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Partnership 4 Kids
1004 Farnam Street, Suite 200, Omaha, Nebraska, 68102
www.p4k.org
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/1356571/admin/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Partnership4Kids Twitter: https://twitter.com/partner4kids Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/partnership4kids/
Ms. Lori Lundholm
Grants Coordinator
llundholm@p4k.org
+1 (402) 290-1893
Yes
P4K relies on the commitment and dedication of 24 staff, seven AmeriCorps members, five AmeriCorps VISTA members, two social work practicum students, 114 volunteers (still recruiting) serving as mentors, 15 board members, and a network of dozens of community partners and collaborating organizations to ensure that the 3,000+ youth enrolled in our programming feel well-supported, engaged in their education, and hopeful about their future. Staff responsibilities vary depending on the department to which they belong, but nearly all employees are involved in direct service. The curriculum and evaluation team designs curriculum and evaluates program impact and effectiveness while the development team focuses on stewardship, event planning, grant writing and long-term financial sustainability for the organization. The recruitment and training team is responsible for ensuring our organization has community volunteers to support our programming efforts and providing volunteers with the necessary training and continuing education opportunities to be effective in their volunteer roles. P4K program staff must have relevant degrees and/or related professional experience to qualify for their positions. Ten team members run the College and Career Readiness Program, which is administered at five OPS middle schools and five high schools. Each staff member dedicates 100% of their time to this program. The agency’s relevant leadership staff are as follows: Deb Denbeck has served as the president of Partnership 4 Kids since June 2011. She is a hands-on director with an eye for details and a love for her employees and constituents. Prior to P4K, Deb served as the director of philanthropy at Creighton University for five years, associate athletic director at the University of Nebraska at Omaha for three years, and head volleyball coach/associate professor at both Southwest State University and College of Saint Mary in Omaha for a combined 21 years. Deb holds a Bachelor of Science degree in education from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a Master of Science degree in education with special emphasis in sports administration from Western Illinois University. Ashley Anderson is P4K’s Chief Financial Officer. She has been with the agency since May of 2018. She works closely with the Partnership 4 Kids Board of Directors finance committee as well as the agency’s development team. Ashley has an analytical mind, an eye for detail, and the drive to achieve goals and meet deadlines. Prior to joining the Partnership 4 Kids team, Ashley was the accounting supervisor for AmeriServe International. Ashley has over a decade of financial accounting experience and holds a degree in accounting and business management from Buena Vista University. Nick Sasada is P4K’s Director of Programming Operations. He has been with P4K for thirteen years and has served in both direct service and administrative roles. Nick has served in his current role since 2019 in which he leads agency data reporting and manages strategic planning of agency programming and curriculum. Nick is bilingual and holds a bachelor’s degree in international studies and Spanish. He has excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills. He has a heart for service and more than a decade of experience working with underserved youth populations. Joanne Poppleton is the Director of Elementary and Middle School Program at Partnership 4 Kids (P4K). Joanne is a compassionate and proficient leader with a knack for collaboration. She has been with Partnership 4 Kids for eighteen years, working on summer programming for over ten of those years. Joanne attended Metropolitan Community College and the University of Nebraska, Omaha for business management.
The explanation of our organizational chart is included with the chart uploaded at the end of this application.
For 33 years, P4K has provided support and wrap-around services that help promising youth in Northeast and Southeast Omaha reach their full-potential, which is our proudest achievement and highest honor. Additional recent achievements of note include: 1. Holland Heroes Award Recipient | In 2019, Debbie Denbeck, president, received the Holland Children’s Institute Holland Heroes award for our success in youth advancement in the city. 2. Highly Qualified Program Staff | A substantial percentage of the youth who participate in P4K programs represent some of Omaha’s most vulnerable populations. As such, it is critical that our staff is highly trained and well prepared to support youth struggling to overcome past/current trauma, systemic challenges, food/housing insecurities, etc. As such, all P4K direct service staff have been trained in Trauma-Informed Practices, Child Abuse/Neglect Mandatory Reporter training, MENTOR Elements of Effective Practice training and additional continuing education trainings focused on working with diverse youth populations. Additionally, P4K maintains one full-time staff member who is a licensed social worker as a qualified resource to oversee and ensure all student case-management work performed aligns with best practice. 3. DEI Awareness and Advocacy | P4K is a strong community advocate of diversity, equity, and inclusion principles. DEI-focused experiences and education is an integrated part of all program curriculum. into program curriculum. P4K regularly hosts a series of student-led forums focused on promoting DEI initiatives in the community. P4K has a full-time staff member dedicated to leading the agency’s internal and community-wide diversity initiatives and partnerships and oversees the agency’s employee-operated diversity and inclusion committee that reviews all agency messaging and communication to ensure it aligns with DEI standards of best practice. P4K has a library of DEI literature for staff and volunteer access, and annually sponsors one staff member’s participation in a year-long diversity and cultural awareness training program through community organization Inclusive Communities, called LeadDIVERSITY. P4K’s LeadDIVERSITY program graduates have gained exceptional skills training and community connections that continue to facilitate implementation and advancement of P4K’s DEI initiatives. 4. The Nebraska Developing Youth Talent Initiative (DYTI) 2020 Grant Recipient Partner | Through this two-year grant, P4K partnered with CLAAS of Omaha to implement programming that engaged P4K middle school students in hands-on exploration of engineering principles and H3 (high demand, high wage, high skill) Nebraska-based careers. 5. AmeriCorps/AmeriCorps VISTA Approved Service Site | P4K is proud to be an approved service site through an active partnership with the AmeriCorps program that we have maintained for over five years. P4K currently has seven AmeriCorps members and one VISTA member in active service roles with our organization. 6. City of Omaha ARPA Grant Funding Recipient | Our agency is honored to be selected to receive one of the largest ARPA funding grant awards distributed among fifty Omaha nonprofit organizations in July 2022. Awarded funding will be used to implement violence prevention enhancements within our existing College and Career Readiness Program model over the next two years. 7. Organization-wide Pandemic Persistence | In the midst of a global pandemic and countless shutdowns, P4K was able to: a. retain all staff. b. secure federal and local funding to meet the needs of our students. c. secure and manage federal-level grant awards. d. provide programming virtually. e. partner with Omaha Public Schools to provide food to students and their families. f. partner with other non-profits and community funders to provide cleaning supplies to students and their families.
Partnership 4 Kids Transportation
133750.0
133750.0
Combination of capital project and service/program
Proposal Overview | Partnership 4 Kids provides students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12th grade with door-to-door transportation to and from our offsite program experiences. Transportation is the defining factor in whether students, particularly those coming from underserved communities, are able to engage in opportunities such as college tours, leadership workshops, and hands-on career experiences that explore career fields ranging from cutting-edge technology to in-demand trades. National research indicates that the greatest barriers perpetuating the chronic achievement gap for students from low-income households is access to quality out-of-school learning, prohibitive both by the cost of participation and access to transportation. All P4K programming is provided at no charge to our students or their families. Providing free transportation not only ensures students’ access to quality experiences, but also ensures their safety. Location | All P4K programming, support services, and interventions are primarily conducted within sixteen Title I schools from the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) District which are located in North and South Omaha (Fontenelle, Field Club, Gifford Park, Minne Lusa, Sherman, Franklin, McMillan, Monroe, Norris, Lewis & Clark, R.M. Marrs, Benson, Central, North, Northwest, and South). Of the sixteen schools in which P4K programming is offered, twelve lie within the Qualified Census Tract (QCT). It is important to note that of program-enrolled students that attend school outside of the QCT, self-reported data shows that 90.5% live within qualifying zip code and, as a result, are also being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Program Timeline | Below is a snapshot of our plan for the purchasing, insuring, wrapping, parking, and using of two fifteen-passenger vans. March 2023 • Research and identify vehicles for purchase • Purchase two fifteen-passenger vans April 2023 • License and insure vans • Custom wrap vans to promote the P4K mission and brand • Locate and secure parking for vans May – August 2023 • Begin using vans for summer workshops
Partnership 4 Kids (P4K) is respectfully requesting funding support for the purchasing, wrapping, insuring, and parking of two fifteen-passenger vans in the spring of 2023. These vans will enable us to continue providing door-to-door transportation for our students, a critical service. The timeline for the purchase and use of these vans is as follows: March 2023: • Research and identify vehicles for purchase • Purchase two fifteen-passenger vans April 2023: • License vans and insure vans • Wrap vans • Locate and secure parking May – August 2023: • Begin using vans for summer workshops
1.0
Long-Lasting Economic Growth (i.e., a proposal that will foster gainful employment opportunities and financial investment in the area, leading to the creation of generational wealth and widespread economic vitality in North and South Omaha)
Multimodal Transportation (i.e., enable connectivity through driving, biking, taking transit, walking, and rolling) Sustainable Community (i.e., create or enhance housing, services, education, civic uses, recreation, etc.)
Omaha continues to experience high rates of generational poverty in the city’s Northeast and Southeast communities, which has been exacerbated by COVID-19. P4K addresses the community need to serve a population of youth, grades pre-kindergarten through 12, who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Data shows that youth growing up in households with limited financial resources are among those who have been most profoundly affected by the pandemic. By serving this population of youth, P4K provides them with enhanced educational programming and postsecondary/career exposure, thus promoting their role in a sustainable community. Partnership 4 Kids provides critical programming which includes life and job readiness skills, college tours, and career exploration experiences for participating students in our Book Buddy Program (pre-kindergarten through 4th grade), Goal Buddy Program (5th and 6th grade), and College and Career Readiness Program (grades 6-12) These opportunities expose P4K students to what is possible: postsecondary education, professional success, and financial stability. By providing door-to-door transportation, P4K removes a significant barrier to student participation in quality out-of-school learning experiences. After extensive research, we have determined that the most cost-effective, long-term solution to the issue of consistent transportation is to own two fifteen-passenger vans. Currently, P4K owns a single ten-passenger van, and the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the vehicle rental industry—prices have skyrocketed to upwards of $400/vehicle, and the rental availability is in a sharp decline. Additionally, P4K programming takes place after school which means local bus companies are occupied with the transportation of students. The budgeting and planning necessary to secure these rentals further limit the outings we can schedule and when. We spend a significant amount of staff time researching alternate transportation services (sub-contractors) and planning transportation routes and student outings strategically (combining student groups for outings, etc.). By providing the transportation services ourselves, we would maintain this critical service for our students. Additionally, we estimate that each van will be used roughly 190 days out of the year, making the financial benefits of van ownership significant, especially considering the aforementioned price per vehicle rental.
P4K serves students attending school and living in North and South Omaha communities, within qualified census tracts and disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the North Omaha Inventory and Opportunities Memo, unemployment rates in North Omaha are relatively high and poverty rates are persistent. P4K addresses these threats to quality of life by promoting academic persistence and the exploration of postsecondary pathways to financially stable careers. South Omaha has a thriving small business community which complements P4K’s career-focused programming supports and creates opportunities for students to engage in entrepreneurship and practice the skills necessary for entrepreneurial success. Vans would enable us to transport our students to these small businesses for entrepreneurial activities. P4K also promotes students’ pursuit of 2-year degrees/certificate programs and maintains a strong partnership with Metropolitan Community College (MCC), UNO, and other area colleges for all our student program levels, thus increasing the likelihood of more students attending a local college. In addition to our well-established relationship with MCC, vans would enable us to transport students to the college’s various campuses for college visit/exploration opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp decline in students’ social-emotional skills while steadily increasing the threat of mental health issues. P4K programs provide students with social-emotional learning/awareness, facilitate positive peer interactions, and create networks of support. The interventions provided by P4K, particularly those designed in response to COVID-19, are fostering hope in a community of students who really need it.
The purpose of P4K’s programming is to ensure Omaha youth, ages 5-17, who face racial or socioeconomic disparities, are equipped with the resources and motivation to academically persist, actively plan for, and progress toward a future that includes high school graduation, postsecondary education, professional satisfaction, and financial stability. P4K mentors and staff provide support and guidance that is focused on this purpose, engaging juvenile participants in targeted curriculum and opportunities to explore and prepare for higher education and viable career pathways. P4K’s efforts promote long-lasting economic growth in both North and South Omaha. By providing the supports and guidance necessary for our students to achieve academic success and financial stability. One of these critical supports is door-to-door transportation as transportation barriers impact not only attendance but academic persistence. With vans dedicated to student transportation, P4K can remove another barrier to student success and continue to promote their academic engagement.
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
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Our program is specifically designed to level the playing field and ignite a passion for learning, goal setting, and advancement. Due to circumstances beyond their control, the population served by our programming has fewer resources and opportunities for advancement than those living in higher income communities. We work tirelessly to ensure these students have the same access to college campuses, networking opportunities, hands-on career experiences, etc. that are enjoyed by their more affluent peers. We provide the support necessary for these students to pursue postsecondary education and/or secure a career that will elevate them out of poverty. Many of our students enter our program believing that a postsecondary education is simply not an attainable goal due to their circumstances, but the annual increase of postsecondary enrollment rate over the past decade would suggest otherwise. With the proper supports and guidance, our students can achieve anything. The work of Partnership 4 Kids not only impacts the students being directly served by our programming but their families as well. According to PBS Frontline, “children who grow up poor are more likely to be poor as adults. Furthermore, the likelihood increases with each year of poverty that is experienced.” Our programming is proven to help Omaha’s most underserved students achieve financial stability, breaking the cycle of generational poverty. The passion for education that our students develop during their participation in our programming persists throughout their lives and even affects their children. P4K is proud to have served subsequent generations of students like Dr. Monique Cribbs and her son, Cayden. Dr. Cribbs not only completed our program, earning a bachelor’s degree, she recently earned her PhD in educational administration and joined our Board of Directors in 2022—her connection with our program has spanned more than 25 years. Even as an alumna of our program, Dr. Cribbs still had the support of P4K staff and leadership throughout her nine-year doctoral journey. Monique’s story is just one example of the incredible impact P4K’s programming can have on the academic persistence of Omaha’s youth.
Each year, hundreds of young people are positioned to overcome systemic barriers, household challenges, and trauma-induced behaviors by succeeding in their academics and exploring future careers. These students learn and practice skills that will increase their employability, their financial stability and, by extension, the economic stability of their communities. P4K prepares Omaha’s next generation to enter the job market with the confidence and skills to achieve career success. Furthermore, this preparation of Omaha’s next generation invigorates the workforce and stimulates the local economy.
Our programming is not patterned exclusively after one specific evidence/research-based practice, but rather utilizes multiple sources of evidence-based research on which its varied initiatives are based. Further evidence supports the need for student transportation as it is one of the most significant barriers to student participation in out-of-school programs and opportunities. According to John Bergen, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Green Bay, few standalone grants for transportation exist, making it extremely difficult to secure funding for such a critical support (https://youthtoday.org/2018/05/transportation-a-barrier-to-participation-in-after-school-programs/). Research conducted by Pricilla Little and published in “The Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time” has identified six key barriers to student participation in after-school programs, including affordability, family factors, and transportation. Programs often struggle to provide safe transportation for students for several reasons: cost, distance, and lack of transportation. Another significant barrier associated with transportation is safety—oftentimes, parents are hesitant to have their children participate in after-school programming because they do not feel that their children can travel safely to and from their programs. Vans will enable us to combat these barriers to student participation, persistence, and success.
The most significant, measurable, outcome for this project is the reduction in rental and mileage expenses. Financial data can be collected, and comparisons can be made to previous years’ transportation expenses. Additionally, these vans will enable us to increase student access to career and postsecondary tours, interviews, internships, etc. that expand their exposure to viable employment opportunities. We will be able to usher our students out of their comfort zones, introducing them to opportunities beyond the classroom.P4K sees transformational change in participating students and, by extension, the community in which they live. They master new life skills that include positive decision-making, self-advocacy, conflict management, and healthy relationship development. These skills address the concerns that many underserved students must face, including academic challenges, truancy, and a lack of healthy interpersonal relationships. Program participants set concrete goals for college and career success, give back to their community, possess a confidence in their own abilities, and recognize the potential for their postsecondary success. P4K youth work toward their own goal achievement and success throughout the program, in preparation for college and their future careers. By preparing Omaha’s youth for postsecondary life and defining a clear pathway to success, P4K helps students to develop clear goals for their future, thus invigorating Omaha’s economy with an influx of skilled professionals. The return on investment will be great as the Omaha Metro welcomes P4K students to the workforce following their completion of a 2- or 4-year degree, an apprenticeship, or trade school. With focus on their individual success, they also form a community of supportive peers who root for one another and form lifelong bonds. An investment in the College and Career Readiness Program is an investment in the success of our community, elevating some of Omaha’s most vulnerable and underperforming youth through long-term support. This long-term support allows P4K to have a transformative impact on the community by changing not only the students we serve, but their families and future children as well—we can see generational change.
P4K measurement and assessments begin by collecting, recording, and analyzing student, mentor, and program data, including grades, attendance, demographics, and case management notes. All participants are surveyed, and responses are analyzed to track youth progress and for program enhancement and improvement needs. We will be able to measure the impact of our vehicles through the gathering of program attendance data. The evaluation of P4K programming is conducted by our curriculum and evaluation department, consisting of a Director of Program Operations and Program Planning and Impact VISTA member. Partnership 4 Kids has partnered with the University of Nebraska Omaha STEPs (Support and Training for the Evaluation of Programs) Program to develop logic models and measures for all levels of programming. The evaluation team plans to continue this partnership in seeking ongoing training and guidance from the STEPs program. Evaluation results will be used internally to inform curriculum content, case management focus, and tutoring program content. Evaluation results are shared publicly through an annual report.
Not Applicable
Yes
The need being addressed is widespread and cannot be solved by siloed efforts. Therefore, P4K collaborates with many community partners for increased impact. P4K is constantly working to cultivate relationships with community nonprofits, corporations, postsecondary institutes, and volunteers. While P4K does not currently have any community partners for this specific funding request, we are open to exploring/evaluating the potential for collaborations with other local nonprofits or companies for the leasing of our vans based on the results of a risk vs. reward assessment.
Not Applicable
No
Partnership 4 Kids offices in Suite 200 of the Burlington Capital Building at 1004 Farnam Street, Omaha, Nebraska, 68102. The office itself is located just off the Old Market and nestled beside the newly renovated Gene Leahy Mall. P4K annually helps more than 3,000 promising youth from underserved communities in Northeast and Southeast Omaha to reach their full potential. Our pre-kindergarten through 12th grade programming is offered at sixteen Omaha Public Schools. P4K’s target elementary schools include Field Club, Fontenelle, Gifford Park, Franklin, Sherman, and Minne Lusa. Target middle schools include Monroe, McMillan, Lewis & Clark, R.M. Marrs, and Norris. Target high schools include North, Central, South, Benson, and Northwest.
Within one or more QCTs
No
No
No
No
No
Not Applicable
No
Based on our research, we have estimated the purchase of two fifteen-passenger vans to be around $50,000.00/vehicle. Insurance will be about $4,500.00 for the first two years (2023-2024)--in 2025, it will be around $2,250.00. Licensing and tax will cost an initial $8,000.00 (2023), then $300.00 (2024) and $150.00 (2025). In 2023, the wrapping of two vans will be around $10,000.00 total--it will be a one-time expense. We estimate that parking and maintenance will cost $5,000.00 in 2023-2024 and $1,250.00 in 2025. The total of these expenses adds up to a sum of $133,750.00.
Transportation is critical for program success. National research supports that the greatest barriers perpetuating the chronic achievement gap for students from low-income households is access to quality, out-of-school learning; prohibited both by cost of participation and access to transportation. As such, P4K is committed to providing door-to-door transportation for all program outings and experiences for participants. We envision that all grant funding will enable us to purchase, wrap, insure, store, maintain, and operate two fifteen-passenger vans to be used for the transportation of our middle and high school students to all program-related activities and meetings. We estimate the price of vans to be around $50,000.00 each with the cost of wrapping to be about $5,000.00 per van. The cost of parking, insurance, and maintenance are difficult to estimate, though we believe the price of parking to be roughly $75.00 per month.
Yes
Partnership 4 Kids is well-positioned to sustain two fifteen-passenger vans far beyond the grant period due to the financial and program development strategies which we are currently putting in place. Currently, P4K is a Type I supporting organization of the Omaha Community Foundation under section 509(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We are completing eligibility requirements for becoming an independent 501(c)(3), which we anticipate will be finalized later this year. This status will increase our eligibility to apply for additional funding opportunities, strengthening our agency’s financial sustainability. Additionally, transportation is our second highest cost, just behind staff time. Owning two vans would eliminate the need to arrange vehicle rentals and significantly diminish the need to provide mileage reimbursement to staff who, currently, use their personal vehicles for student transportation. P4K’s executive board is also developing new fundraising campaigns to increase revenue. As a future-focused organization, Partnership 4 Kids will remain committed to amplifying our financial assets by consistently increasing the number of grant requests submitted, unique supporters secured, and fundraising campaigns implemented annually.
P4K works aggressively to secure grants from private foundations and corporations, making up the bulk of our annual revenue. Our only government grant is tied to AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps VISTA. AmeriCorps members are critical to the success of our organization. No fees are charged to students or families for participation. Other revenue sources include general donations, in-kind gifts, and a percentage of funds secured through events and fundraising campaigns. Burlington Capital provides a significant in-kind contribution for rent and utilities (secured) while postsecondary institutions, companies, etc. support student programming with transportation, meals, and other expenses (estimated pending based on historical in-kind revenue). There are no other funding sources secured or pending for the purchase of two fifteen-passenger vans as the purchasing, wrapping, and initial insuring of these vans will be a one-time expense.
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Scalability is not applicable to P4K’s purchase of two fifteen-passenger vans for the transportation of students to and from various programming opportunities. It is possible that, over time, we will expand our fleet of vans.
Not Applicable
We do not currently have an organizational and/or personal financial commitment to this proposal. The requested funds would cover all costs associated with the purchasing and wrapping of two vans as well as the initial costs of insuring and storing the vans.
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Data table of uses (breakdown of how the requested funds will be used for your proposal) Organizational Chart