Wednesday, November 25, 2009
There is a new URL for the weekly nonprofit e-newsletter Don Griesmann's Grant Opportunities™ - Bookmark It Now!
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The weekly e-newsletter is delivered by e-mail or RSS Feed every Tuesday-Wednesday.
There is no charge to grantors to be featured in the e-newsletter.
It is my goal to provide you with timely and accurate information, with accurate links and deadlines and with sufficient information to assist readers to decide if the grant is applicable. It is also my goal to provide grant information you will not find in other grant e-newsletters such as the Foundation Center and others.
It is not possible for me to be a one-stop shop about grants and I do not pretend to have that as a goal. However, the material is unique, brings value-added with national and international grants, appropriate information about fellowships, scholarships and awards of note.
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Thursday, November 19, 2009
Yes, It Is Personal - World AIDS Day is December 1, 2009
Most of us don't need a World AIDS Day to remind us how important HIV awareness is. You already know that a breathtakingly large number of people become infected with HIV every hour of every day. And you're fully aware of just how critical it is that we continue to battle not just HIV, but stigma, the lack of HIV treatment access, poor political leadership and the sexism, racism and homophobia that keep this pandemic alive after more than 25 years.
But it's the responsibility of each of us -- as the people who know HIV better than nearly everyone else on the planet -- to be educators and activists. So browse these pages for inspiration as you decide how you can best observe this year's World AIDS Day on December 1. For you it is personal.
http://www.avert.org/world-aids-day.htm
What Can You Do, See, Hear and Know on World AIDS Day December 1, 2009?
• Learn
• Teach
• Advocate
• Give
• Volunteer
• Thank those working with people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS
• Protect you and your partner
I have pulled together links to web sites covering activities planned for World AIDS Day from around the world and select countries. I have included links to tools and publicity that can be used in blogs or offices to awaken awareness about AIDS on December 1, 2009.
More than twenty-five years into the AIDS pandemic, ignorance about HIV/AIDS is still rampant. Use these links on World AIDS Day to learn more about HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS Basics
HIV/AIDS Risk & Testing
Statistics on the HIV/AIDS Pandemic
On the Personal Side
TheBody.com's World AIDS Day Center is divided into these sections:
• Things to Do: Events, Posters, E-Cards and More
• Things to Hear: First-Person Stories and Interviews
• Things to Know: Learn About HIV, World AIDS Day and the Latest Statistics
• Things to See: Videos, Artwork and More
What Are You Doing This World AIDS Day?
TheBody.com asked some HIV/AIDS advocates: "What are your doing this World AIDS Day?" Watch what they had to say, and let us know what you're doing this World AIDS Day!
Powerful First-Person Stories From People Living With HIV
Justin B. Smith may be one of the most public African Americans living with HIV: He has his own blog and Web site, and he's even on YouTube. And who can blame him? Only 29, he already has an incredible story to tell. Former pop star Sherri Lewis took the time to share with us her story of surviving -- and thriving -- with HIV. TheBody.com recently interviewed both of them (and others!) to hear their stories and talk about life with HIV. Read or listen in!
These headlines are just a small sample of the many interviews, articles, podcasts, videos and resources at your fingertips within TheBody.com's 2009 World AIDS Day Center. Stop in now and learn more!
http://www.thebody.com/content/worldaidsday/art54225.html?ic=700100
http://www.thebody.com/content/worldaidsday/art54299.html
AIDS.org
The mission of AIDS.ORG is to help prevent HIV infections and to improve the lives of those affected by HIV and AIDS by providing education and facilitating the free and open exchange of knowledge at an easy-to-find centralized website.
http://www.aids.org/
National Institutes of Health AIDSinfo Guidelines for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, reviewed and updated by experts in the field
Treatment / Prevention
About the HIV Treatment Guidelines
Download / Order
PDA Tools
http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov/
TOOLS
Within this section you will find tools you can use for campaigning including newsletters, reports, case studies and manuals.
Library
This library contains information on a diverse range of topics relating to AIDS.
UA Campaigner's Update
Universal Access (UA) Campaigner's Update is a quarterly campaigner's newsletter on AIDS campaigning around the world.
Position Papers
Deciding what to advocate for can be a challenge for some smaller civil society organisations that do not feel they have the knowledge experience in specific areas or indeed the time to do the work. The World AIDS Campaign (WAC) aims to be a catalyst for providing information on some key positions either where the WAC has formulated them themselves or have been developed by other groups with specialist interest or experience.
Campaign tools
In this section you will find tool kits, action guides and other resources to help in campaigning.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Tools
This page is for all teachers (especially head teachers), school governors and anyone who has responsibility for staff or pupils in schools.
The U.K. 2005 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA 2005) made it illegal to discriminate against people living with HIV from the point of diagnosis. This means that schools cannot discriminate against HIV-positive pupils or staff.
http://www.nat.org.uk/Information-and-Resources/Schools.aspx
United Nations
Ahead of this year’s World AIDS Day, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the World AIDS Campaign and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) have come together to announce the theme of ‘Universal Access and Human Rights’.
The theme has been chosen to address the critical need to protect human rights and attain access for all to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. It also acts as a call to countries to remove laws that discriminate against people living with HIV, women and marginalized groups. Countries are also urged to realise the many commitments they made to protect human rights in the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001) and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS (2006).
Speaking ahead of the announcement at the United Nations in New York, Michel SidibĂ© Executive Director of UNAIDS said, "Achieving universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support is a human rights imperative. It is essential that the global response to the AIDS epidemic is grounded in human rights and that discrimination and punitive laws against those most affected by HIV are removed.”
Many countries still have laws and policies that impede access to HIV services and criminalize those most vulnerable to HIV. These include laws that criminalize men who have sex with men, trangendered people and lesbians; laws that criminalize sex workers; and laws criminalizing people who use drugs and the harm reduction measures and substitution therapy they need.
http://www.msmasia.org/news_article/items/2009_world_aids_day_theme_announced.html
http://www.caleidoscop.org/Members/janina/news/2009-world-aids-day-theme-launched-universal-access-and-human-rights
UN Fact Sheets
Investment Facts
• At the end of 2008, an estimated US$ 13.7 billion was made available for the global AIDS response – a 21% increase above the $11.3 billion for AIDS in 2007.
• Nearly 52% of the resources available came from domestic sources.
• The per capita domestic expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa was six times more than other parts of the world after adjusting by income level
• Direct bilateral agreements provided 31%, multilateral institutions 12%, and the philanthropic sector 5%.
• Out of pocket expenditures incurred by individuals and families amounted for nearly US$ 1 billion.
[Source: What countries need – investments needed for 2010 targets, UNAIDS February 2009]
http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/Resources/PressCentre/FactSheets/
Activity Around the World (Samples)
Australia
http://blaze.e-p.net.au/feature/be-aware-3319.html
Nigeria
U.S., Nigeria Partner On Fight Against HIV/AIDs
http://leadershipnigeria.com/index.php/news/headlines/8589-us-nigeria-partner-on-fight-against-hivaids
The World AIDS Campaign supports campaigners around the world. Within this section you can read about campaigns happening at a national and regional level from around the world. The information is organised by region.
We are always looking for more information – please send your campaigning news to info@worldaidscampaign.org
Pink Armenia Blog
http://pinkarmenia.blogspot.com/2009/07/2009-world-aids-day-theme.html
Ghana
The 2009 World AIDS Day has been launched by His Excellency, Vice President John Dramani Mahama in Accra.
The launch signifies the beginning of a month long programme of activities that will culminate in regional and district durbars on the 1st of December.
The objectives for this year’s World AIDS Day are to enhance and advocate for leadership and accountability in addressing the HIV epidemic in Ghana at all levels by engaging all stakeholders in decision making at the national, regional, district, community, family and individual levels and also to help reduce stigmatisation and discrimination by tackling human rights issues and to help increase and update testing devices.
http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=237:2009-world-aids-day-launched&catid=28:general-news&Itemid=162
UK web sites and data
• Estimates show that more than 80,000 people are now living with HIV in the UK
• 7,740 people have so far been reported as newly diagnosed with HIV during 2007 - the final figure may be higher.
• There are around 25,000 people in the UK who are unaware of their infection.
• In 2007, over 1,700 black Caribbeans were living with HIV in the UK.
• In 2006, an estimated 24,500 black Africans were living with HIV in the UK.
• In 2006, an estimated 30,100 gay & bisexual men were living with HIV in the UK
http://www.nat.org.uk/HIV-Facts.aspx
http://www.worldaidsday.org/
Information by regions around the world
Caribbean
In this section you will find information about campaigns and campaigning events happening in the Caribbean.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/In-country-campaigns/Caribbean
Latin America
In this section you will find information about campaigns and campaigning events happening in Latin America.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/In-country-campaigns/Latin-America
Europe
Europe has a wide and diverse range of HIV service providers ranging in size and scope. It also has special interest groups such as the AIDS and Mobility project; and the European AIDS Treatment Group plus acting as the base for some international groups such as GNP+ and ICW.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/In-country-campaigns/Europe
North America
In this section you will find information about campaigns and campaigning events happening in North America.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/In-country-campaigns/North-America
Eastern Europe and Central Asia
In this section you will find information about campaigns and campaigning events happening in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/In-country-campaigns/EECA
Asia
In this section you will find information about campaigns and campaigning events happening in Asia.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/In-country-campaigns/Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
In this section you will find information about campaigns and campaigning events happening in sub-Saharan Africa. Please click on the links to read more about campaigning in Zambia, Nigeria and Kenya.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/In-country-campaigns/Sub-Saharan-Africa
N. Africa / Middle East
In this section you will find information about campaigns and campaigning events happening in North Africa/Middle East.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/In-country-campaigns/N.-Africa-Middle-East
Western Pacific
In this section you find will information about campaigns and campaigning events happening in the Western Pacific region of the world.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/In-country-campaigns/Western-Pacific
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/In-country-campaigns
History of the Quilt
In June of 1987, a small group of strangers gathered in a San Francisco storefront to document the lives they feared history would neglect. Their goal was to create a memorial for those who had died of AIDS, and to thereby help people understand the devastating impact of the disease. This meeting of devoted friends and lovers served as the foundation of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Today the Quilt is a powerful visual reminder of the AIDS pandemic. More than 44,000 individual 3-by-6-foot memorial panels -- most commemorating the life of someone who has died of AIDS -- have been sewn together by friends, lovers and family members
On October 11, 1987, the Quilt was displayed for the first time on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., during the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. It covered a space larger than a football field and included 1,920 panels. Half a million people visited the Quilt that weekend.
The Quilt returned to Washington, D.C. in October of 1988, when 8,288 panels were displayed on the Ellipse in front of the White House. Celebrities, politicians, families, lovers and friends read aloud the names of the people represented by the Quilt panels.
http://www.aidsquilt.org/history.htm
AIDS and Nonprofits – A New Resource Tracking Tool; Where’s the Money for AIDS?
http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/aids-and-nonprofits-new-resource.html
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sebelius Announces Release of Recovery Act Funding to Improve Care in Nation’s Ambulatory Surgical Centers
“Because of the Recovery Act, millions of patients who go to stand-alone surgical centers will have greater assurance that they won’t come home with a new infection,” said Health and Human Services’ Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Residents in these 43 states will continue to see the benefits from the Recovery Act not only by addressing health care associated infections, but by putting people to work to solve an important issue and improve the quality of life for Americans.”
“Healthcare-Associated Infections kill nearly 100,000 people and add an extra $30 billion in healthcare costs every year. But with a little bit of knowledge, and some extra effort, much of that can be prevented. I’m glad to see these funds going to help put people to work combating this tragedy around the country,” said Congressman Dave Obey (D-WI), the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, who was a lead author of the Recovery Act and has been an outspoken advocate for efforts to reduce HAIs.
Accredited facilities are surveyed by CMS-approved private accrediting organizations. As part of the new initiative, surveyors in the 43 states will survey approximately 1,300 ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) across the nation, one-third of the more than 3,800 non-accredited ASCs across the country during the next 12 months. State surveyors will employ a new CMS survey process for ASCs that uses an infection control tool developed in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Across the United States, health care services are being shifted to outpatient settings such as ambulatory care facilities, long term care facilities, and free-standing specialty care sites. The number of ASCs participating in Medicare grew from about 3600 in calendar year 2002 to 5200 in early 2009, a 44 percent increase. ASCs account for more than 43 percent of all same-day (ambulatory) surgery in the United States, amounting to about 15 million procedures every year. Typical surgical procedures conducted in ASCs include endoscopies and colonoscopies, orthopedic procedures, plastic/reconstructive surgeries, and eye, foot, and ear/nose/throat surgeries.
HAI outbreaks in outpatient settings continue to occur according to the CDC. In several ASC-related communicable disease outbreaks, failure to employ very basic infection control practices were implicated, leading CMS to identify this as an area for additional oversight.
In the last fiscal year, 12 states volunteered to get a head start on this nationwide effort to reduce healthcare-associated infections in stand-alone or same-day surgical centers by beginning to survey ASCs with funding of nearly $1 million provided through the Recovery Act.
In addition to the funds being made available for the inspection of ASCs, the CDC has also made $40 million available to state public health departments to create or expand state-based HAI prevention and surveillance efforts, and strengthen the public health workforce trained to prevent HAIs.
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) exact a significant toll on human life. They are among the leading causes of preventable death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths in 2002. In hospitals, they are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. In addition to the substantial human suffering caused by healthcare-associated infections, the financial burden attributable to the infections is staggering. It is estimated that healthcare-associated infections cause $28 to $33 billion in excess healthcare costs each year.
For these reasons, the prevention and reduction of healthcare-associated infections is a top priority for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The HHS Steering Committee for the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections was established in July 2008. The Steering Committee was charged with developing a comprehensive strategy to prevent and reduce healthcare-associated infections and issuing a plan which establishes national goals for healthcare-associated infection prevention and outlines key actions for achieving identified short- and long-term objectives. The plan is also intended to enhance collaboration with external stakeholders to strengthen coordination and impact of national efforts.
What are Healthcare-Associated Infections?
Healthcare-associated infections are infections that patients acquire while receiving treatment for medical or surgical conditions. HAIs occur in all settings of care, including acute care within hospitals and same day surgical centers, ambulatory outpatient care in healthcare clinics, and in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. HAIs are associated with a variety of causes, including (but not limited to) the use of medical devices, such as catheters and ventilators, complications following a surgical procedure, transmission between patients and healthcare workers, or the result of antibiotic overuse.
Four categories of infections account for approximately three quarters of HAIs in the acute care hospital setting:
1.Surgical site infections;
2.Central line-associated bloodstream infections;
3.Ventilator-associated pneumonia, and;
4.Catheter-associated urinary tract infections.
In addition, infections associated with Clostridium difficile and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) also contribute significantly to the overall problem. The frequency of HAIs varies by location. Currently, urinary tract infections comprise the highest percentage (34%) of HAIs followed by surgical site infections (17%), bloodstream infections (14%), and pneumonia (13%). In addition to the substantial human suffering exacted by HAIs the financial burden attributable to these infections is staggering. It is estimated that HAIs incur an estimated $28 to $33 billion in excess healthcare costs each year.
These funds support activities outlined in HHS’ 2009 Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections. The plan also establishes national goals, prioritizes recommended clinical practices, and coordinates a national research agenda. Development of this national plan is coordinated by HHS’ Office of Public Health and Science, and involves participation from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, CDC, CMS, the Food and Drug Administration, the Indian Health Service, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and other HHS offices, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/11/20091110a.html
Thursday, November 5, 2009
AIDS and Nonprofits – A New Resource Tracking Tool; Where’s the Money for AIDS?
Funders Concerned About AIDS and the European HIV/AIDS Funders Group Report
What can you expect in this year’s reports?
• New insights into U.S. and European HIV/AIDS funding trends from 2005 through 2008;
• Grantmaker forecasts on 2009 HIV/AIDS-related funding levels;
• Notable geographic trends in international and domestic HIV/AIDS funding;
• Narrative profiles highlighting examples of funder innovation;
• An enhanced directory and select profiles of funding organizations located outside of the U.S. and Western and Central Europe engaged in HIV/AIDS.
A New Approach for 2009
This year we’re doing things differently. To encourage you to access and share this critical assessment of U.S. and European philanthropic investment in HIV/AIDS, we’re giving you the publications in multiple formats.
Beginning on November 17th, you can find a new Resource Tracking Toolkit on the FCAA and EFG websites.
Now, in one convenient package you will be able to:
• View a PowerPoint presentation of the key data highlights;
• Download the PDF publications, press release, and slides of select charts and highlighted trends;
• Learn how other top funders communicate the impact of their role in HIV/AIDS philanthropy to their constituencies.
The toolkit will provide you with the resources to share this critical new data with your colleagues, grantees and Board to underscore the importance of your work.
How can you use this information?
• Reinforce your presentations and meetings with key messages, data points and new context for HIV/AIDS philanthropy;
• Demonstrate the impact of your institution’s role in HIV/AIDS philanthropy and strengthen internal support for your grantmaking with foundation boards, colleagues and other key stakeholders;
• Identify new colleagues and issues for potential collaboration and new issue areas or strategies to enhance the effectiveness and reach of your HIV/AIDS funding;
• Help the field of HIV/AIDS philanthropy grow by encouraging your colleagues, partners and Board members to participate in resource tracking;
• Tell us what you think and how you use this information! Your feedback will help us continue to enhance this product every year.
RSVP by Friday, November 13th to receive an email when these materials are available online. RSVP by e-mail mailto:rsvp@fcaaids.org
GLOBAL: AIDS funding at "dangerous turning point"
JOHANNESBURG, 5 November 2009 (PlusNews) - Wavering international support for HIV/AIDS efforts is resulting in funding shortfalls that could wipe out a decade of progress in rolling out AIDS treatment, the international medical and humanitarian organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has warned.
In a report called "Punishing Success? Early signs of a retreat from commitment to HIV/AIDS care and treatment", released on 5 November, MSF highlights worrying indications that the two biggest international funders helping developing countries expand their AIDS programmes are starting to scale back or flatline their contributions.
The board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which largely relies on money from developed countries to award grants in 140 poor countries, will soon decide whether to cancel its 2010 call for funding proposals.
If so, it will be the organization's first year since 2002 without a funding round; the total amount of HIV grants recommended for funding in 2009 was 35 percent lower than in 2008.
Countries like Malawi are heavily dependent on Global Fund grants to finance their antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programmes. The MSF report notes that with the Fund in crisis, Malawi's chances of achieving universal access to treatment are sinking.
For the full report and the recent acts by the Obama administration please see
http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?Reportid=86902
Where is the funding for AIDS? Most of the funds are going to research, not prevention, treatment and support of people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS
SOME FUNDING RESOURCES FOR HIV/AIDS
USAID/Uganda
The deadline is November 30, 2009
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=49821
U.S. National Institutes of Health
The deadline is November 18, 2009.
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DA-10-008.html
STARS Foundation Impact Awards
The deadline is 19 January 2010
http://www.starsfoundation.org.uk/impact-awards/how-to-apply/
USAID/Malawi
Closing Date for Round 1 Concept Paper Submission: November 30, 2009
Closing Date for Annual Program Statement (APS): September 7, 2010
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=49399
Hivos, the Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation
Applications are accepted throughout the year. There is no deadline.
http://www.hivos.nl/eng/content/view/full/5441
Jerome Robbins Foundation
There are no deadlines
http://jeromerobbins.org/
USAID/Uganda
The deadline is November 30, 2009
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=49821
United Kingdom Comic Relief
Deadlines - 20 November 2009 and 5 March 2010
http://www.comicrelief.com/apply_for_a_grant
Saturday, October 31, 2009
The Death of a Nonprofit - Kids Care in Houston TX – But Why Did It Die?
Is this a story about
• nonprofit theft, corruption and embezzlement;
• a story of gross mismanagement;
• the failure of an influential board’s oversight;
• really bad business practices;
• a case of high performance and poorly designed structure to maintain itself;
• an overreaching mission that grew beyond the ability of its creators, staff and board;
• poor public relations;
• straight out-and-out racism;
• the story of a muck-raking self-serving reporter;
• an over-aggressive Attorney General;
• a misinformed Internal Revenue Service?
Whatever your conclusion, the fact is Kids Care died. But why?
Killing Kid Care - Carol and Hurt Porter Jr. ran a well-connected, million-dollar "model charity" in Houston—until it all came crashing down By David Theis September 18, 2009 AllBusiness
On a recent Saturday afternoon, a group of parishioners from Berean Adventist Church on Houston's near East Side gathered to fill grocery bags with donated food. It was part of a weekly post-church ritual organized by the Porters- Carol and Hurt Jr. The Porters round up donations from grocery stores and bring the fruits and vegetables to be sorted, bagged and delivered to the neighborhood's numerous elderly and shut-in residents.
As the group counted out how many bananas, mangoes and yams should go into each bag, Carol and Hurt were lively and engaged. Carol, who's 64, is a talker anyway, a dynamo of a woman. Hurt Jr. (he and his father were named Hurt because of the pain their mothers suffered during childbirth), who's 67, was noticeably more voluble here than at home, where his quiet demeanor perhaps shows the effects of the Job-like trial the Porters have lived through for most of this decade.
Until 2002, the Porters headed a nationally prominent charity, Kid Care. Started in the kitchen of their modest northside house in 1984, Kid Care had grown spectacularly, feeding more than 20,000 a month in the nation's first Meals on Wheels program for hungry children. As donations came in, the program had branched out into delivering health care and providing cultural-enrichment programs for inner-city kids.
Kid Care became well-known in short order. It was named as one of Bush 41's "Thousand Points of Light"- No. 866. Carol, a lifelong Republican, stood behind Bush 43 in the Oval Office when he signed the Faith-Based Initiatives Act. Kid Care had gone international, recognized as an NGO by the United Nations, where Carol had spoken. Carol was an ABC News "Person of the Week." Her face, along with those of needy children, adorned billboards all around Houston. A New York Times article called her "the Mother Teresa of Houston."
(Snip)
Then disaster struck, in the form of muck-raking Houston television reporter Wayne Dolcefino. In September 2002, on the local ABC affiliate, Dolcefino produced the first in a series investigating how Kid Care spent its money. He found plenty that was suspicious: money apparently spent on the Porters themselves - on fancy meals and hair salons, on personal property taxes, on friends and relatives and, as the nail in the coffin, on strip-club outings.
As Dolcefino's series ended, the Porters were sued by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. The AG's office shut down Kid Care and ordered another charity for children opened (without the Porters' involvement) in its place. The IRS joined in, claiming the Porters owed $550,000 for unreported income.
(Snip)
How had a "model charity" fallen so far, so fast? Were the Porters victims of a sensationalistic, ratings-hungry reporter and an attorney general who too readily accepted his reports as fact? Had their impatience with "bean-counting" and sound business practices doomed them when Kid Care went from a self-funded mom-and-pop charity to one with a $1 million budget and 15 employees? Was Kid Care poorly served by a board of directors who didn't exercise enough oversight? Or were the Porters brought down by the size of their ambitions for Kid Care - to not just feed hungry kids, but draw them out of the cycle of poverty?
The answer, in all cases, is yes.
(Snip)
At a 2002 board meeting, held after Dolcefino's series had begun to air, the board and the Porters discussed Kid Care's problematic "crisis intervention" program. Money tended to be spent wherever Kid Care staff saw a pressing need - whether it was a one-time school uniform purchase for a needy kid, a birthday party for a Kid Care volunteer who'd never had one before, or private-school tuition for a former Enron employee's child. "Crisis intervention" was a loosely used term, and it allowed Dolcefino to portray it as a way for the Porters to hand out money according to their personal whims.
(For the full engrossing story about a great nonprofit vanishing from the face of the earth in a very short period of time read on. Could it happen to you?)
http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices/13144761-1.html
RESOURCES
Kid Care, Carol Porter, Wayne Dolcefino - The Kid Care story fizzles to a finish As told to Richard Connelly Published on December 11, 2007 The Houston News
Fed Up With Hunger from Life on Purpose, Undated
http://www.lifeonpurpose.com/index.php?task=more-info&page=66&websectionid=198
P.S. I’m sorry Published 20.DEC.07 Article from the Jewish Herald-Voice
http://kidcareinc.org/id18.html
'Mother Teresa of Houston' Fights Hunger and Government Aid by Sam Howe Verhovek, Published: Monday, February 6, 1995 New York Times
Better Business Bureau Suspends Membership of Kid-Care Charity.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-91161024.html


