

A move was made to fund Hope Technology School for $100,000, which was unanimously passed by all present.

JumpStart Learning to Learn

Are they training or doing research?  We usually like to fund grass roots programs.  This program was actually created based on a multi-stage research program, which is quite different than what we are used to.  They are trying to take it from the theoretical to an actual program.  They have a clinic as their first step, and they are charging people.  They are at the psychiatric institute.  They are well into starting to validate their theories.  This one challenges public perception at all levels.

A move was made to fund JumpStart for $28,000, and was unanimously passed by all present.

Supported Life Institute

They have developed a communication lab to allow clients to experement with a variety of assistive technology (AT) devices.  In addition, the lab will be staffed by at least one individual who has a disability and utilzes the available equipment.  This will allow for first hand experience and public exposure to the disabled.

A move was made to fund the Supported Life Institute for $25,000, (half of what was requested).  Was unanimously passed by all.

New Business

• We went over the ag.
• Confirmed the next board meeting, May 12, 2009

Adjournment

There being no further business to come before the meeting, upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m.

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Lynne O’Hara, President

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Ed Hoskins, Secretary