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Local Nonprofit Bulletin (4.29.22)

Local Nonprofit Bulletin
4.29.22

Philanthropic resources, news from small nonprofits in the DMV, upcoming events, and a roundup of volunteer opportunities! Have questions or an opportunity you want featured? Reach out to Amanda, our Communications and Marketing Coordinator, for shoutouts and collaborations!

International Workers’ Day

This Sunday is International Workers’ Day, a day that both commemorates the class and labor struggles that took place around the world in the 19th century and recognizes the important contributions of the working class to society. It was created in support of the legal establishment of the eight-hour workday, one of many workers’ rights won because of decades of labor strikes and organizing by the working class.

Learn more about the history and significance of this day and connect to labor and economic justice efforts right here in the DMV region:

  • Tenants and Workers United, which organizes low-income communities of color to build power, win changes, and advance social justice across Northern Virginia.
  • Jews United for Justice, a grassroots community that seeks to repair the world by working locally for social, racial, and economic justice.
  • Progressive Maryland, a statewide nonprofit advocacy organization promoting racial, social, economic, and environmental justice through grassroots organizing, public education, and legislative advocacy.

Find more local nonprofits involved with justice programs, employment, and civic engagement on the Catalogue website!

Shoutouts

Congratulations to Patrice Sulton, Founder and Executive Director of the DC Justice Lab, for being selected to be one of Echoing Green’s spring 2022 Fellows!

“Hailstork and Martin have created a requiem that feels alive and has only just taken its first breaths,” Michael Andor Brodeur wrote about National Philharmonic’s “A Knee on the Neck” in the Washington Post. “It has something to say about the immensity and intimacy of pain – and we owe one another as Americans to listen.”

Sonia Su, Founder and Executive Director of Kits to Heart, and one of our inaugural Grassroots Accelerator Program participants, was recently featured on ABC7!

St. Ann’s Center was featured in an article by the National Catholic Register. As the author Lauretta Brown wrote, “Sister Mary emphasized that the center is meant to feel like a community and underscored that the women are treated with love and respect.”

If you’re between the ages of 21-26 and passionate about getting into the justice game for the long haul, apply now to be part of Avodah’s ’22-’23 Jewish Service Corps cohort!

“The need for rental support continues as evidenced by our own Department of Housing and Community Development,” Shannon Mouton, Executive Director of Laurel Advocacy & Referral Services (LARS), stated in her testimony to the Prince George’s County Council in support of the Annual Action Plan for Housing and Community Development (FY23). “And while LARS and other community partners cannot hope to close the gap, we are certain that we can help fill-in a portion of it, as we have always done.”

The Children’s Science Center Lab joined The Arc of Loudoun and HGA to present at the Virginia Association of Museums Annual Conference! “Prioritizing Museum Accessibility: Challenges and Opportunities” covered best practices for accessibility and shared a case study about the Children’s Science Center Lab’s partnership with the Arc of Loudoun. “Many things we put in place to be more accessible don’t just make a better program for people with disabilities, they make a better program for everyone,” shared Noelle Russell, a STEM Educator at the Lab.

The Human Trafficking Legal Center recently celebrated two significant decisions in the federal courts. In the first case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower district court decision, ruling that a lawsuit brought by several Cuban doctors against the Pan American Health Organization may continue. In the second case, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for a group of Mexican nationals who alleged that they had been trafficked into forced labor on a dairy farm in Idaho, establishing an important new precedent.

Events

April 30 and May 1 | On Stage at Joe’s presents: Nanay by Lauren DeVera
April 30 – May 7 | DC Funk Parade
April 30 and May 7, 1:00 – 3:00 PM | Mural-Making with Mia Duvall by Project Create and Bridge District DC
May 3, 5:30 – 7:30 PM | Spring 2022 One World Challenge
May 10, 6:45 – 8:15 PM | Food for the Body and Soul: Advocating for Community through Culinary Traditions
May 11, 6:00 – 8:00 PM | St. Ann’s Center’s Hope Blossoms
May 12, 6:00 – 8:00 PM | Join Jews United for Justice and its partners at the MORE People’s Forum
May 14, 8:00 AM | Community Youth Advance presents A Mother’s Love Family 5K
May 14, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM | Soulfull Spring Fest
May 15 | CASA/Prince George’s County presents Changing Children’s Stories: 20th Anniversary Event
May 18 | Calvary Women’s Services’ Hope Awards Dinner
May 18, 6:30 – 8:30 PM | Jubilee JumpStart’s 2022 Heroes Ball
May 19, 7:00 – 10:00 PM | Britepaths’ Artful Living: Connected
May 21, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM | C&O Canal Trust’s National Kids to Parks Day
May 22 | KID Museum’s Grand Opening at Bethesda Metro Center
May 24, 6:00 PM | DC SCORES Our Words Our City
June 5 | A Wider Circle’s Neighbor to Neighbor Day
June 7-9 | Community Family Life Services’ MORE THAN Mother: Intersectional Identities of Moms in Crisis
June 9, 6:30 – 8:30 PM | Hamkae Center’s Pursuing Our Dreams Fundraiser

Volunteer

Are you a golf lover? So What Else is looking for volunteers for the Wells Fargo Championship from May 4th to May 8th in Potomac, Maryland. Sign up for one or all of their three shifts between 7:00 AM – 12:30 PM, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM, or 12:00 – 6:00 PM by emailing them with the date and time you’d like to volunteer.

Have a passion for serving the youth in your community? Apply to volunteer or mentor with BUILD!

Leveling the Playing Field works every day to ensure that every child has access to during and out of school time sports activities no matter what their economic situation is. Search their volunteer site for available opportunities.

CASA volunteers are trained advocates for neglected and abused children in the foster care court system. Learn more at CASA/Prince George’s County’s next monthly informational session on May 26!

Resources

Giving Dashboard | Urban Institute

The Urban Institute has collected and organized data on giving from leading nonprofit researchers, practitioners and service providers, and some governmental sources into a giving dashboard that provides a snapshot of the many ways Americans give.

“Strengthening State and Local Economies in Partnership with Nonprofits: Principles, Recommendations, and Models for Investing Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds”?| National Council of Nonprofits

Nonprofit leaders around the country have organized various efforts to include charitable nonprofits in relief and recovery investments of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds resources. This document highlights initiatives from 15 state associations of nonprofits and illustrates their collective efforts.

Disability Justice: An Audit Tool | Northwest Health Foundation

Written by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and envisioned by Stacey Park Milbern and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, this tool is aimed at helping Black, Indigenous, and POC-led organizations examine where they’re at in practicing disability justice, and where they want to learn and grow.

Social Justice Investing Webinar Series | Just Futures and Justice Funders

As the problems of extractive capitalism have become increasingly evident, the field of responsible investing has grown exponentially over the last several decades. Join Just Futures and Justice Funders for a 3-part webinar series as they explore the growing field of social justice investing.

Dreaming Out Loud: Moving Beyond Representation Towards Transformation

Ahead of Spring Fest 2022 on April 23, the Catalogue team spoke with Dreaming Out Loud’s Founder and Executive Director Christopher Bradshaw and Operations Director Zachari Curtis about how they’re building a healthy, equitable food system. A Black-led Farm and Food Hub, Dreaming Out Loud builds supportive infrastructure and relationships on a grassroots level and is a vocal advocate for creating economic opportunities for our most marginalized communities through food.

Photo of Dreaming Out Loud's 2021 Spring Fest depicting people outside on an urban farm, with a few riding horses and others playing music

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Catalogue: What led you to establish and be involved with Dreaming Out Loud?

Christopher: I had started an after-school program and that’s where we noticed a lot of issues around food in terms of healthy food access. It got me thinking more systemically to figure out ways in which we can intervene. The first intervention was a farmers’ market. I saw that farmers needed support – the community couldn’t afford price points that, say, first-generation Mexican-American farmers needed, and these farmers didn’t have access to markets in more affluent neighborhoods. The question was around why the structural arrangement wasn’t advantageous to anyone operating in the food system who wanted food or who wanted to start a food business. There were opportunities to change the food system for the better in ways that would benefit communities impacted by food apartheid.

Zachari: I’ve known Chris since before I worked with Dreaming Out Loud. We were both in a coalition I ran called Healthy Affordable Food for All. I was also an urban farmer, and I was really looking for more innovative business models. Chris was hunting for a supply chain manager for a food hub, an idea we’d talked about years before. I applied and my pitch was basically about the values that mattered, the fact that I understood that individuals are rarely isolated entities if they’re successful. There are structures and political movements that typically undergird what we think of as success.

Catalogue: How have things changed in the DC food economy since Dreaming Out Loud was started?

Christopher: More folks are working towards using food as a lens to examine different issues around social justice and a lot more folks are afforded opportunities as a result of policy changes. But these take time to change. We continue to see that ownership and cost structure is driven by speculative development, which creates unequal access for food entrepreneurs and communities.

Zachari: In classic, well-meaning form, I think the community is picking up on the popularity of equity, on the feel-goodness of it, but we aren’t at the point where we can wrestle with the differences between communities, between people who still haven’t been repaired from 256 years of chattel slavery, 150 years of Jim Crow segregation and mass incarceration.

I do a fair amount of policy work and it definitely feels like a win that there are funding initiatives that talk about equity and inclusion, but I think there are many communities that have benefited from affirmative actions in a way that the most deeply affected – those descended from chattel slavery – are still blocked from accessing.

Catalogue:?What are some of the challenges that Dreaming Out Loud continues to grapple with?

Zachari: Our food hub is still not out of the woods in terms of the challenges of operating in a space that’s dominated by the wealthy and by mostly white wealth. We’re working with a population that’s severely generationally under-capitalized and facing economic attacks, and we don’t necessarily have a whole coalition of folks speaking that same language.

We were in a moment during the pandemic with a mild uptick of support for organizations like ours who’ve been speaking very boldly about the need for transformative racial justice, reparations, and other things. But I’ll be honest – things are cooling off. People are done with COVID, done with thinking about the economy as staggered, as tiered. It’s interesting to see what conversations will be had in light of the deepening inflation and joblessness, and the deepening despair of most working-class communities in the United States.

 

Photo of two people at a farmers market buying and selling fresh produce

Catalogue: How does Dreaming Out Loud advocate for BIPOC farmers and food producers in creating a more equitable food system?

Christopher: We are made up of, and deeply situated within, Black communities that have long been actors in the food system historically, but who have been excluded from the economic benefits. We see what the gaps and challenges are, which leads us to be able to advocate in a way that’s authentic to our own individual and collective experiences, and to the folks who we’ve worked to be impactful on behalf of.

We’re vertically integrated, so we touch multiple points along the food system. One vein of our advocacy might be advocating for labor rights and elevating the concerns and needs of workers. For instance, we worked with ONE DC to organize a food system worker panel. We also use our Black Farm CSA newsletter as an advocacy portal to communicate advocacy opportunities to folks signed up for the CSA. And we’ve included opportunities from other groups like Garfield Terrace, who were doing an action to get the DC Housing Authority to respond to conditions within their building, so we’re power-building in that way.

I feel that some of the progress we’ve made system-wide is now coming to fruition. Nourish DC is one of the things we’ve moved forward. It’s a fund aimed at resourcing underrepresented and marginalized community members in funding their food businesses. We’re part of that collaborative, led by Capital Impact Partners, alongside the Washington Area Community Investment Fund, Latino Economic Development Center, and EatsPlace. $400,000 has been issued in catalytic grants to food makers and we’re slated to have another round of this. It’s impactful and I’m really excited.

Zachari: There’s a way the conversation can get reduced to food access alone or reduced to conversations about increasing the welfare state, about representational issues – “Which brown face are we putting where on what label or logo?” Seldom are there distinctly different conversations about how many contracts were given to Black-owned businesses and how much of this recovery money actually made it to who it was supposed to make it to.

In the wake of a declared crisis, often, it’s very important to watch the money, to watch the emergency contracts get approved. There are deeply entrenched race-neutral barriers at this point. We should actually be talking in the language of policy lineage because nobody’s out there explicitly using vitriol to exclude people – it’s really in the lane of the fine print of business and in the fine print of policy or protocol or eligibility or non-eligibility.

We talk to our own peers and other people who descend from this policy lineage, and we say, “Your failure’s not your fault. We are not deficient or less business-savvy.” We talk to them about the municipality or state agency that’s going to place an agreement for local food purchasing with the intent to procure from socially disadvantaged farmers, so we can hold to it. There are just so many escape hatches and loopholes that are available to not address this lineage. So, participation and data gathering are important.

Being clear with our messaging is important, as well. There should be a hundred more Dreaming Out Louds and there’s no way I’m the only person from this lineage with this idea, but it’s very difficult to do the work we do because of systemic inequalities.

Dreaming Out Loud isn’t the government. Unfortunately, we’ve taken the role of government because of the vacuum there. We’re providing discounts at our farmers’ markets for produce that we purchased at an above-market rate because those farmers also need fair prices. No nonprofit or business can sustain this in a way that the government can. I think it’s consistently clear that there’s, in general, no will to allow Black American communities to thrive, no will to allow working-class communities to thrive. We’re not giving people what they need to get through this pandemic and this economic downturn.

Catalogue: How can people and organizations support Dreaming Out Loud’s mission and work?

Christopher: There are a lot of ways people can plug in. Dreaming Out Loud is a food hub, social enterprise, and food business ourselves. Folks can sign up to receive a CSA share. We have an incredible line of soup and granola. Offices that prioritize employee wellness can promote an office CSA to HR. Food businesses can buy from our wholesale list, which is a curated list of products from local and regional farmers that we can connect your business to.

Zachari: Our Food Hub employs people up and down the supply chain. We hire DC residents and train them – there’s no industry in DC giving people this type of experience and this type of job.

Chris: is one of the incredible ways to bring value beyond a donation that helps move our mission forward.

People can volunteer at The Farm at Kelly Miller. Follow what we’re doing with the DC Food Policy Council. Sign up for our newsletter for upcoming advocacy opportunities – we foresee lots of this with the Farm Bill, such as calling your Senator or Congressperson. And follow us on social media at @DOLDC.

Zachari: We do policy talks with people who want to get into this more. We do policy Mondays on Instagram.

I think I would like people to be more demanding of their political leaders. In general, we have to do better in terms of asking for the means for a just, dignified life from the people who can provide it. We have to demand more of people with more ability to make change than any one nonprofit.

Photo of the Farm at Kelly Miller depicting a blue sky with multiple garden beds growing food

ONE DC and the Washington Area Community Investment Fund, mentioned above, are two fellow Catalogue nonprofit partners that you can also learn about.

Local Nonprofit Bulletin (4.15.22)

Local Nonprofit Bulletin
4.15.22

Philanthropic resources, news from small nonprofits in the DMV, upcoming events, and now a brand-new volunteer roundup! Have questions or an opportunity you want featured? Reach out to Amanda, our Communications and Marketing Coordinator, for shoutouts and collaborations!

DC Emancipation Day

Tomorrow is the 160th DC Emancipation Day. Every April 16th, the District commemorates the DC Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862, which ended slavery in Washington, DC, freed 3,100 individuals, reimbursed those who had legally owned them, and offered the newly freed women and men money to emigrate.

Tonight at 6:30 PM, gather for a “Remember the Pearl” Walk to the SW Wharf. On this same night in 1848, 77 men, women, and children who were enslaved by prominent families in the District made their way to the river to board a schooner called “The Pearl.”

Tomorrow at 11:00 AM, the African American Civil War Memorial Museum will read the names of the 3,100 persons freed by the DC Compensated Emancipation Act. Afterward, the SW Freedom Fest begins at 1:00 PM and Mayor Bowser’s parade and concert starts at 2:00 PM.

DC Vote is hosting the DC Emancipation Day Activation, starting at 11:00 AM tomorrow at Rock Creek Park and ending at 8:00 PM on 14th and U.

You can also join Black Georgetown at 11:00 AM tomorrow at the Mount Zion and Female Union Band Society cemeteries in Georgetown, where they will honor the ancestors with a Cameroonian Libation Ceremony and reflections by Rev Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus, as well as offer walkabout tours.

Read more about the history of DC Emancipation Day, explore The People’s Archive at the DC Public Library, and browse resources from the DC History Center’s Context for Today collection.

Shoutouts

Black Flute questions outright how, or if, opera can do anything to contribute to the fight for the rights of Black people,” Shantay Robinson wrote in the Washington City Paper. Produced by the IN Series, Black Flute tells the story of Queen of the Night and her daughter, and was filmed throughout DC. You can catch it online via their streaming platform through June.

Through the Opportunities Neighborhood (ON) – Crossroads program, led by Second Story, Fairfax County residents have access to resources for more help, such as getting food, COVID-19 vaccines, and financial literacy training. “The community truly came together,” Ebony Belt, Strategy Director for ON at Second Story, told Annandale Today.

We’re excited to hear Avodah and its recently formed employee union’s joint announcement of its staff’s affiliation with the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, and that the union received full voluntary recognition from senior leadership!

Along with groups like Cities United and March for Our Lives, the DC Justice Lab has developed a new tool to help ensure solutions to gun violence are centered in equity. “You still see a situation where Black people are experiencing the brunt of harsh law enforcement tactics with a goal purportedly of reducing gun violence,” Dr. Bethany Young, Deputy Director of the DC Justice Lab, told the Washington Informer. “But if they narrowly tailored it as we noted in the report, they can address the problem of gun violence in communities feeling the impact.”

Unhoused and formerly unhoused people, most of them associated with Street Sense Media, voice their perspectives to DCist on the shootings of unhoused people last month. Donte Turner, who has written extensively about the intersections of violence and public policy, shared that “This is what we go through. The police, the government, they don’t give a damn about us. They look at us as if we’re the problem.” Robert Warren, Street Sense Media discussion leader, adds that “You can look at it like if we were actually housing people… they wouldn’t have been killed.”

Join the DC SAFE Bookshelf, a new virtual book club, and participate in discussions about systems advocacy and domestic violence! This month’s book club pick, Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story by Julie K. Brown, was recommended by the Network for Victim Recovery DC.

“Educators have the most important job in the world: creating ways for every child to thrive in learning,” Rashaida Melvin, Satellite Program Director at BUILD, co-wrote in one of Educational Leadership‘s most popular articles of 2021. “Building teacher efficacy directly impacts student growth, but to do this we must break down some of the myths surrounding teacher coaching and effectiveness.”

From bodies and accessibility to caring for yourself in a crisis, explore the broad landscape of healthcare through an interdisciplinary lens with Healwell‘s podcast.

Story Tapestries was recently featured in Philanthropy News Digest! Founded in 2010, Story Tapestries helps partners build self-sufficient, sustainable arts-based programs; increases access to arts integration programs for high-need communities; and is a resource for arts integration in education and community development.

Learn about Ward 7′s past, present, and future with a sharp focus on the climate emergency and its intersectionality with systemic racism through Down to Earth, a creative project partnership with Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Caandor Labs, and Capital Fringe.

Know a young playwright aged 14-24? Encourage them to apply for Young Playwright’s Theater’s new script development program, Young Playwrights in Progress! Applications are open on a rolling basis.

Events

April 14 – June 11 | McLean Project for the Arts Spring Solos Exhibition
April 18 – June 20, Mondays from 4:00 – 6:00 PM | Youth Speaks Poetry! After School Opportunity
April 19 | NAKASEC x UndocuGW presents a conversation on Asian Americans & Undocu Organizing
April 21, 12:00 – 1:00 PM | The ACT Initiative presents “A Deeper Look at Second Chances”
April 22 – April 30 | IN Series x DPR Spirit Moves Workshops
April 23 | National Cannabis Festival’s Policy Pavilion
April 23 | Sitar Arts Center’s Salon Dialogue: “Createwell”
April 23, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM | Dreaming Out Loud’s 4th Annual Spring Fest
April 23, 7:00 PM | Joe’s Movement Emporium NextLOOK Cohort Work-in-Progress Showing
April 23-24 | GenOUT Youth Invasion Concert
April 24, 1:00 PM | Peace Festival with Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi
April 24, 1:00 – 3:30 PM | F.E.A.S.T. 2022: Mutual Aid at VisArts
April 27 | Spring2ACTion, Alexandria’s Giving Day
April 29, 7:30 – 8:45 PM | Main Street’s Got Talent
April 30, 9:30 AM | Friendship Place’s Friendship Walk to End Homelessness
May 1, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Earth Sangha’s Restoration Walk and Talk with Matt and Lisa!
May 2, 8:00 PM | The 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration
May 3, 5:30 – 7:30 PM | One World Challenge
May 5, 5:30 – 7:30 PM | 10 Years of Impact with NVRDC
May 7-8, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM | VisArts’ 10th Annual Rockville Arts Festival

Volunteer

Casa Chirilagua is looking for Spanish Literacy Tutors, Kids Club volunteers, and Middle and High School Bible Study volunteers.

Join C&O Canal Trust for their upcoming Canal Community Days on April 23 in Great Falls, May 7 in Frederick County, and May 14 in Williamsport.

Help Earth Sangha remove invasives at their Wild Plant Nursery!

DC SCORES is looking for Game Day Referees or Field Marshalls, Assistant Coaches, and volunteers for their Junior Jamboree on May 18, Middle School Jamboree on June 3, and Elementary School Jamboree on June 4.

In partnership with Volunteers of America, So What Else is hosting their first ever health fair at their food pantry at Lake Forrest Mall on April 28 and 29. They’re looking for a nutritionist and yoga instructor for the health fair.

Get hands-on experience with the work of the Georgetown Ministry Center by volunteering at their drop-in center or pop-up location!

Girls Rock! DC is recruiting volunteers to support their 2022 Summer Camps. Roles include camp counselor, workshop facilitator, instrument instructor, performer, band coach, or floating counselor.

Resources

#AskHer: Caring for Nonprofit Leaders of Color, April 20 at 12:00 PM | Crimsonbridge Foundation

Explore the intersection of wellness and nonprofit leadership with C. Marie Taylor, President & Principal Consultant of Equity Through Action, and Diana Ortiz, President & CEO of Doorways. They will provide some actionable strategies for nonprofit leaders to address burnout, staffing, fatigue, and other challenges, and create a space for open dialogue with nonprofit leaders of color.

Cause Camp, May 2-3 | Nonprofit Hub x Do More Good

Happening both online and in-person in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Cause Camp Nonprofit Conference features top of the industry speakers, breakout sessions, and one-on-one networking, and includes sessions about inspiring connection in a hybrid workplace, growing future support for your organization, the myth of successful diversity programs, and more.

Answering the Call: One Foundation’s Approach to Shifting Power and Funding Racial Justice | Inside Philanthropy

In this article, Hanna Mahon and Luke Newton dive into how the Pink House Foundation, a small family foundation based here in Washington, DC, shifted towards making large, multi-year grants to grassroots alliances and movement-accountable public foundations as part of an effort to release both money and control.

Resource Mobilizer Drop-In Practice Group | Wealth Reclamation Academy of Practitioners

What becomes possible when we stop ‘asking’ for money as ‘fundraisers’ and start organizing relational wealth as Resource Mobilizers? Join WRAP’s Drop-In Practice Group, a biweekly, nine-session cycle, to learn about and practice using Resource Mobilizer Tool No. 4: Ancestral Healing Loose Incense Blend, a tool that helps identify strained or severed relationships, damaged by wealth extraction, to begin a journey of repair towards reconnectedness.

Language Memo | Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE)

PACE worked with social impact insights company Citizen Data to conduct a survey on terms and phrases commonly used in democracy and civic engagement work to identify potential disconnects between how the “professional field” working on these issues talks about its work and how members of the American public perceive the words and phrases the professionals use.

Court Watch Montgomery: Holding Courts Accountable in Domestic Violence Cases

It takes tremendous courage for survivors of domestic violence to challenge their abusers in court. How then, as a public, can we hold courts accountable to ensure that survivors of domestic violence experience justice and safety during this difficult experience? For Court Watch Montgomery, this looks like training members of the community to go into the courts and report on what they see.

Court Watch Montgomery (CWM) is the only organization dedicated solely to monitoring intimate partner violence cases in Maryland. Its mission is to ensure that all survivors of intimate partner violence in Montgomery County and throughout Maryland have access to responsive justice and vital services that will stop abuse quickly and permanently. Trained on-the-ground volunteers monitor and collect data by physically observing cases in court, simultaneously holding judges and court personnel accountable for providing a safe and respectful court environment. Since 2011, CWM volunteers have collected data on more than 10,000 civil and criminal hearings.

“People don’t think about domestic violence if it doesn’t affect them or their life, but it affects all of us. As a society, it deserves our attention,” said Leslie Hawes, the new Executive Director of Court Watch Montgomery. “Court Watch brings change in a systematic and meaningful way by collecting data from in-person court monitoring of domestic violence cases. We then put that data together to see trends and make impactful recommendations, with the hope of making a difference for the victims in our county.”

Headshot of Leslie Hawes, Executive Director of Court Watch Montgomery, a person with short blonde hair wearing red lipstick and a black turtleneck sweaterA longtime Maryland resident, Leslie brings ten years of experience as a corporate attorney in federal and state litigation and fifteen years of experience with nonprofits to her appointment as CWM’s new Executive Director. Having served on the boards of numerous nonprofits, including the Midwest Innocence Project, been a consultant to CEOs of nonprofits, and served as a court-appointed special advocate working with teens in foster care, she is passionate about leveraging her legal and nonprofit careers to meaningfully serve a vulnerable population in Montgomery County.

The one thing she hopes to change? How the court views and treats intimate partner violence cases. “It’s things like reminding the judges that they should ask whether the abuser possesses a firearm or requiring victims and abusers to have staggered exits through the courts,” she said. “Something we also want to look at this year is whether cases of domestic violence have increased due to the pandemic as victims may feel more trapped in an abusive relationship due to economic concerns.”

According to a report issued by the Montgomery County Council Office of Legislative Oversight in July 2021, the closure of the court system during the pandemic has resulted in a backlog that may take months or years to catch up on. This is a significant and long-term impact on domestic violence survivors, many of whom feel as if they cannot leave their situation until divorce or custody issues are addressed.

In addition, when courts closed, certain hearings were suspended or made virtual, which meant that access to justice then required access to technology. Even after courtrooms reopened, public access was largely restricted to be remote only for a period of time.

Despite these challenges, CWM’s cadre of volunteers collected data remotely on 128 criminal hearings and 82 protective order hearings between December 2020-May 2021. Their preliminary findings were shared in a recent report, which highlighted the need for greater transparency given the likelihood of continued remote access to hearings. It also raised concerns about how remote access may be reducing the presence of attorneys and victim advocates, thereby negatively impacting the ability of survivors to be represented in court.

Now that volunteers have returned to full-scale monitoring in person, CWM is eager to further explore these pressing questions and report on more detailed findings.

If you are interested in volunteering, visit their website to learn more about their thorough training program–they go to court with you, teach you how to fill out the necessary forms, and partner you with 1-2 other volunteers. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter to stay updated on their work and reports, and to gain a better understanding of the domestic violence space.

Local Nonprofit Bulletin (4.1.22)

Local Nonprofit Bulletin

4.1.22

Philanthropic resources, news from small nonprofits in the DMV, upcoming events, and more! Have questions or something you want featured? Reach out to Amanda, our Communications and Marketing Coordinator, for shoutouts and collaborations!

Quick Word from the Catalogue

For small nonprofit professionals, our upcoming National Small Nonprofit Summit will cover actionable and effective ideas for fundraising, communications, and more — all rooted in Values-Based Growth! Register now to join us on April 7-8. Tickets are $25 or free for Catalogue nonprofit partners.

As the world begins to reopen, hear from our nonprofit partners on May 19 about what has sustained them and what gives them hope for the future. RSVP now for our Give Local Gala: Hope Springs!

Shoutouts

“The best investment in science is an investment in teachers,” Jeanne McCarty, CEO of Out Teach, wrote in District Administration. Her article outlines three key steps to elevate science instruction district-wide for the long term.

Congratulations to the Prince William County Community Foundation for receiving the 2021 Nonprofit of the Year award from Mayor Derrick Wood, Town of Dumfries! From distributing meals and buddy boxes to awarding scholarships and micro-grants, we’re excited to recognize their impact!

So What Else’s Food Pantry in Montgomery Village, Maryland, recently hit record-breaking days of service to the community, providing approximately 51,000 meals to over 2,000 families during two recent Fridays! Their walk-up pantry is open every Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM and they host tours every Friday morning for community members to get involved and see their pantry services in action.

“HIV should be part of a self-care conversation, a conversation that speaks about the importance of caring for oneself,” Elenilson Ayala, HIV Testing Coordinator at the Latin American Youth Center, spoke with WUSA in a segment on raising awareness about HIV testing among youth.

“When we put Black women’s interest at the forefront of maternal health issues we’ll be able to solve a series of issues,” Raven Freeborn, Senior and Advocacy Policy Manager at Mamatoto Village, explained in Devon Haynes’s 730DC article.

Get farm fresh produce grown for you by black farmers delivered to your door! Dreaming Out Loud is changing the food system through Black Farm CSA. They source the freshest produce available from a network of small to mid-sized socially disadvantaged producers and you can get freshly harvested produce from their trusted community of farmers.

Photos of farming and fresh produce. Text reads: Bringing Black Farmers to the Table with Black Farm CSA, est. 2010. Get farm fresh produce grown for you by black farmers delivered to your door. Brought to you by Dreaming Out Loud. Visit their website at csa.dreamingoutloud.org to learn more, or follow them at @blackfarmcsa.

Events

March 25-April 24 | Visibility Art Lab’s 2022 Exhibition

April 1-14 | Down To Earth: The Exhibit at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

April 3 | Young Artists of America’s Spring production of AIDA and 10th Anniversary Celebrations

April 6, 12:00 – 1:00 PM | Bridges to Independence Listen & Learn

April 28, 9:30 AM – 12:45 PM | The Barker Adoption Foundation Annual Conference: Trauma-Informed Parenting

April 28, 7:00 – 9:00 PM | Bikes & Bow Ties: Celebrating 15 with Phoenix Bikes

May 1 | The DC Center’s annual Gay Day at the Zoo

July 11-15 and August 1-5 | Girls Rock! DC’s Summer Camp

Resources

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know Series | YNPNdc

Have you ever wanted to know more about how nonprofit leaders got to where they are? Join YNPNdc’s new virtual speaker series to hear the stories of nonprofit leaders in our nation’s capital! The series kicks off with an event on April 13 about Mentorship and the Value of Relationships with Lisa Rice, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance.

How Funders of Collective Impact Initiatives Can Build Trust | Stanford Social Innovation Review

This article by Victor Tavarez, John Harper, and Fay Hanleybrown explores four ways funders of collective impact efforts can help foster trust to strengthen collaboration and achieve greater impact.

Understanding the Fundamentals of Nonprofit Organizations: An 8-Part Business Law Course for Nonprofit Leaders | DC Bar Pro Bono Center

Beginning April 6, this business law course is designed for non-attorney nonprofit leaders with significant management responsibilities and other staff that seek to develop their management capabilities. Taught by expert lawyers and accountants with experience dealing with nonprofit organizations, the course will give you an overview of critical legal issues that apply to nonprofit organizations.

Taking Action | Empower DC

Every Tuesday at 1:00 PM, join Empower DC for an hour-long podcast about critical issues facing DC’s low-income communities of color. Hosted on WPFW 89.3, the show brings in DC residents — the real experts — to talk about the challenges our communities face and solutions designed to uplift our people.

Multiple Resources | CORE

The Council Office of Racial Equity creates training, tools, and processes for local officials, staff, and the community to intentionally identify and disrupt implicit biases and systemic inequities in policymaking. From developing a racial equity assessment tool to collecting open data sets to designing Racial Equity Impact Assessments, CORE has created and linked to multiple resources on their website.