Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center

Dear Joyful Friends, Supporters and Partners,

Since announcing last week in our e-newsletter and various emails that Joyful Harvest is on its last financial legs and may have to close at the end of June — and even more so since the Portland Press Herald and Journal Tribune covered our plight — people have asked if this decision is final and if there is anything that can be done.

In short: No, the decision does not have to be final. However, based off the figures available across our three operating bank accounts as of Wednesday, April 24 (total of approximately $8677), with bi weekly payroll expenses alone of $2000 every two weeks for three staff members, it was clear to both me as the executive director and the board of directors that we were at the end of the road if sustainable support didn’t come through soon. Looking ahead, the only guaranteed funds we have for this year is the remaining $1000 or so from our Community Development Block grant and the next installment of $3750 from our 2013 grant from the United Way grant (a total of $13,800 this year) which is paid out in quarterly installments. We have three grant applications that we are awaiting decisions on, but those decisions will not be made until late June at the earliest. Even if all three of those grants were funded in full, we would only have $16,000 and as an experienced grant writer, my educated guess based off discussions with two of the grant makers is that our odds for full funding were less than 50%. In part because of our ongoing struggle to get the community itself to support our work on a consistent basis.

Hence our decision to announce our planned closure for June 30, 2013. By making the decision now rather than waiting until late June when we would effectively have no more money to operate, we wanted our service partners, families and staff members to have enough time to plan for the closure. Or to help us stay open.

That’s because Joyful Harvest doesn’t have to close if we can secure a commitment from a minimum of 275 people to each give a recurring monthly gift of $20 or an annual gift of $240. That means the cost to keep Joyful open breaks down to less than 70 cents a day!

We DON’T have to close down…

…IF the community rallies behind us.

This organization has grown during my more than four years at the helm thanks to people at Joyful Harvest giving more time than they are paid for, thanks to the generosity of a small number of key business leaders and philanthropists, plus my ability to secure a number of grants beyond the United Way funding we receive (which, while it has been a reliable and predictable source of support, covers less than a fifth of our expenses).

We aren’t government-funded. We don’t have services that we can bill to local agencies, hospitals, Medicare or anyone else. We don’t have anything we can sell. We provide a community space for local kids whose families don’t have the resources to otherwise occupy them.

As a community-based organization, we need community support. Ideally, monthly pledges from local people. It is a point we have made again and again, but we have very few people who are willing to give small amounts regularly. We receive less than $200 a month from regular donors and several of those regular monthly givers are Joyful Harvest board members.

Now, you could argue that with Joyful Harvest balanced on the shaky edge of a cliff that your support now doesn’t matter.

But it DOES.

If enough people stepped up between now and the end of May, we would be a sustainable, fully-funded organization where grant funding would not be seen as the sole support but rather the side dishes that allow us to focus on fine tuning our programming to better meet the needs of the community. Unlike our present state where grants provide the bulk of funding, which is never sustainable long term.

Joyful Harvest has been a community-based center that has never had a broad base of community support. Help to change that now and keep the program going independently or at least help it stay alive long enough to locate a larger organization that can take over our work. Either way, you’ll be helping kids who’ve been disappointed enough by life and circumstances beyond their control, and you’ll be strengthening your communities.

For too long, people have assumed that charitable foundations, the government, a few rich people or someone else will take up the burden. But small steps from a lot of people will do more than any of those others can. Change begins with people, and we are asking you to help, and to help convince others to support the mission of Joyful Harvest.

The center doesn’t have to close.

It may be in critical condition, but it’s not dead yet.

Please don’t give up on it, or the kids and families we serve.

Shay Stewart-Bouley

Executive Director

Our fall fundraising goal is $10,000. As we all know in these trying times, when the cost of everything has gone up and money is scarce, places like Joyful Harvest are even more critical to our children. Unfortunately, the vast majority of families that we serve are unable to make any contribution to our center. So we ask you, friends and supporters to help us reach our goal and to make it fun, Catherine “Cat” Anglea has offered to dye her hair blue if we reach our goal. So help Biddeford kids continue to have their safe space and let’s turn Cat blue!

FMI: Call the center (207) 286-9105

We just wrapped up our first month of the after school program and while our Program Coordinator is still tallying the figures, it looks like kids are indeed dropping into Joyful.  September was also the first month of the extended programming for teens from 5:00-7:00pm Monday-Thursday, teens have been slow to come in but once they drop in,  they are returning.  All teens 13 and up are welcome to drop in, remember there is never a charge for our programming but certain programs do require income verification and all programs require that parents complete our registration form. FMI call (207) 286-9105

The after-school program is open! The regular after-school program is open Monday-Thursday 2:30-5:00pm for kids 7-17 and we have extended hours this year from 5:00-7:00pm for teens 13-17. As usual there is no cost for any our programming, we do require that a completed registration form be submitted and the teen program does require that parents document their income as the extended teen programming is City of Biddeford Community Development Block Grant Assisted Project.

FMI: 286-9105 or stop by Monday-Thursday 2:00pm-7:00pm 128 Main Street.

Dear Friends of Joyful Harvest,

As a grassroots-level, faith-based agency committed to ensuring access to safe spaces for kids and teens during out-of-school time, we have always struggled with the challenge of maintaining adequate resources for local youth in Biddeford. Due to our humble beginnings as a seed church for the American Baptist Churches of Maine and later our transformation to a community center, we have always had deep ties with faith communities that, in the past, have been able to support our work financially.

However, as the economic crisis continues, that support has waned at a time when we are seeing more youth in need of healthy and supportive spaces when they are not in school. Youth need to be safe, regardless of the economic climate. Programming at Joyful Harvest gives local youth not only a secure place to be after school and in the summer but also affords access to enriching activities such as Art Van and Girl Scouts, as well as practical support such as snacks after school and a hot lunch during the summer. Joyful Harvest also works to build deep connections with youth and to assist them in becoming active members in their community. Joyful kids over the years have attended public hearings, have helped clean their streets and most recently have adopted a local playground that younger Joyful kids play at daily. Joyful youth create change in the world and we are thankful to be the incubator for that change.

Until two years ago, Joyful Harvest relied exclusively on volunteers to run these programs, but as the level of youth in need of our services has increased, that model (which once allowed us to keep our operating cost low)is no longer is safe or effective. Last year Joyful Harvest provided services to over 400 people on one of the smallest program budgets in the area at well under $100,000!  Yet, even in hiring paid staff to work along with volunteers, we still face challenges.

We are facing the very real prospect that we may have to shut down our summer program on July 31, 2012, thus ending access to snacks, lunches, activities and caring adults for Biddeford youth many weeks before school begins again. In just the two weeks that the program has been open since July 2, more than 200 meals have been served, art has been created, gardens have been tended, playgrounds have been cleaned and connections have deepened. However, a $9,000 budget deficit threatens to end the summer program for the many Biddeford youth who consider Joyful Harvest their summer safe space. General donations while slowly increasing (almost $12,000) simply are not enough to keep pace with the increase in youth utilizing our programming and associated increased costs. We started the year with a very healthy reserve for an agency of our size, but slow growth in giving combined with the loss of longtime support via the City of Biddeford have created a crisis. At the moment, despite the summer program being in jeopardy, our flagship program (the after-school program) is not in jeopardy, though clearly we need to see an increase in giving or that might be at risk as well at some point.

We have always been proud of how much we accomplish with so little and truly feel that our ability to do so speaks to the incredible and passionate faith of all involved here at Joyful Harvest. Our ability to continue to serve the most vulnerable among us this summer depends on you. We need your help—and quickly—to ensure that the summer program can continue until the end of summer. We are asking that you make a contribution to ensure that Biddeford youth have a safe place to engage with loving and supportive adults this summer. Won’t you make a donation to the Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center today?

Sincerely,

Catherine Janson (Board Chair) and Shay Stewart-Bouley, M.Ed (Executive Director)

Thanks to a partnership with Partners for a Hunger Free York County, we will be offering a comprehensive gardening program starting Monday May 21, 2012 and running through the summer. The gardening program will be overseen by The University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension Master Gardener’s Volunteer Program. The site that we will be using is off-site but in walking distance of Joyful Harvest, gardening days are Monday & Wednesday 3:30-4:45pm for the remainder of the school year and Monday & Wednesdays 10:00am-12:00pm during the summer program. On garden days that is the only programming that we are offering and if kids wish to participate they must be at the center no later than 3:30pm as we must walk over to the garden site. Kids will be supervised by Joyful Harvest staff & volunteers but gardening education is being conducted by the Master Gardeners. This is a great program and a great way for any child to learn all about gardening. There is no special registration needed for this program, any child currently enrolled in the after school program is welcome to attend. If a child is not enrolled stop in any day Mon-Thur 2:00pm to 5:00pm to pick up a registration form.

We are pretty well settled in our new home and loving it! The space is truly starting to feel like home though as the weather warms up, we do face the challenge of easily accessible green space to ensure the kids are getting enough fresh air but we walk in faith that green space will present itself. It’s been amazing to see so many new faces at Joyful Harvest, kids who did not realize there was a free place to go after school that they can walk to. As our regular volunteers have taken to saying, so many new kids are coming that it’s hard to keep up with everyone’s name! Truly a great problem to have!

However with our new space filled with new kids and planning for summer in full swing, we are faced with the uncomfortable truth that financial giving to Joyful is down. We strive to be wise stewards of the resources that we have, we offer year round programming that reaches hundreds every year (our numbers have grown for the past 3 years straight) on a budget of roughly $60,000 a year! We currently only employ 2 part time employees, our Executive Director who works 25 hours a week (and most weeks donates a minimum of 10 hours a week) and the after school coordinator who works 12-20 hours a week. We have one volunteer who assists 2 days a week and receives a small stipend to cover transportation costs and the rest of the staffing is volunteers! Wonderful community volunteers as well as students from the University of New England who freely donate their time.

Yet this model of heavy reliance on volunteers is not sustainable with the growth we are seeing in the center and specifically for the summer when there are no students to assist us. To run the summer program we must hire 2 employees to work July 2-August 24. Our summer program provides a daily enrichment activity as well as a nutritious hot lunch each and every day! To staff the summer program will cost $5600, which based off last year’s enrollment breaks down to $133 per child! A full summer of programming 5 days a week that includes a meal for $133 per child is unheard of!

People often ask do state budget cuts affect Joyful Harvest, directly they don’t but indirectly they do. As funding is slashed for many youth related programs, there is a shortage of safe spaces for youth and as a result we are seeing more kids as area social workers are referring more kids to Joyful Harvest. We are grateful for the chance to be that safe space for many but it does require assistance.

Won’t you consider sponsoring one child this summer? It’s only $133 and we do offer online giving for your convenience.

Joyful Harvest will once again offer summer programming starting July 2 and ending August 24. The program will run Monday-Friday 9:30am to 12:45pm Monday-Friday.  A healthy hot lunch as part of the USDA/Maine Department of Education’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) will be available as well as a small morning snack.

This summer we will be focused on learning about gardening and making the connection between what we grow and healthy eating habits. This summer’s garden program will be held on Elm Street and will be supervised by volunteers from the Master Gardener’s program in conjunction with staff from Joyful Harvest.

Applications for the summer program will be available by early June, the tentative schedule is as follows:

Monday: Gardening

Tuesday: Literacy and library visits

Wednesday: Gardening

Thursday: Art Van (morning program for all ages, afternoon program for tweens & teens)

Friday: Nutrition and Pierson Lane Playground Clean-Up

Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center is a low barrier agency, to get your child involved in any of our programming, all you need to do is stop in during center hours and fill out an application. Joyful Harvest provides a drop in after-school program for youth 7-17, Monday-Thursday 2:30-5:00pm. Every day we have a scheduled activity as well as homework assistance and a healthy snack supervised by caring adults who have all undergone a criminal background check.FMI call us 286-9105 or email joyfull@gwi.net

The schedule for the remainder of the school year is as follows:

Month of April

Mondays: Stories with Barbara

Tuesday: Art Van (after-school programming 4-5pm) and a teen Art Van group 5:00-6:30pm

Wednesday: In house activity with input from the kids

Thursday: Art with Frankie

May/June

Monday: Gardening with Master Gardeners and Partners for a Hunger Free York County 3:30-4:45 (off-site)

Tuesday: Art Van (after-school programming 4-5pm) and a teen Art Van group 5:00-6:30pm

Wednesday: Gardening with Master Gardeners and Partners for a Hunger Free York County 3:30-4:45 (off-site)

Thursday: Art with Frankie and Park Time (either at Mechanic’s or Shevnell Park)

As time allows some weeks Nancy from the U-Maine Extension program will join us for a nutrition/cooking class

Thanks to a partnership with Literacy Volunteers of Greater Saco-Biddeford, we will be offering ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) classes at Joyful Harvest starting Tuesday March 27, 2012 3:30-5:00pm. This is a pilot project that based on how successful it is may be continued long-term, we are responding to the increasing diversity in the area and at Joyful Harvest by offering this class to adults 18 and over at the same time as our after-school program.  Interested parties can contact the center for more details and to sign up (207) 286-9105 joyfull@gwi.net