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FASTEN Newsletter - February 2005

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February, 2005

New Resources for FBOs Engaged in Substance Abuse Prevention/Recovery Programs

        

A 5th grader in your after-school program tells his tutor that he’s concerned about his friend who’s been sniffing inhalants to get high. A mother visits your community center, explaining that her teenage daughter has just been released from an alcohol rehab program, and wants to know how you can assist her in helping her daughter to stay on the straight and narrow. You discover three weeks into your job-training program that one of your participants hasn’t really licked his drug addiction. These are the kinds of realities many faith-based practitioners face daily. Whether your organization already is engaged in providing some kind of outreach related to substance abuse prevention or recovery, or whether your ministry simply “bumps up” against these kinds of issues in the course of your community work, FASTEN can help.

 

We have just posted over 130 practical, educational resources on FASTEN that will orient you to the substance abuse issue, acquaint you with models and curricula for prevention and recovery programs, and show you how to launch, sustain, and evaluate new programs. These materials were gathered over the course of months of research and have been reviewed by veteran practitioners to ensure that they are accessible and relevant. We have materials specifically aimed at Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim faith institutions. You will find materials devoted to both youth and adult ministry, as well as some materials designed especially for African-American participants. Click here and check out these great new resources!

   

Upcoming Training Opportunities

 

The Alcoholics Victorious Annual Conference will be held April 1-3, 2005 at the Avant Ministries Center in Kansas City, MO.

 

The Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons and Significant Others New York retreat is taking place May 6-8, 2005 in Swan Lake, New York.

 

New FASTEN Case Study: Staying in School: How Two Faith-Based Initiatives in Phoenix are Keeping High-Risk Teens on the Path to Success

 

FASTEN Editorial Director Amy Sherman tells the stories of the “I Can Do It” mentor/tutor program (which partners the faith-based nonprofit, Neighborhood Ministries, with over 30 public schools) and New Beginnings Church’s charter high school, James Sandoval Prep, in this fascinating case study. The report documents the background of these programs, describes the challenges they overcame, and draws lessons learned for other FBOs that want to work effectively with high-risk Latino youth.

 

High school drop-out rates are higher for Hispanics and Native Americans than for any other ethnic group in America. According to the U.S. Department of Education, nearly 43 percent of Hispanic youth fail to graduate high school. In Phoenix, the numbers are even worse in some of the inner-city schools.

 

Two initiatives in that sunny city, however, are achieving success with some of these high-risk teens. One is a faith-based nonprofit partnering with public schools in an impressive, multi-faceted, stay-in-school program. The other is a church-sponsored charter school named for one of the city’s more highly respected public school administrators….click here to read the rest of the case study 

 

FASTEN
Sharing Knowledge, Strengthening Connections, Improving Outcomes

  • U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives Holds Discussion on Prisoner Re-Entry

    As part of the USCM’s annual Winter Meeting in January, Mayor Street from Philadelphia and Mayor Diaz from Miami co-chaired a discussion of the role of FBOs in prisoner re-entry programs. Mayors also heard perspectives from frontline practitioners such as Julio Mendina from Exodus Transitional Housing. Click here to read more.


     

  • FASTEN to Launch New Topic: Responding to Human Trafficking

    FASTEN’s Web team has collected and edited several dozen educational materials to inform and equip FBOs and congregations to understand and respond effectively to the problem of human trafficking. Materials will be available on the site by late March 2005.


     

  • "Partners in Transformation” Contest—Get Your Application in Before April 1, 2005!

    Don’t miss out on the chance to win $5000 and public recognition for your faith-based collaborative program.

     
     

Fundraising Tip

 

  • Learn the ins/outs and pros/cons of earned income venturing at a one-day training event on March 7, 2005 in New York City, sponsored by The Foundation Center. The instructors are Cynthia Massarsky and Samantha Beinhacker of the highly regarded Yale School of Management’s Annual Business Plan Competition for Nonprofit Organizations.

 

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