Starfish Circle

Check this out: Failing School System Drives Increased Crime in Santa Clara County

According to the San Jose Mercury News there have been 12 homicides in the past 7 weeks. The majority were in District 2 – Eastside and downtown.  Community Crime Prevention Associates reports nearly 5,000 students have dropped out of San Jose high schools in the last 2 years.  In Santa Clara County, the dropout rate is soaring – 215% increase since 2002 in San Jose - and violence is on the rise. 

Studies show that when graduation rates rise, violent crime goes down.  We cannot afford to continue losing our young people – San Jose lost $34 Million in ADA due to dropouts last year for a total of $122 Million over the past 5 years.  Studies show that a student who drops out of school and ends up in a life of crime, costs society $2.1 million in his/her lifetime.

Five hundred (500+) concerned community members will gather on Tuesday, April 1, 7:00-8:30 pm at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 2020 E. San Antonio St., San Jose, 95116 to demand the candidates for District 2 County Supervisor commit to bold leadership to stop the violence and save lives through great schools.  PACT grassroots community and faith leaders will challenge SCC District 2 Supervisor candidates to make it their top priority to stop the violence and save lives by promoting and demanding great schools for all kids.

Why does this matter?:   

• All children deserve excellent public schools regardless of the neighborhoods where they live and their families’ socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. 
• All residents need to live in safe communities.
• We have a problem: Chronically failing schools driving crime, AND we have solutions: national, research-based best practices are producing impressive results right here in East San Jose.
• Our children and our community need bold leadership from public officials at all levels to grow the success and stop the failure. 

Event Organized by: People Acting in Community Together (PACT) is a multi-ethnic, interfaith organization representing 19 congregations and 50,000 families in Santa Clara County.

Bone Marrow Drive -April 19th

Mark you calendars! Next month, the women of Silicon Valley Moms Blog are hosting a bone marrow donor drive. 

We are all super busy but this really shouldn't take that long. No needles, just a quick swab of your cheek.  This is even more important for folks of color, as finding a bone marrow donor is close to impossible.  Think now about if your are of mixed heritage - you got it, the chances are even slimmer.  If you can't go to this event, make an appointment or stop by a booth next time you see a drive happening near you.   Jill, one of th co-founders of SV Moms Blog has written her story and that of her mother's battle with Leukemia. She is one of the lucky ones, who will be receiving a transplant soon. There are many more waiting for someone like you.

You can help give the gift of life....

• Date:  Saturday, April 19, 2008
• Location:  95 Crescent Drive, Palo Alto, CA  94301 (right near highway 101)
• Time:  9:00am to 3:30pm
• To be eligible to donate, you must be between the ages of 18 to 60.

Project Cornerstone's Asset Champions Breakfast

Project Cornerstone hosted 900 people at the Fairmont hotel for it's 5th Annual Asset Champions breakfast. Radio personalilty Nurse Rona Renner served as keynote, with San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis and Gunderson High School senior Misha served as emcees.

The coffee was flowing and mood was lively for an early morning event. Kaiser Permanente's Education Theatre Program provided entertainment with a vignette from their award winning traveling group which teaches kids how to avoid peer pressure, make good decisions about their health and improve their neighborhoods.

Most importantly, Project Cornerstone honored several individuals and groups for their stellar work to ensure that young people thrive. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

Community Vales Youth: City of Milpitas Youth Program Team
Caring School Climate - Elementary School: Forest Hill School
Caring SChool Climate- Middle School: Union Middle School
Caring School Climate - High School: Ann Sobrato High School
Positive Peer Influence - Daniel Katz
Positive Cultural Identity - Alum Rock Counseling Center
Adult Role Model - So"o Poumele, Catholic Charities Washington United Youth Center

Craig's List Foundation Boot Camp Roundup

Just got back from the Craig's List Foundation's Boot Camp, where 1500 mostly Bay Area social change makers gathered at UC Berkeley to get inspired, learn more about the nonprofit field and network. If you have not been before, I highly recommend it. One thing in particular, the folks that attended were a good mix of people entering the field and veterans looking for new inspiration. There were more vendors than I have seen at a non profit conference in a while. I wonder if that means we are coming out of the Internet Bubble recession - hmmm or rather that the Craig's list folks were better at partnership building outside the non profit circle than most. I think some combination of both.

I learned quite a bit, so much that many warrant thier own posts, so here are a few highlights of my take aways from today:
* Wiser Earth is building a meta site that is trying to capture info on all the world's nonprofits in one place - no smal task. Think wikipedia on the non-profit sector worldwide.
* Change.org launched earlier this year , is hoping to be the Facebook for nonprofits and the socially conscious.
* Ami Dar, founder of Idealist, on refelcting back on the trials and tribulations of being a non profit executive director/founder reminded us that "It is all about the money. If you thought you were going to get out of thinking about money by working in a non profit, you were wrong!" He also emphasized hiring only "people you like" afterall you sometime spend more time with your co-workers than your loved ones. (Great advice Ami!)
*The nonprofit sector as a whole is in big trouble if we don't get a handle on retention and recruitment of talented staff. One session focused on the challenges that lie ahead and explored a "Leadership Deficit". By the amount of interest and questions that remained untouched by the panel, it is clear this is a topic worth a whole dedicated conference.
* Allen Gunn of Aspiration and speaker of the "Weaving the Internet into Your Non profit Strategy: Best Practices for Communicating, Campaigning, and Organizing" session knows his stuff. More importanly, he is hilarious and shared his secret dream to open up a "geek bar" and share of bit of his comedy stylings! Sign me up!

It was an inspiring day! I will blog more details later.