FASTEN News

FASTEN News

Winners of 2006 Partners in Transformation Awards Announced

FASTEN has announced the nine winners of the 2006 Partners in Transformation competition. Cash grants of $10,000, $5000, and $3500 will be awarded to top finalists in each of three categories: Emergency Disaster Response, Long-term Community Recovery Efforts, and Services to “Deep Pockets” of Poverty. Click here for a description of the winning programs.   The formal Awards Ceremony were held in Indianapolis on June 22 as part of a national symposium on “Multi-Sector Partnerships for Community Transformation” sponsored by the Sagamore Institute’s Center on Faith in Communities.

New Topic Launched:  Ex-Offender Reentry

Policy-makers, news analysts, and community activists alike have honed in our prisoner re-entry as a major challenge facing the U.S. Many FBOs have become engaged in serving ex-offenders in recent years, and many more are exploring ways to do so effectively.   FASTEN’s newest programs topic on ex-offender reentry provides dozens of practical, informative resources that can help. Practitioners will find program profiles; how-to manuals; and curricula for life skills, mentoring, and jobs initiatives for ex-offenders as well as helpful background “orientation” materials, sample forms to use in programs, and links to some of the best websites offering information and advice.

FASTEN Now in Spanish
	For ministry leaders needing resources in Spanish, FASTEN now offers some of our content in Spanish at this link.   We will continue to translate more of FASTEN’s articles into Spanish, so be sure to check back regularly to see new additions.

New:  Resources for Substance Abuse Prevention Recovery Programs:
	Check out the scores of new resources now available to FBOs already engaged in, or desiring to launch, programs to assist those struggling with drugs or alcohol. Click PROGRAMS-Substance Abuse to view materials related to intervention, orientation, prevention, treatment, and recovery.

Just Released:
	People of Faith Mentoring Children of Prisoners: A Model Partnership Based on Service and Community. This handbook equips practitioners and public administrators to launch Amachi, an effective model for mentoring children of prisoners by mobilizing church volunteers. You can download this publication from the FASTEN website or purchase the hard copy from the National Crime Prevention Council.

2 New Toolkits Available Now!Through F

Outcome-Based Evaluation: A Training Toolkit for Programs of Faith is a primer that helps FBO leaders to understand the basics of outcome-based evaluation (OBE). This step-by-step tutorial guides program directors through a logical process of identifying program goals, establishing measurement indicators, and collecting data to determine how successful the program was in achieving its targets. How Are We Doing? A Toolkit for Organizational Self-Assessment is an evaluation exercise organization leaders can follow to assess whether their programs and policies are “on track” with their mission and philosophy of ministry.

Toolkits Available Through FASTEN Website:ilable Through F

FASTEN’s Volunteer Toolkit will help your organization effectively manage volunteers. Mentoring Programs Toolkit will aid FBOs working with low-income families. Tutoring Toolkit provides resources and helpful forms for tutoring programs. Resource Kit for Hispanic Faith Leaders will stimulate creative thinking about church-based outreach. Toolkit on Government-FBO Collaboration will assist FBOs in assessing the pro’s and con’s of public funding.

Important Announcement:
	We now have a full listing of conferences and training events of interest to practitioners, public administrators, and private philanthropists are posted on the FASTEN web under the “conferences/events” tab on the home page. Click here to see our comprehensive list of events.