News :: The Jay & Rose Phillips Family Foundation

News

February 2011

The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota has opened up an RFP for our Sectoral Employment Initiative. Click here for more information.

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December 30, 2010

The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation has announced its 2011 Funding Priorities and a Foundation update. Click here for more information.

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November 3, 2010

“The test of progress and the measure of one’s success—is not whether we are able to add more to the abundance we have already acquired, but are we providing enough from this store of good fortune for those around us who have so very little?” -- Jay Phillips

From the beginning, The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation has focused on areas where the family could share their fortune to address the greatest need. We are continuing that legacy through a new grantmaking strategy for 2011 which will focus on helping people deal with the tough and persistent challenges facing our communities. We have been fortunate to hear from many organizations in the past months as we explore effective approaches to lift people out of poverty and address barriers in employment, education and affordable housing.

We are pleased to feature an organization that illustrates the interconnectedness of these issues and their impact on a community. The Northside Achievement Zone is an organization dedicated to creating an interlocking web of support for North Minneapolis families. Their goal is to help every child in their service area prepare for college and not only work to improve educational access and performance, but also identify programs that can move each family along a continuum of self-sufficiency. Their holistic approach acknowledges that not only does it take a village to raise a child, but the village needs to be working in concert for real change to occur. Click here to read more.

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August 24, 2010

We’re reminded that a new school year is just around the corner as bright yellow school buses whiz by on their daily practice runs around town. However, the changing of the seasons also brings another level of stress for individuals and families, especially those struggling to get by in this uncertain economy--questions such as:

How can I secure a job that matches my skills and allows me to earn a decent income with benefits to support my family?
Can we find affordable housing in a safe neighborhood that is close to public transit options?
Based on my available resources, what are the options for quality child care that will help my child be fully prepared for school and future success?

These questions and more are at the heart of the Foundation’s new grantmaking strategy for 2011 which will focus on helping people in poverty achieve economic stability. The Foundation is realigning its efforts to make a greater impact on the tough and persistent challenges facing our community. Specifically, we plan to target our future work on three major underpinnings of economic stability--employment, education and affordable housing.

This summer, the Foundation had the opportunity to listen and learn from community leaders in these respective fields. Aided by the expert facilitation of Creation in Common, the Foundation hosted several focus groups and small convenings with grantees and other key stakeholders to gain their insights and perspectives as to where the Foundation could have the most significant impact with its future grantmaking efforts. This discovery process has given us a deeper understanding of the key trends, challenges, promising practices and opportunities for investment both within and across each area. We appreciate the many thoughtful and creative ideas shared by participants at these meetings and will continue this data gathering process throughout the fall. Our 2011 guidelines will reflect our learnings, and we anticipate making them available on the Foundation’s website in December.

As we learn more about these critical issues, we thought it would be helpful to share several links to some research and reports that may be of interest. Click here to see the list.

Finally, we’re pleased to feature the work of RESOURCE, Inc., a long time Foundation grantee that has been addressing the issues of poverty for the past 50 years. One of their programs, the Family Financial Fitness program, has helped many low-income women build their financial assets and strengthen their budgeting skills to secure brighter futures. You can find their inspiring story here.

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May 17, 2010

Welcome to the Season of Possibilities!

It feels fitting that the Foundation’s Spring 2010 newsletter features organizations that are striving to grow and thrive despite the harsh funding environment. These are our ‘green shoots’, providing hope that better times are ahead. Our hopefulness isn’t buoyed by stories of improving economic indicators or strengthening balance sheets. These are still rare. Rather, these nonprofits exemplify the indomitable spirit of perseverance and innovation that pervades the social sector. Their leaders embody these traits, and each organization’s impact is both impressive and essential.

The featured organizations include: Centro Humanitario Para Los Trabajadores, Denver; Everyone Deserves a Roof (EDAR), Los Angeles; and Teach for America-Twin Cities, Minneapolis.

You can find their inspiring stories – and more - here.

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May 11, 2010

The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation’s Board of Trustees recently awarded 71 grants totaling $1,982,500. These grants represent the next step in the Foundation’s transition to a new strategic grantmaking direction in 2011, and include:

Four Capital Grants, which are in response to our 2010 Capital Grant Round,
Five Legacy/Anti-Discrimination Grants, which reflect the legacy of our founders and are support for several long-term grantees that are combating discrimination and advancing equality for all members of our community, and
62 Exit Grants to select current grantee organizations that will no longer fit our funding focus.

The Foundation is currently developing a process to better define its strategies and anticipated results. More information about how grantees and other community organizations will be engaged in this planning and convening work will be shared in early summer.

For a full list of the grants awarded, click here.

To search Minnesota grants for the past five years, click here.

For more information about the Foundation’s new funding focus, click here.

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February 11, 2010

The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation announced today that it will focus its Twin Cities grantmaking efforts on helping people in poverty achieve economic stability.

Click here to read the full news release.

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December 2009

We are pleased to share our new Foundation newsletter. It focuses on a core group of our grantees who are providing essential human services during this time of growing need. Jewish multi-service agencies offer unique and critical resources to their communities and embody the Foundation’s commitment to Tikkun Olam – the Jewish moral mandate to repair the world. Read on to learn how these organizations are stepping up to meet current challenges and planning for their long-term vitality.

Jewish Multi-service Agencies Newsletter

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November 2009

The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation’s Board of Trustees recently awarded 39 grants totaling $1,087,750 for its third and final round of grantmaking for 2009.

For a full list of the grants awarded for this grant round, click here.

To search Minnesota grants for the past five years, click here.

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October 2009

The Foundation is a Partner in the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative

On October 22, 2009, the Foundation joined with 10 other funding partners to launch the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative. The Collaborative believes that the new Central Corridor light rail line, which connects the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul via Cedar-Riverside, the University of Minnesota, and University Avenue, can be a place of opportunity for all – if we focus on the big picture and work together to achieve this vision: The neighborhoods along the corridor can be places of opportunity that are accessible to people of all income levels, reflect community identities, and link all people to local amenities and regional opportunities. The Collaborative is pursuing three activities: promoting learning so decisions are well informed, building shared solutions, and investing capital through the Catalyst Fund to seed and promote promising strategies aimed at achieving corridor-wide outcomes. Contact Patrick Troska at 612-623-1655 to learn more about the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative and ways your organization can get involved, or click below.

http://www.funderscollaborative.org/news