Monday, 25 April: Last Entry

This week is pretty much clean-up and finish all unfinished projects with rolling deadlines, including the refiling project I was working on. I'm here until this Thursday for the last Staff Meeting, but I'm just cleaning up until then.

Since Friday's humiliation, I've spoken with the CEO again and he's given me some good advice on where to start out here as an official employee. He recommended that I start a little bit slower, like in direct service, so I can get a better feel for and perception of our clients' needs. He also advised me that there will be some positions opening up in the main office in the next few months that I should consider taking when they become available. I felt better about not getting the position I created last Friday. I now have new plan: do temp work and keep in touch with the Partnership until the right position becomes available. I feel better about it now.

I plan to do more overall reflections about my experience here in my final paper. For now, though, I'm signing off.

Friday, 22 April

Today I had a meeting with the Director of Human Resources. Earlier in the week, he approached me and asked when I would be available for a meeting to discuss the end of this internship and possible plans for after its ending.

Trying to guess when your potential employer is hard work. The CEO has been hinting about keeping me on staff forever now, and the support I've received from the Programme Directors has been tremendous; it seems that hiring me full-time is appropriate- but in what position?

I know the Dev Dir is looking for a Sr. Grant Writer, a position I'm not qualified for, but in the past she has hinted that she has some flexibility for this position, leading me to think that she might develop a position specifically for me.

There are, of course, entry-level positions that I am capable of doing, but I want to stay near research and development, underlying themes in all the work I've done here.

Going into this meeting with the HR Dir, I wanted to have a prepared statement for what I wanted to do here, so I asked around to some of the Programme Directors for their thoughts on what they'd like to see me do here. They gave me some good ideas and I prepared a statement:

Accomplishments/lessons learned:

• Conversations with the Experts Series and subsequent Staff Meetings. I was in charge of handling logistical planning of the last four (and upcoming) discussions, an undertaking which involved scouting facilities, establishing and maintaining professional contacts, arranging catering, gathering needed supplies (electronic and soft equipment), preparing documents for distribution, collaborating with our designer to create flyers, and, ultimately, coordinating all aspects of panel discussions on the day of event.
  Because I have been entrusted with making purchases on behalf of the Partnership, I created and maintained a spreadsheet of all costs incurred (and pertinent contact information in case this information is needed for future or current employees).
  I would like to research an appropriate foundation and write-up a grant proposal to help defray these ongoing costs.
  
• Research for grant writing. The first time I was asked to research our files regarding a particular foundation, I took the time to learn, inside and out, our current systems (electronic, paper, and Internet-based) for organizing our corporate, government and private funders.
  Through informal training and trial-and-error, I have developed a sense of how determine appropriate funders based on our need and the potential funder’s interests history.
  Likewise, I have learned (and adopted) the distinct style and voice of Partnership grant proposals, as well as our history with our funders, a feat which takes several weeks to months of researching to understand.
  Walking into this organization, I had no training on the process of grant writing. I have still more to learn before undertaking this process all on my own, but with a little formal training, I could easily handle the whole task.
  
• Organization of Development files. Since I began working as an assistant to the grant writer back in early December, I have spent a good deal of effort on organizing both our electronic and paper filing system. When Paula came on board, she set me to task cleaning out our massive filing system and reorganizing and filing our foundation information.
  
• Web-based Researching. I have been called upon numerous times to research everything from building code violations to studies on homelessness to refrigerator cost comparisons (for a shelter coordinator). I am thoroughly knowledgeable on major web search engines and know basic techniques for learning new engines.

1. Potential areas of interest and focus:
   
   A strong component of most of my work here has been research, an area of great interest to me, and one the Partnership should be leaning towards if we are to become leaders in our field. Drawing on my achievements and energies spent during the last six months, I have created a list of potential projects which could define and demand my continued position here. I’ve tried to base them on the Partnership’s current organizational structure
   
   1. Research component: The planned Senior Homelessness Prevention Campaign and Effects of HSP project will both need staff for research and analysis. With my background in SPSS (a data mining software), web-based search engine mastery, I could assist in both researching information and developing new research.
   2. Logistical research component: The Partnership’s use and need of existing research, and our gradual shift towards development of new research (and potentially as a research institution) demand the creation of a Research Library. I am skilled in organization and technology, two elements necessary for creating a Research Library.
   3. Policy analysis and research: This is clearly an area which will need to be developed as our Research develops and as we begin to make our voice heard in the community. And though I have no formal training in policy analysis, I can be a leader in the research component while simultaneously learning the analysis piece.
   4. Web Development: Without formal training, I would not want to take on the task of web developer, but if the Partnership wanted to invest in training, I would love to be involved in this aspect of our Development.
   5. Assistant to the VP of Programs and Advocacy: When our VP comes on-board, you might consider me for an assistant in this position.

It's a rough draft, but it helped me put some thoughts down on paper and develop some ideas. I ended up not giving it over to the Dir of HR. The meeting didn't go exactly according to plan. I was sure we'd be shaking hands and agreeing on my salary by the end of the meeting. Not what happened. He basically said there was no current position/funding for the position I wanted, but there were other posibilities for placement on the Partnership team. I was heartbroken and left almost immediately afterwards.

6 hours today.

Thursday, 21 April

Today was the second Staff Meeting, out at FaF. I didn't go into the office today because I decided the best way to get all the equipment out to FaF from Manhattan would be to drive my car into the City, coerce my co-workers into meeting me on the street to load my car, and drive out to Brooklyn. So that's what I did. The Meeting was in the afternoon, but I was there around noon to help set-up, buy snacks and do last minute preparations.

The Meeting itself was not as good as Tuesday's. I couldn't decide if it was the crowd or the environment, but something was off. I think it might have been a combination of the two things: the more direct service-focused staff in addition to the hugeness of the warehouse we were sitting in, despite the close circle we were in. Plus, it was an afternoon session (beginning at 2.00), and as any Professor will tell you, it's hardest to get your students to pay attention in afternoon classes than any other time slot of the day.

I was working today for about 6 hours.

Wednesday, 20 April

Tomorrow's Staff Meeting is being held out at FaF, a fact which requires different planning than yesterday's or next Thursday's meetings. FaF needs the laptop for the presentation, and a projector screen and LCD projector, too. Each of these things by themselves wouldn't be that bad to take on the subway out to Brooklyn, but the three of them in combination is impossible to carry on my own. Today was spent figuring out how to get them over there, making copies and adjustments to yesterday's presentation so conversation will flow more smoothly tomorrow.

6 hours.

Tuesday, 19 April

Today was the first Staff Meeting. It rocked! We started off introducing ourselves... I introduced myself as, "Intern and soon-to-be New Hire," with a gentle ribbing of and knowing look toward the CEO. This elicited a burst of laughter and round of applause from the staff. It made me smile.

We went on to talk about the Mission and Values Statements, going around the room talking about what struck us about each, what we thought could use improvement, what should be changed or left the same. Both are up for revision in this Strategic Planning process (the Strategic Plan to be released by Fall).

Afterwards, we spent time with the Speaker Series recap. People were enthusiastic and engaged, actively participating in discussion. I was extremely surprised to see such interest in the over-arching goals of the P-ship. Of course, the mission of the P-ship is to end homelessness and put ourselves out of work, but the methods we use to "attack the root causes of homelessness" are not completely understood, in my perception, by the staff members, who all have daily tasks which keep them from lending energy and effort towards planning these "big ideas."

I wasn't expecting much from the staff. In my daily, brief dealings with them, I've never picked up on an interest in the kinds of planning we were discussing. It's not to say I don't think they're intelligent and "creative, solution-oriented" individuals, but it's kind of like politics: most people are indifferent or misinformed about what they perceive to be political issues, therefore they shy away from it, choosing to spend their daily energies on the task life. I figured that, for the staff at least, the feeling would be much the same: tell me what I need to know to do my job and don't ask more of me.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear the very articulate, thoughtful responses from staff regarding issues like how to attack the root causes of homelessness, everything from advocacy to education to what exactly the Partnership does and who we are. I was surprised by the openness and interest on the part of staff members. The Directors spoke very little, choosing instead to ask questions and help facilitate the conversation rather than overpower it with their opinions.

All in all, it went extremely well and I was proud to be a part of it.

8 hours.

Monday, 18 April

Tomorrow is the first Staff Meeting, and the CEO has me putting together a booklet of materials for his board members. 2 booklets with different, but related, documents, 7 copies of each, plus an additional 10 booklets to have on hand for tomorrow's meeting, all velobound by this afternoon. Plus, making copies of the powerpoints, mission and values statements, checking the set-up for the conference room we'll be in, testing the LCD projector equipment/compatability with our laptop, and generally ensuring everything goes off without a hitch tomorrow. Awesome.

8 hours.

Friday, 15 April

So I decided what to do about this wondering. I wrote the CEO, Director of HR and Director of Development a letter indicating my intent to stay. Here is it:

Dear Powers That Be,

According to my academic calendar, my last official day as Intern is April 25th, though I have every intention and plan to remain here (as a volunteer) until the 28th. While not required academically, a letter to my Intern Coordinator confirming "completion of assignment" would be greatly appreciated. I ask no more of you in order that I receive credit for my internship. If needed, I'll be happy to provide details of the various tasks I've completed here, as a "Direct Supervisor" would be difficult to pinpoint, and the letter could likely be signed by a number of Directors and Staff Members, and maintain its integrity. :)

As for my future plans, well, they include the Partnership. I am leaving for Florida (and Commencement) the 4th of May and returning the 10th, but will be available as soon as the 16th. I know that technically I am leaving this job, but I'm hopeful that my run with the Partnership is far from over.

I have worn many hats in my stint with the Partnership: Temp, Intern, and Volunteer. Evolutionarily speaking, it looks like I'm evolving away from my ideal headgear, the sort that comes with a dental plan and a place on the PFTH Phone List. But I assure you, six months’ experience with the Partnership before being hired was all part of my plan.

Through the course of my stay here, I have informally expressed both my pleasure working with this organization and my desire to continue working here on a permanent basis. Please consider this email formal notice, to be followed by a cover letter and an updated résumé if requested.

Thank you,

Erin Mulligan

Now, I wait.

7 hours.

Thursday, 14 April

I hate sounding repetitive, but today was just more of yesterday, and the day before, and the week before that. I'm not taking on any new projects, and the Development Dept is slowly starting to take shape- and I'm not in the picture as much anymore. I don't know where we stand on getting furniture for FRC, or if we still even need it anymore. I'm not kept in the loop. The GW hasn't put a proposal on my desk for proofreading in over a week- I'm not sure why. I'm feeling vaguely disconnected from the organisation, but I'm sure that's a function of my own end-of-the-semester stress and anticipation for graduation and potential permanent position here at the P-ship. I don't know exactly where I stand for getting a position here; or, really, where exactly I fit in. I've done so many different tasks since my temp position back in October. I've been a Jack of Most Trades and I don't know exactly how the Partnership will label my position. There isn't really a single position that is currently available that I fit into perfectly or have had formal training for, so I wonder what will happen.

The other day the CEO tapped me on the shoulder while I was sitting at my desk and asked me if I would consider working out at FaF in Brooklyn; I told him that yes, I would be interested in doing that if no other position were available. I'm not exactly sure what I expect them to offer me, but I'd much rather stay up at the Headquarters working on research and development than do direct service or administrative stuff.

I have to do something about all this wondering.

7 hours.

Wednesday, 13 April

Over this past weekend, I spent hours watching and re-watching the panel discussions from October on. There have been five of them, all two hours a piece. I did this so I could put together the recap for the Director of FaF who is compiling my notes into a PowerPoint presentation to be presented at the Staff Meetings. This morning was spent typing up and clarifying my notes before submitting them to the Dir.

Then, a little afternoon refiling delight.

7 hours.

Tuesday, 12 April

This morning was the meeting with the Dev Dir and GW. We talked about the usual: deadlines, proposals/reports in the works, rejections and resubmissions. The last big batch of proposals/renewals that went out was in August, and still we haven't received word on many of them. Because we haven't had a formal Development Dept since September, no one has been able to follow up on them. The Director has begun that process, and a couple of the proposals submitted in August were requested again by granters who say they never received them. We wonder about that.

More refiling and pulling things together for the Staff Meeting next Tuesday.

8 hours.

Monday, 11 April

More of the same from last week. I'm only moving about 5 or 6 files a day from my desk to the filing cabinet. I'm wasting a bunch of time waiting on Directors to get back to me with their materials from previous panel discussions that I was no party to organising.

5 hours today.

Friday, 8 April

Today was more of the same of yesterday, only less of it because I only worked 6 hours.

Current projects:
Staff Meetings preparations (the first one is on April 19th)
Refiling foundations
Finding FRC furniture, only less so because while I was away last week, it seems the GW has taken over the project, which is fine by me. I'm busy enough!

Thursday, 7 April

I feel like I'm losing steam. The semester is over in a month and I'm anxious for the job start and school to be over. I'm graduating in May, after a total 15 years in school. I'm not entirely convinced I won't end up in Grad School eventually, but still, I feel a chapter of my life is ending, and I have tredipation about starting something new. Not that, assuming I get a job with Partnership, it won't be the easiest transition between "chapters" I will have ever made/make in my life. Still, it's a change, and a big one at that, and I am anxious about it.

Today I proofread the Brookdale Foundation Final Report about our Transitions programme. Transitions started at Peter's Place and, as part of the Continuum of Care model, assists seniors getting back on their feet and employable after a bout of homelessness. The report is sloppy. The GW has made much of the same errors she makes on all the other proposals, a function of copying and pasting 'general' material from other proposals/reports that I've not yet proofread. This is infuriating and frustrating to me. I'm glad to be of assistance and also glad that I notice these things before the proposals go out (what would happen if I didn't look over them???), but I'll be damned if it's not irritating. Fortunately, I have developed a relationship with the GW that allows for us to have an open, honest discussion where we can be upset about something and not offend each other. So, we had a longer than usual editing conversation today and I'm not sure that anything will come of it. I certainly hope she doesn't feel like I'm angry with her and avoid putting proposals/reports under my nose before submitting them. That would certainly be the antithesis of what I was trying to do.

7 hours.

Wednesday, 6 April

I had to stay home today and wait for the repair man to come over and fix my hot water heater. It's been burning oil and giving off smoke whenever it's turned on since we returned from Spring Break. The whole thing speaks to my existing terror of my home exploding with me in it, so I want to make sure this is taken care of properly.

Plus, I can't take a shower. How grossly unprofessional of me to come in unshowered- three days in a row.

Monday, 23 March - Monday, 4 April: Spring Break

What can I say? It was Spring Break and I was outta here! On the trip home from Ohio, though, a snowstorm kept us locked in hotel rooms, delaying our return until last night. I returned to work today, the 5th, but it was slow getting back into the swing of things and feels like I was hardly missed. Tomorrow will be a better day.

I only logged four hours today.

Friday, 25 March

Today I got a call from the Dir of FaF who enlisted my help in organising a new set of discussions, different from the Speaker Series, but related. The Partnership is (and has been since last Summer) undergoing a Strategic Planning phase right now. The Speaker Series was part of the Planning; its purpose is to stretch the imagination and boundaries of established thoughts, challenge the current methods we use for assisting homeless people. The Dir asked me to find space for a series of three staff meetings, with attendance mandatory at one staff meeting at least. The purpose of the meetings is to discuss our current Mission and Values Statements, and recap our Speaker Series with thoughts on how to alter our current programmes to better suit our clients and organisation. I'm in charge of gathering all Speaker Series related materials, including all academic papers and published articles that were distributed at each Discussion, locate and book rooms for the discussions, gather and prepare supplies for the meetings (including a summary of each of the panel discussions) and be present at all three staff meetings.

"No prob," I assured her.

And so I embarked on the task of preparing for said staff meetings. I very much look forward to them. I've had reactions to each of the discussions, thoughts about how the new research each Speaker provides compares with our methods of handling clients. I can't wait for this open forum to discuss what I've learned and make suggestions to the group. This process of development based upon research is what I'm good at. It'll be like sitting in a classroom again, debating, respectfully of course, a topic that everyone in the room is vested in and knowledgeable of. In that regard, the meeting will vary from most classroom discussions I've ever sat in on. Fnar. :)

7 hours.

Thursday, 24 March

Today was just spent working on getting the FRC furniture. Most of the conversation took place via email, so it's a lot of waiting on responses and finding effective methods of communicating. We hear talk of one of the board member's warehouses in Connecticut with furniture we could use and we're trying to get digital photos of the furniture and working out the details of its availability. We suspect we'll end up driving up to Connecticut this weekend in a Uhaul. The laughter keeps our day flowing.

7 hours.

Wednesday, 23 March

Today I worked from home, scanning Going Public and prepping the chapters we've selected for distribution to the staff who will be attending the Discussion. Believe it or not, this process took three hours today, the total amount of time I spent working today.

3 hours.

Tuesday, 22 March

At some point in my conversations with the CEO last week about the upcoming panel discussion, we decided that I should read the speaker's book, Going Public, to prepare for the Discussion. I started reading the book over the weekend and haven't been able to put it down, spending a good portion of today reading it, too. It's a riveting collection of stories of his tooth-and-nail organising days. I find it, the impact he's had on individuals and the organisations he's helped form, inspiring. The IAF sprung from the ideology of Saul Alinsky, a radical grassroots organiser, whose movement started in 1940's America. It's excellent preparation for the upcoming panel discussion (which, I just realised, I will be missing because I'll be away from Spring Break- drat).

I also spent more time researching potential donors for FRC. I discovered Craig's List as a good source for this and spent a gross amount of time going through the site.

I worked 8 hours today.

Monday, 21 March

This morning I had an impromptu meeting with the Dev Dir and the Grant Writer. Our Family Resource Center is opening in April- and the P-ship doesn't even have a budget for how to furnish the new location. Our* task: find free or cheap furniture to furnish the FRC.

We set to work straight away doing internet searches. By noon, I had signed up with three different waste match websites and the GW was busy submitted proposals for emergency funds. It was a good, but hectic day. I'm learning so much about the foundation/corporate donation world.

I worked 7 hours today.


*The Grant Writer and I have joined up like a team of researchers and developers; I will often refer to us as a collective because we spend so much time in occlusion.

Friday, 18 March

I didn't go into the office today, but I wanted to relay this story to the Journal anyway, since it is both work and internship related.

Wednesday evening I was working late to meet a 9 am deadline the following morning. The Development Director and I were the only ones in the office, so before I left, I popped my head in her office and chatted with her about the work I was doing. Our conversation strayed from work stuff and onto the sunset out her window, flying, 9/11 and what I'm doing after graduation.

[NOTE: When She started here three weeks ago, I knew I would be working with my potential boss, but shied away from telling her that I was interested in staying with the Partnership (and in what capacity) after the term ended. At that time, I was still wavering between going for an entry-level position and throwing all my efforts into the training for employment in the Development Department. I knew this question would eventually come from her through casual conversation or through my own formal declaration as soon as I gathered the courage. So when she asked me what I was doing after graduation, I didn't know what I was going to say until the words came out of my mouth.**]

I couldn't dance around making my decision any longer, and it felt dishonest and weak of character to plead the fifth. I opened my mouth and, with as much confidence as I could muster, started, "I've made it no secret around here that I want to stay with the Partnership after graduation..." and proceeded to decide and declare that I wanted to stay in the Development Department, in a communicative capacity, interested in Grant Writing, but knowing that I haven't the experience or training for the position, but that blah blah blah.

It's funny: I was almost completely comfortable in her presence, talking about inane topics, but once I announced my candidacy for new Development Associate, I suddenly felt a pang of insecurity, like the chair I was sitting in belonged to the interviewee and the desk I spoke across belonged to my potential employer. I became nervously aware of the stomping boots on my feet, cotton t-shirt around my torso and denim encasing my legs. I realised that, from this moment on, I was in a perpetual state of interviewing; that I now had expectations of me greater than I bargained for as an Intern, and thought, perhaps I should start dressing the part of a potential employee. But then I realised I have no wardrobe to support that last thought and I don't really want to have said wardrobe, nor do I have the funding for it.

However, my declaration was received with enthusiam and great interest. She immediately asked for a writing sample and offered to give me an 'assignment' in lieu of one.

Of course, this is all good news because: a) I made a decision, b) it was received well and c) I finally made a decision. My life post-graduation life is beginning to take shape.

**Some of my best life decisions are made at the most inopportune times.

Thursday, 17 March

Today was more of yesterday and Tuesday, working on files, updating the Pendings file and meeting with the Development Dir to discuss and plan for the Pendings file.

I worked 7 hours today.

Wednesday, 16 March

I spent today working on updating our "Pendings and Renewals" spreadsheet, which required intense searching through foundation files and websites for contact information, date of proposal submissions and expected response time from granters. Again, though, I'm learning the history of our relationships with granters, an invaluable tool for a Grant Writer. :)

I worked 7 hours today.

Tuesday, 15 March

All day today was dedicated to refiling our hard files. I am gradually learning the Partnership's history with all of our valuable granters, a gem of knowledge that can't be taught but observed and learned. This increases my employability at the Partnership. :)

I worked 7 hours today.

Monday, 14 March

Today was the day of the Chris Madden Event. It started off early in Brooklyn, out at FaF. A few reporters were there to interview and photograph Chris Madden and a client we hand-picked to get advice from Chris and talk about decorating their home. If you didn't know (and I didn't when I was first introduced to her), Chris Madden is a small-time Martha Stewart. She has countless decorating books, has been featured on HGTV and has a line of housewares for JC Penny.

We were out at FaF until nearly afternoon, then back at work just in time to grab lunch, check our email and take care of last minute preparations for the evening's event. I think I'm going to be the coat-check girl, which is fine by me. I'm rather shy about schmoozing with rich white people I don't know.

I'll work 8 hours today, and THEN some.

Friday, 11 March

First things first, I updated the fact-sheet on homelessness (data here) for the Director of Communications and was called into a meeting with the entire Development Department. We discussed plans for the big Chris Madden event this coming Monday, including the press invitation/interview we're having out at FaF on Monday morning. The Grant Writer and I volunteered to assist in anyway possible and all of us agreed to go out to FaF to help the Dir of Communications deal with the press.

I spent the rest of the day gathering related materials and needed supplies and putting together press packets for the 'junket' in Brooklyn Monday morning and the cocktail party Monday evening.

I was here for 8 hours today.

Thursday, 10 March

Today was spent cleaning out files, email communicating about the upcoming panel discussion, a fact-checking mission the Director of Communications put me on and working on creating a public Development Calendar for our Department.

I was in for 7 hours today.

Wednesday, 9 March

I returned to work today with many tasks on my plate; first of which was to track down the transcript of an NPR Morning Report: Marketplace that our CEO had a snippet in. The report can be found here.

I've also started working on cleaning out those files from our 'hard' system. My task is to root through all the current files I could find (i.e. approximately 120 files) and pull out any and all necessary paperwork in each file and order chronologically, putting the most recent communication from a granter on the top of the stack on the left side of the folder, and our most recent communication with them on the top of the stack on the right side of the folder. This requires throwing out duplicate copies, proposals found in the G Drive and any other unnecessary or otherwise useless information. In short, it takes about 15-20 minutes on an average file. The process is long and mentally taxing and frustrating, but it's worth it. The cleaned up files will make room in the file cabinet and make it easier for the Grant Writer(s) to read up on a granter. But this project will take a good month to finish.

I worked 8 hours today.

Tuesday, 8 March: Some People Just Let You Down.

I walked roughly two hours and easily two or three miles last night. In search of homeless people. I found a bunch of crack houses and a group of teenage boys huddled together, slowly walking up and down the same block repeatedly. And I saw one homeless guy getting onto a bus, but we weren't supposed to stop people in transit (because they're not from that neighborhood; skews the geographic distribution.)

YorkU* counted no homeless. As the night went on, I became grumpy about the fact that we were walking around in circles NOT counting anybody. What a paradox: I was disappointed because we didn't find anybody sleeping on the streets. Everyone in that neighborhood had a home. Damn it.

I didn't go into work today.

*Our group 'codename'

Monday, 7 March

I spent better half of this morning tweaking Fiscal's "Foundations&Corporations FY01-FY05" donors list. It was illogically listed; or, at least, it was listed alphabetically by last name of foundation in the Development Dept and alphabetically by first name in the Fiscal Department, meaning that if the proper name of the Foundation started with The, on the list, it was put in with the T's. Completely illogical and non-standard. So I played around with the Excel Spreadsheet and whittled the list down to just 70 foundations (from over 230), eliminating duplications and the foundations I pulled from the filing cabinet on Friday.

The Grant Writer and I went in for a meeting with the Development Director to talk about the current state of affairs in the grant writing department. We discussed current deadlines, overdue deadlines and made plans for upcoming deadlines. The Director is just getting her feet wet, but she is clearly knowledgeable in this department, having a strong background in this area and confidence in her answers to our questions. She listens well and and seems fair and honest. She even had an agenda for our meeting, which last nearly 2 hours! We planned for a regular meeting on Tuesday mornings.

I worked 7 hours today.

Friday, 4 March

Today I made plans with Dev Dir about how to re-file our current system of Institutional Donors. She asked me to go through a current fiscal list (last five years up to this week) of donors, pull the current donors' files and separate them from "expired" donors. Foundations are cyclical, so we should consider going through and re-introducing ourselves to the older donors later on. Dev Dir says that Private Donors are the most stable source because institutional donors are cyclical.

I spent the latter part of the afternoon going through the filling cabinet, frustrated because the fiscal donors system lists the foundation donors by the first name and the grant department lists them by last name, i.e. The So & So Mulligan Foundation was listed in the cabinet as "Mulligan, So & So" and the fiscal accounting listed it as "The So & So Mulligan Foundation," a pattern I didn't detect until well into the uncovering and therefore creating a great deal of annoyance and frustration for me.

I also worked on some light technical support, assisting the Dev Staff to get access to some public folders in Outlook. We really should find a way to streamline inter-departmental communication. I mean, it's not enough we work in the same office; but if we want to communicate to the whole team, then our current Development mailing list has to be updated, a request that must be handled through our IT Administrator who is only available via email.

I worked 8 hours today.

Thursday, 3 March

Today I assisted the New Guy Nutritionist with getting access to the Old Nutritionist's files, as well as help with any technical/email questions. He's sitting in my cubicle, and seemed genuinely baffled by Windows. I wonder how long he's going to last, I thought to myself. He seems a little out of place.

I also spent some time researching housing as a human right for my paper. The search is difficult.

7 hours.

Wednesday, 2 March

Today I had a chance to sit down with the new Development Director and get to know her a little. I also offered my services to her as a tech geek, and showed her around the electronic filing system for the Development Dept. It was a quiet day and I was gone by 3.30, having only worked 5 hours today.

Tuesday, 1 March

The HOPE Count was supposed to be yesterday, but due to the heavy snowstorm, it was rescheduled for next week.

Today I was emailing back and forth with a few of the Directors involved in the Panel Discussions, who were soliciting my assistance with collecting and compiling the survey results from the recent Discussion.

I also assisted the Event Coordinator with invitations for the upcoming Chris Madden event we're having on the 14th of March. Madden has agreed to be Furnish-A-Future's spokesperson, so we're having a 'coming out' party for her at the NYDC. The Development team is in a hurried frenzy to pull this off without a hitch, so a lot of my attention in the next few weeks will be spent on preparations for this event.

I worked 8 today.

Monday, 28 February

The new Development Director started today. She's awesome. I went into her office to introduce myself, offer a helping technical support hand and, before I knew it, I was talking about the Dev Dept's immediate needs for organisation and a centralised database to keep track of foundation deadlines and major contribution letters of gratitude, etc. She listened to my concerns and had suggestions of her own and, altogether, I thought the conversation was very productive. We (the Grant Writer, CEO and I) have all discussed informally our wishes for the new Director, what we hope she can do, what we need her to do, etc. Our Dept (nay, our organisation) has been starving for a Director for quite some time now; waiting for someone to come on-board and provide some direction and make the executive decisions that the CEO has been too preoccupied with other tasks to handle (as well he should be). I don't want to be too forward with her, but I think it's a good idea that we all sit down together and get a feel for where we are versus where we want to be and how we want to get there. Ah, balance. Learning it is tricky.

I only worked until lunch today.

Friday, 25 February

Today was more relaxed. I spent most of my time in communication with the Director of FaF planning for the next panel discusison (March 31st) with Michael Gecan, a grassroots organiser from the Industrial Areas Foundation and author of Going Public. Though the conference room provided for us yesterday by the NY Design Center was good, we weren't entirely convinced it was where we wanted to hold our next Panel, which promised to be more like a roundtable discussion than 'panel' discussion.

By the end of the day, we had decided that we wanted to hold the meeting at the NYDC anyway. I booked the room and called it a day.

I worked 8 hours today.

Thursday, 24 February

Last night, our CEO was interviewed by a TimeOut: New York reporter asking about the City's planned HOPE Count, to take place next Monday evening. Here is the exerpt from the article that was published this morning, before a representative of DHS came to speak to our organisation:

This being New York, the HOPE naturally has its critics. "The goal of trying to get an accurate census is laudable," says Arnold Cohen, president and CEO of the Partnership for the Homeless, "but one night using untrained volunteers is not going to get an accurate count." Cohen describes last year's estimate of 2,694 homeless in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island "an undercount"—not a good thing if you're using those numbers to determine policy. "It baffles me," Cohen says. "The city has outreach in the five boroughs already who could get an unduplicated count—why not use them?"

So this morning, when the Panel was assembled and the audience in place, the first thing the CEO did was issue an informal apology to the Deputy of DHS for making his "baffling" comment, a faux pas on the part of the CEO that kept the Development staff grumbling about how to keep our CEO from sticking his foot in his mouth.

The Discussion itself was great. Dr. Tsemberis's study on the comparison between the "Consumer Choice" and Continuum of Care models convinced me, at least, that the current models of servicing homeless people need a change. The Deputy of DHS was open and honest, interested and well-spoken. She didn't seem defensive, though she must have felt like she was standing in a room of sharks, and she was the bait. But the audience was well-behaved, even our Lead Advocate, who sat on her hands almost the entire session. I know because I was monitoring her breathing from the back row.

The discussion went off without a hitch and I went back to the office, cleaned up from the morning's activities and went home.

I was in for 6 hours today.

Wednesday, 23 February

I had to miss the two grant writing seminars provided by the Foundation Center yesterday because I was pre-occupied with plans for tomorrow's Panel; the CEO and I have been discussing topics for it.

Early in the morning I called in the catering for tomorrow.

Also, I've been asked to join the planning committee for the Annual Membership Meeting held by the Partnership, usually in June, for all 'partners' of the Partnership to come together to discuss business, approve budget, and vote on Board Members. Today was the first meeting. As a result of this, I've created an email group with all of the committee memebers' email addresses to facilitate communication about plans for the event.

It was a long, busy 8 hours today. Tomorrow will be even longer, however exciting.

Tuesday, February 22

The panel discussion with Dr. Sam Tsemberis and Maryanne Schretzsman is this Thursday. I was finally able to send off a mass email with the speakers' related documents last Friday. I've been at the mercy of the CEO and Lead Attourney. The former has been constantly reminding and pushing me to get related academic or position papers of our speakers for distribution to the staff (so they can read up on the speakers before attending), the latter has been disconnected from organising the panel discussion (even though she's responsible for it) and a difficult party to get any assistance from. Because I'm a only secondary organiser in this thing, I'm not privy to information or contact with our speakers, so I'm shy to call them and ask for their academic/position papers.

Dr. Tsemberis is the founder of Pathways to Housing, a revolutionary model of housing homeless clients that runs against the grain of current models. His model is based on consumer choice, where the client (consumer) tells you what he needs when asked (choice). It's simple, really, but the prevailing model of homeless service providers (including the Partnership) is the Continuum of Care, a model which requires the client follows a prescribed path towards eventually 'earning' a house, a path which includes, among other hoops, getting and remaining sober, taking required medication, and becoming "housing ready" (i.e. learning, some suggest, useless skills for becoming ready again for housing).

Maryanne Schretzsman is the Deputy Commissioner for Policy and Planning of NYC's Department of Homeless Services. With the anxious tension between homeless service providers/advocates and DHS as a result of the City's newest Housing Stability Plus plan (see post dated 1/13/05), this upcoming discussion should be very provocative. Our CEO has a good relationship with the Deputy Commissioner and it'll be interesting to see how the discussion plays out.

I was in a full 8 hours today, catching up with Grant Writer regarding what I missed yesterday.

Monday, 21 February

I'm not going into work today. I have a paper due for another class and am staying home to work on it. However, I am available on P-ship email all day long.

0 hours will be worked today.

Friday, 18 February

Today the Executive Assistant had to leave after lunch, so I took over her position after she left, answering the CEO's phone and generally filling in for her.

Until then, though, I was doing some random research on different foundations, helping the Grant Writer 'translate' granter-speak. I wonder if it's because I have no formal training in Grant Writing that I don't always understand what foundations are trying to communicate to their grantees. Their letters to us are always in plain English, but not always specific about their needs or reasons for why we are denied. Typically, the granter requests an update on your progress after they've given you a grant; they want to see how their money is being spent. As a Grant Writer, you want to give them the most accurate and complete amount of information, without overloading them with rhetoric. The Grant Writer and I spend a lot of time discussing and debating what funders mean in their often vague requests for progress reports. We were in conversation quite a bit today.

I worked 8 hours today.

Thursday, 17 February

Today was lost to figuring out how to velobind a document. Early in the morning, the CEO asked me to research, print and store an extensive study on affordable housing (just released today). Finding and printing was no trouble; storage was another question altogether.

We have this ancient velobinding machine, an office equipment beast. I spent a good four hours reading the manual, cover to cover, practising the hole punching and figuring out how the darn thing worked. It was the most frustrating four hours I've ever spent in my life. I missed lunch.

After lunch, I proofread the Independence Community Trust interim report on our Education Rights Project, researched on LexisNexis "housing as a human right," and filled out and filed my application for graduation.

Needless to say, I worked until 5 pm.

Wednesday, 16 February

Today I worked on compiling the data I collected yesterday and mapping out a plan for what to do with the wealth of information I had collected. I had that form letter that I started on a few weeks ago (see post dated 1/26/05), but wasn't sure if that would be appropriate. Plus, it wasn't even complete. Until today, anyway. It's not entirely done, but it is closer than before.

Dear Potential Donor Contact,

As fellow New Yorkers, we know you recognize the faces of homelessness when you see them on our streets, but can you spot the newly-housed individuals and families looking for a fresh start? Furnish a Future does. We see them daily as they browse our warehouse, located in Bushwick, Brooklyn,[1] for furniture and housewares, searching for pots and pans, small appliances, sofas and chairs, rugs, lamps and other essential items which turn a house into a home.

Ours is a clientele of great need for start-up items. We’re not asking for fancy gadgets or expensive name brands (although these items won't be turned away), but our clients don’t want junk, either. Bakeware or pots and pans with a scratch or two, slightly dented metal strainers or graters, items from incomplete sets of cookware, flatware, dinnerware, cutlery and the like are all desperately needed in our clients’ homes. Consider all the rarely-thought-of-but-couldn’t-live-without items in your kitchen; these are products healthy, happy homes are made of.

You must be asking yourself, What’s in it for me and my company?

• For starters: we're a non-profit organization receiving funding from, for example, NYC Department of Homeless Services[2]; donating to us means a tax write-off for you. Talk to your accountant for details about itemizing charitable donations, but you determine the monetary value of the items donated, the cost of labor associated with collecting and packaging/preparing donations for delivery, and the expense of trucking or shipping those donations.
• Also, consider how much money you could save in storage costs by donating flawed, unprofitable items.
• Do we even need to mention the feel good value of your donation? You’ll be helping furnish the homes of families who have lived on the streets and in shelters for months at least, bringing them comfort and capability to cook deliciously healthy meals

---

[1] Necessary?

[2] “receiving funding from…Services” could be put simply “receiving public funding.” I put the bit in about DHS to lend credibility to our non-profitability. Necessary?

I'm nervous about her response.

I worked 7 hours today.

Tuesday, 15 February

It was a cold day, but with clear skies, so my adventure downtown to the Bowery District to drum up donation business for FaF wasn't too rough. I started out at the base of the District, walking my way up and down the street, stopping in any relevant supply store. I hadn't quite figured out what I would say or ask for when I got to each store, and didn't really know until the words actually came out of my mouth.

As it turns out, it wasn't that difficult to sell FaF. The only difficulty was in perceived language bariers between the clerks and myself, an intimidating factor. In those stores, sad to say, I racially profiled the clerk's native tongue and inconspicuously picked up a business card and left the store, without announcing myself, figuring I would create a form letter later on for easier conversation.

Three hours of walking in and out of 100+ supply stores and retailers, I hopped the J train and headed back home, feeling successful.

I pulled 'bout 4 hours in total, including transportation time.

Monday, 14 February

When I checked my email this morning, I had an email from the Director of FaF, Furnish-A-Future, our free furniture and housewares bank for families moving out of the shelter system and into housing, asking if I had found any information on potential donors for FaF.

On January 20th, I left the panel discussion session with the FaF Director to do research on her database for our Lead Advocate. While traveling to Bushwick, Brooklyn, the location of FaF, we talked about my goals for this internship and beyond school. I told her I was interested in grant writing and development and she enlisted my aid for finding donors for the furniture and housewares for her warehouse. She suggested I scour the Bowery District for potential housewares donors and I enthusiastically agreed to it.

So, here we were, two weeks later and I had barely begun my research on this. I told her it would take some time as I was working on other projects, so when her email showed up in my mailbox this morning, inquiring about the status of my 'development,' I wanted to let her know that I was at least still thinking about it, even if not directly. I had given it some thought previously, about how to do this research, and emailed her that I would be heading down to the Bowery District later this week to walk door-to-door and pitch my sale. I planned this for Tuesday, tomorrow, and let her know.

Today, I researched everything about the Bowery District, once one of the oldest trade streets in NYC, still much the same. The restaurant and lighting districts are down there, two merchant types ripe with potential FaF donations.

I was in for 7 hours today.

Friday, 11 February

Tomorrow is the Share Your Heart Volunteer Expo 2005, held in Grand Central Station. The point is for all interested non-profit organisations in need of volunteers/support to have representatives and materials available for prospective volunteers/supporters. I volunteered to man a booth for the Partnership, but was a bit nervous about 'selling' the Partnership face-to-face with the general public. I wanted to make sure to have accurate answers for their questions and be able to represent the Partnership to the best of my abilities, so I spent some time with the Volunteer Coordinator today. She answered some of my questions with definitive answers, and coached me on how to answer the questions that didn't have canned answers. Basically, she just told me to be honest with anyone who had questions I couldn't answer; if I didn't know the answer, be honest, but helpful. She offered to do some role-play with me, practise some answers on her. I was too shy to do so, but I worked out some responses for general questions and felt better afterwards.

Also, I finally got a room booked for the next panel discussion. We're having it at one of our Board Member's office building. He's the Director of the New York Design Center, so we're getting the room for free! I've booked the camera crew and spoken with the caterer, a lovely Irish woman, to find out when I can call in the catering order (I'm waiting for RSVP's to come in, so I want to have an accurate count).

I worked a full 8 hours today.

Thursday, 10 February

Yesterday, I requested time this morning with our Development Associate to learn eTapestry, our online donor information database. We planned for 10 am. I just asked her about it and she said something about urgently needing to run reports and "can we do it this afternoon?" Well, no, I thought, but replied, "Let's just do it tomorrow. I was going to try to learn the system before I met with [the CEO] today so I'll probably just figure it out on my own and ask you any questions I may have" with a forced smile.

Today I spent the day with the foundations, researching deadlines and looking for inconsistencies and holes in our system. I was looking for ways to improve our systems of filing and organising our donor databases. We currently have three different systems of information storage: the "hard file," which houses paper documentation of correspondence with our foundation and government donors; the "electronic files," or the G: Drive, which is our common computer network server, where we store the electronic copies of proposals and related materials; the online file, or eTapestry, which is an online database that stores foundation information, but can't track any of the physical (or copies of) paperwork. These three individual systems combine to form a single, inconsistent system that requires that you check all three before verifying research on our donor relationships.

This hodge-podge "system" was created by employees who couldn't agree on how to organise the system, so they all went with their technological comfort levels, some moving things electronically, others maintaining the paper system. My goal is to organise the entire system, but I can't do that until the new Development Director arrives and provides us with her preference and guidance. So, for now, I will just leave the 'project' alone and record the holes when I find them.

I worked a full 8 hours today.

Wednesday, 9 February

More time was spent today looking for a venue for the Panel Discussion. We're mostly going to have to have it at Rockefeller University.* It's a beautiful space, but a three avenue walk over from the 4,5, & 6 line, a serious consideration when planning events in NYC. You see, we are on the 1,9 line, and it is generally acknowledged by New Yorkers that crosstown transportation is the bane of everyone's existence, and favourite fodder for MTA hatred. But, as yet, there is no clear solution to the "problem." If you ask me, NYer's are spoiled for getting such excellent mass transit service at all. It could be worse, ask any Dutch citizen.

I missed the meet and greet session of the new Development Director. The CEO, Development Assistant, Grant Writer, Events Planner, and Director of Communications were all in on it and, afterwards, I felt dissed for being left out. I talked it over with the Grant Writer, with whom I've developed a close professional relationship. She was quite upset that I was not invited to the meet and greet. Later, I asked the CEO how the meeting went and he remembered that he forgot to invite me in; he apologised profusely and said that he had meant to invite me in, but it had slipped his mind. His sincere apology made me feel better for being left out.

I worked until just after lunch, pulling only 5 hours today.

*I visited the campus last Friday

Tuesday, 8 February

Our panel discussion was moved to the 24th of this month, a fact which bought me more time to find a new location, but it seems I can't move fast enough to book a suitable venue. It's ridiculously difficult to book a conference room in NYC on the cheap. I should become less-shy about shamelessly asking for the room at a reduced, tax-rebate rate (for the providers), but I'm a work in progress.

I also spend a good part of the day collecting data for the Advocate's meeting with fellow homeless service providers and advocates*.

As usual, I turned in an 8-hour day.


*the name of which must be left anonymous; the Partnership receives the majority of it's funding from the City of New York. As such, we try not to yell at the City whenever possible because we don't want to lose valuable funding and a respectful relationsihp. Our Advocate, however, as part of her job, must maintain a relationship with other, more outspoken homeless advocacy groups in the city, whose funding (I presume) is not very strongly tied to the City.

Monday, 7 February

The new Director of Development is due to arrive the 28th of February, a day both the Grant Writer and I greatly look forward to. It's been since September that the Partnership has had official direction in Development, with the Junior and Senior Grant Writers having left the staff a month into my temp job (I began the beginning of October). The CEO has enlisted my aid* with researching and writing the grants around here, and maintaining a smooth relationship with funders, but at a heavy cost to his attention span. Frankly, I'm impressed he's able to find the time, energy and ability to direct and run the Development Department at all. We received news of the new Director's arrival today; she was still in the interview process when I was acting as the CEO's Assistant.

Today I worked mostly with the Grant Writer, planning for upcoming deadlines, revising the Gimbels letter of interest, and discussing the disappointing response from the Cowels Foundation, from whom we received $2,500, though we requested $10,000.

I pulled 7 hours today.


*if that gives you any indication of how hard-up the Partnership is for employees, or of how highly the CEO thinks of me.

Friday, 4 February

This morning I had a meeting with the Senior Events Planner at Rockefeller University, located at 66th and York. She showed me some available spaces at the school and I fell in-love with the Welch Hall Reading Room. The cost was a little high (try $400 more for the room than at NYU) but since we're running low on time (and options), I asked the Planner to put me down for a "soft-book," an industry term meaning "tentative booking." I then went down to Houston Street and Lafayette, to look, again*, at NYU Wagner Institute's facilities. The room is awkwardly shaped and would serve better lecture style than for our purposes, which are to encourage discussion amongts the panelists and audience members, but it's available for our time slot (we agreed on a date and time JUST yesterday).

When I returned to the office I discussed my findings with the CEO and recommended the Welch Hall; he was not impressed with the cost and said to keep looking. So I spent the rest of the afternoon emailing different venues, making calls and leaving voicemails.

I worked the full shift today.

*refer to 1/19/05 entry

Thursday, 3 February

Today I spent the entire morning in email communication with co-workers while at home. I spent more time proofreading the Altria and Gimbel proposals and planning coordination of speakers, board members and programme directors for the upcoming panel discussion.

I only worked about 3 hours today.

Wednesday, February 2

Today was the day of the rally for affordable housing. I started out the morning working on the Altria proposal with the Grant Writer, piecing together a budget, working on the wording and proofreading. Shortly before noon, I began working on some ideas for posters for the poster-making hour for the rally later in the afternoon. Then I spent time making the posters with co-workers who were all planning to attend the rally. Around 3.30 pm, a half-dozen of us from the Partnership went down to City Hall for the rally (see story on rally here).

The story on affordable housing goes like this: NYC has not spent any money on building, fixing or saving housing since the mid-70's. Meanwhile, just this year, Mayor Bloomberg has been planning to drop $300 million dollars on the "West Side Stadium," as it is commonly referred. The City's position is that the stadium will bring in countless riches to the economy (NY Jets and a group trying to bring the Olympics to NYC in 2012 are the biggest supporters). Of course, whenever the government moves to spend money on a grandiose money-making scheme (whether or not it will work) the "have nots" view these plans as frivolous at best, economic thievery at worst. Homeless people can't afford Jets tickets, goes the retort. It is the position of the Partnership that housing is the key to eliminating homelessness. There are other schools of thought out there (Prof. Shinn of NYU wrote a paper on this subject) that contrast this, but strong support exists for affordable housing as a major factor for preventing/"curing" homelessness. Personally, I haven't done enough research on it either way to determine for myself, but I went to the rally anyway to support the Partnership.

I worked a full shift today.

Tuesday, February 1

Today was filled with searching for the next panel discussion location, now just 3 weeks away. I'm finding there is a lot of waiting around for other people on this group project. It's frustrating- to an exent. I'm only responsible for the things I'm able to do and if the senior planner for this discussion doesn't even have a date picked out yet, it does me no good to find an available location.

Yesterday, the Advocate asked that I research the landlords of the HSP tenants with building code violations, so see if there are any links between them and to dig up general dirt, if it's available. So I spent some time working on that today as well.

I worked 8 hours.

Monday, 31 January

Today was focused on the Social Security Application submission. The Attourney and I worked through the morning to get all the proofreading and final editing done before I was to upload the proposal document to the SSI website and submit the entire application (as you can imagine, the Social Security Administration requires quite a bit of paperwork).

The Grant Writer had given me the password and UID before she left last Thursday (a previous engagement kept her out of work the day of the deadline), but when I went to submit the application to the SSI site the password/UID were not working. I went through a bit of a panic trying to figure it out and ended up on the phone with SSA's technical support troubleshooting the problem. This was a $400,000 renewal application; this grant provides salaries for two of our employees and the entire HOPE project and today was the absolute deadline for the renewal application. In the end, tech support straightened it out for me and the application was submitted. Whew.

Afterwards I read over the paper that the Peter's Place Attourney (PPA) had given me. Today was our meeting to discuss housing as a human rights issue as a potential research paper for this internship. I went down to Peter's Place (7 short blocks south of here) to discuss the issue with the PPA. Her idea was to see if there was enough information available on housing as a human right, not just internationally (because there is), but in America, too, and see if there was a place for "housing as a human right" in the Partnership's rhetoric. I left the meeting with plans to do as much research on institutional, educational, non-profit-related information or arguments on why housing should be considered a human right. The PPA doesn't know if this exists, which is where my role picks up.

I worked a full 8 hours today.

Friday, 28 January

Today began slow. I arrived on time and started going through my email. I read the newly published Partnership letter, noticed some incorrect contact information and brought it to the creator's attention. Apparently, the letter I was reading was from last year; the site had not been updated to reflect the mass internal email they sent out to inform us of the recent newsletter.

After that was straightened out, I made the "last" changes to the Clark Foundation LOI and printed it out on letterhead for the CEO to sign, which usually means, even though the changes I made were per his suggestion and he told me and the Grant Writer that she and I had complete control over it, he'll ask me to take it back and make another change or two before signing it. Again. He's funny. In the end, he didn't, but that fact was surprising.

Also today I worked on making different arrangements for the upcoming Panel Discussion, originally scheduled to be on February 17th. The Advocate wants to move it to NYU. So it looks like it will be the 25th in the afternoon. Reservation request sent.

And lest I forget, I was back and forth between the CEO and the Gimbel Foundation, our next potential donor, asking about what's required for a first-time grant request, whether we can still send in our Proposal, or if it was absolutely too late. We determined, looking at their past grantees, that this Fnd was PERFECT for the Partnership, so we were excited when we found out we could submit a GOS request past the deadline. One of the times I called the sec'tary there, she asked me to tell her a little bit about the Partnership. I vaguely panicked, not feeling adequately informed to accurately demonstrate our services, but dove right into explaining what we do before I had a chance to freak out and put her on the phone with my CEO.

I worked a full shift today (8 hours).

Thursday, 27 January

Well, I finally wised up and started writing down my tasks as I go through my day, making it MUCH easier to create a journal log at the end of the day, when I'm trying to unwind from the day's activities (read: trying to forget). So now I give you an ACCURATE depiction of my day:

First thing this morning I went to an information session on the Educational Rights Project, an endeavor pursued and presented by our Education Advocate (EA). The gist of the session was that homeless children have rights as protected by the McKinney-Vento Act, a federal law that guarantees the rights and protection (against discrimination) of homeless youth. The idea is that because the effects of homelessness on children are proven to detract from their ability to learn and perform well in school, this law makes it possible to keep the children in their home school (or school of choice) and provide transportation for them (two of the biggest factors contributing to increased school mobility). The EA is planning to hold training/awareness sessions for school guidance counselors and administrators to provide them with this information in an attempt to prevent violations of the McKinney-Vento Act (M-VA). I was excited to learn about this because it provides stability for children in an otherwise unstable environment.

During the session, I was pulled into the hall (I thought maybe I was in trouble :) and asked to retrieve documentation supporting our Tiger Foundation Grant Request- they called and the CEO was on the phone with them requesting the information. So, in a vague state of panic, I rode the elevator back up to the 14th floor (from the 11th) and pulled our file on the Tiger Fnd and went straight in the CEO's office. I tried to offer her a letter while he was on the phone, but he waived me off. After standing there listening to his conversation for a few minutes, I wasn't sure my presence was necessary, and started to leave. He motioned me to stay, so I sat down and listened in on the rest of it. Afterwards, he was very positive about the conversation and thought it was quite likely we would be getting the $100,000.00 grant. This is of particular interest to me because I worked on this grant before I started my internship here, back when I was a temp. A feeling of accomplishment began to swell within me and anticipation has ensued.

Afterwards, I returned to the tail end of the session on ERP. When it ended, I read over the entire packet she (our EA) provided us. She and I have discussed me assisting her with data collection and analysis, a project she's looking to expand once the FRC moves into East New York (Brooklyn).

I proofread for errors and content the "final" Clark Fnd LOI.

Most importantly, I had a conversation with the CEO about our Adovate. I was concerned about an email I received from her yesterday regarding the HSP clients and our revised "battle plan." Here is the email in it's entirety:

Erin and all -

I am going to ask that Erin run with the HSP project over the next week. If you can all can continue to ask the housing related questions to your clients as you reach them, and report your findings to Erin.

Erin - if you can start compiling anecdotal pieces on each HSP client that is in a substandard living situation, and potentially join the case manager on a home visit to look at the property - that would be great.

I would like to aim for information on 4 HSP families with substandard or unsafe living situation by next Wednesday. I would like to have information on the following as well:

1. What shelter did they come from
2. Were they forced to take the housing unit wit out even seeing it
3. Did they find the unit of did DHS find the unit for them
4. Was there an inspection process
5. Does the unit meet their level of need if there is a physical disability or special need
6. The more thorough assessment of the apartment and building conditions - peeling paint, no hot water, etc.

So if you all could work together on this it would be great. We really need some ammunition!

("And all" refers to the CEO and the case workers who are developing relationships with the HSP clients, a service we provide called "Aftercare" for formerly homeless individuals/families who have recently moved into housing)

It was the part in bold that I found most concerning. Why is the City of NY our enemy? How does the CEO deal with an employee who wants to wage bureaucratic war on the City? What is the appropriate response? How can I respond? It's a delicate situation for me to be asking these questions; on the one hand, I am a student, here to learn about, among other things, how a non-profit organisation works; on the other hand, I am a live "employee," interacting with these individuals, building relationships and trying to do a job. Some information the CEO CAN'T give me because it should be kept between just him and her, and if I was a regular employee, I would NOT have access to how he would be reprimanding/reigning her (in). More than anything, I was just curious and hold no bias either way. I understand the Advocate's position: she's been here longer and seen more things, she has more reason to hold no faith in the City to protect the homeless. It's partly her enthusiasm and passion that make her a good Advocate. I imagine it's tricky finding a way to put the brakes on without squashing her energy or discouraging her, as her CEO. He and I talked; I told him where I was coming from and what my concerns were and asked him how he will/would handle the situation. He told me, without giving much detail, that he was meeting with her on Monday to reign her in. I felt better.

I worked 8 hours today.

Wednesday, 26 January

Today was another slow day. I came in around 9, worked some more with the Grant Writer (she got back from a Grant Writing conference Monday and we talked about what she learned, I spent some time reading the material she came back with), checked my email and did some schoolwork. She has taken over the majority of the Grant Writing, so some of the research she is doing herself, too, leaving me slightly out of the loop.

I also began writing the donation request letter for FaF. Staring a blank piece of paper is daunting when trying to write, so I quickly filled out the form of the letter (date, address of recepient, addressee line, etc.). Once that was done, I just started writing. This is what I have so far:

Dear Potential Donor Contact,

As fellow New Yorkers, we know you recognize the faces of homelessness when you see them on our streets, but can you spot the newly housed individuals and families looking for a fresh start? Furnish a Future does. We see them daily as they browse our furniture and home goods warehouse, located in Bushwick, Brooklyn, looking for pots and pans, small appliances, sofas and chairs, rugs and other essential items that turn a house into a home.

It's a humble beginning.

I left at 1 today, only pulling in four hours.

Tuesday, 25 January

Today was a slow day. I arrived at 9 and left by 5, but worked mostly with the Grant Writer, editing and proofreading and planning for the upcoming deadlines (she's going out of town later this week and will not be here for one of them).

Later in the day, I met with the Advocate to make phone calls to the HSP clients that I found in FaF's database. We spoke with a woman who, the Advocate inferred, seemed so grateful for her housing to complain about any "small" issues. However, the woman did mention that the building was extremely dirty; 'gross' was the word she used, I believe. After she got off the phone, she seemed disappointed that the client wasn't living in worse conditions (or, at least that she wasn't admitting to living in crappy conditions; there's a thought that, though it may be infested with rats and peeling lead paint dust into the children's cereal, at least it's not the streets). I'm concerned that, in her passion for protecting our clients and fighting for their rights, she sees NYCDHS as the enemy and looks for their weakness. She, of course, has more experience dealing with them, knows their track record better than I, but, in my humble opinion, compromise and communication are the keys to resolving conflict, and tools, I'm afraid, the Advocate finds obsolete.

Monday, 24 January

Today, because there wasn't much going on in the office, I took the day off to enjoy the city. However, I did spend about a half-hour checking my email and had a conversation regarding the RSVP'd attendees for the upcoming Panel Discussion.

Friday, 21 January

Today I took a half day because there were no pressing deadlines, but I knew that the Advocate would want to find out the results of my database research from yesterday. However, when I came in and after I checked my email, chatted with the Grant Writer about the day's projects and with the CEO about yesterday's Discussion, I got to the Advocate, only to find out she wouldn't have time to work with me on it today. So, I spent my time catching up on my journals, registering for various lectures and discussions, and proofreading for the Grant Writer.

I only worked 4 hours today.

Thursday, 20 January

Today was the panel discussion. The catering was in order, the room reserved (I have to stay on top of the billing for this because the Professor speaking on our Panel works for NYU and reserved the room through her department so we could get a better rate) and I carried the video camera equipment with me. I was at NYU with plenty of time this morning, got up to the room where the tables and chairs were arranged perfectly. Everything went off without a hitch. And because there were only Partnership employees around the table, along with a few board members (I was very pleased about that), the discussion was relaxed and comfortable.

Professor Shinn, our Expert for this Panel, has done much research on homelessness and discussed with us the results of her relevant studies. When she casually mentioned the replacement of Section 8 with the HSP, the questions around the room narrowed; our Lead Advocate and Director of FaF because, as respectfully as possible, a little prickly about the topic. They, of course, had very specific questions and the Professor seemed to be, without obviously committing herself, in support of the change. As others around the table started asking more questions about the HSP and what support there existed that would lend credit to the City's move away from Section 8, the Moderator (the CEO) gracefully stepped in to steer us away from the topic. Later on, in private, I overheard the Lead Advocate admit, apologetically, that she hadn't realised how much anger she had pent up about this issue until the Panel. I wished I'd had more to contribute to the discussion, more questions to ask of the professor, but even after giving her research papers a thorough reading, I didn't have any curiosities I needed answering.

The point of the "Conversations with the Experts" series is to open up dialog with the experts so we can glean from them information to apply new practices to our existing ones, as well as offer a direction for the strategic planning of the overall organisation. I'm concerned that people are just not getting anything out of the discussions. I've been to the last two and, for the most part, I fear that people consider them a waste of time. Two hours is NOT enough time to sum up Research and Existing Practice and place them side by side, compare them and forumulate a new plan for how to handle homelessness. Professor Shinn's paper titled, "Predictors of Homelessness Among Families in New York City: From Shelter Request to Housing Stability" demonstrated that "the demographic characteristics and housing conditions were the most important risk factors for shelter entry" and "Receipt of subsidized housing was the primary predictor of housing stability," but for an organisation that deals with people who are already homeless, even though we KNOW what causes homelessness, we can't stop it because of the stage of our intervention. For individuals like our Lead Advocate and Attournies, who work on lobbying for appropriate legislation and eviction prevention court cases, respectively, the planning sessions are helpful. But for the caseworkers who deal with individuals and families once they're inside the shelter network, the 'prediction' is a reality.

After the Panel Discussion I went wtih the Director of FaF to her office/furniture warehouse in Brooklyn, Bushwick, to be specific. On the way there (we had quite a bit of time for discussion because the train was stopped due to a police investigation, so we took a cab ride from Manhattan) she answered all of my questions about FaF, how it works, what the history of it is, the direction it's heading in, etc. It was a great information gathering session, as well as an opportunity to plug myself for future employment.

When we arrived, she showed me around the warehouse, we ordered lunch, she explained their database system so I could navigate my way through it (that's why I was there- to gather contact information for the HSP clients I have been researching- the ones with 100+ building code violations). Afterwards, we talked some more about a few of the side projects she has going on the back burner. I volunteered to help her with reseraching potential donors of furniture and/or household items; she gave me her idea of what she wanted, answered some basic questions and asked me to write up a template donation request letter. Wow. My first tabula rasa for grant writing! This will require thorough knowledge of FaF as well as a history and plan for the future. I am greatly looking forward to this assignment.

And yes, I worked a full 8 hours today.

Wednesday, 19 January

Today I was at it bright and early. The Wagner School of Public Service at NYU was hosting a Panel Discussion on "New York City's Homeless Policies" that began at 8 am at the Puck Building, just south of Houston (pronounced "How-stun") on Lafayette St. I made it on time to reserve seats for the Grant Writer, Lead Advocate and Lead Attourney. On the Panel was the Deputy Commissioner for Policy and Planning for the NYC Dept of Homeless Services (NYCDHS or just DHS), the Executive Director for the Council on Homeless Policies and Serivces, the Executive Director of the Supportive Housing Network of New York and the Executive Director of the Bowery Residents Committee.

Essentially, they were discussing what our Advocate had discussed with us yesterday, only in bigger, more positive terms (because the person from DHS and Bowery were proponents of the new HSP programme). It was interesting to hear about the new policy from the other side of the table. Quite a few local advocates from the community were there, at least in part, to take up issue with the new HSP programme. Some of their concerns were addressed during the Q&A session. A few of those hit a nerve and the tension could be sliced right through. It was exciting to be two rows from the stage, in the presence of the panelists, whose every facial expressions were seen by me. I felt like I was taking part in Democracy, I'm that nerdy.

After the panel we went back to the office. I worked on last minute details for the panel discussion tomorrow, burned off copies of the packets (30) we'll be handing out tomorrow and searched for recording equipment for the discussion. We decided that a tape recording of it would work just as well as video taping it, but I found a new digital camera and played with it until it was time to leave, trying to figure how to work it, as no one had the time to help me. I took it, along with the 30, 20 page packets home with me (I need with me when I go to work because I wasn't stopping by the office before going to NYU). I also looked up the building code violations for the 10 Section 8/FaF clients the Advocate wanted me to get the phone numbers from FaF tomorrow (the plan is for us to just start small and look up the addresses of the most problematic buildings) and made printouts (and took them home with me to take to FaF right after the panel discussion tomorroow) of their entire Violations Summary Report.

I worked 9.5 hours today.

Tuesday, 18 January

Much of NYC observes Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (just a few more than Hanukkah observers) and so Monday was spent lazily. However, Sunday, I spent a good two hours doing research on this upcoming Panel Discussion; I was reading the speaker's published works (the ones related to homelessness) and taking notes, thinking about what questions I'd like to ask her come Thursday. Also, the CEO is moderating the event and has been grilling me on my analysis of the speaker's works to see if I have an understanding of them, if can provide him more thoughts on questions to ask the speaker.

Tuesday I got started immediately on researching building code violations on those apartments. I knew that the Advocate needed some numbers today (because she was having a phone conference with the Coalition later in the afternoon) and if Friday's attempt at extracting information was indicative of today's, it was going time to decode this information.

So I set straight to work right away, chipping away at the tedious task of data information, wait, download web page, absorb, record, repeat. After accumulating all of it, I started calling the borough offices for more assistance. They were generally friendly, however unhelpful. So I worked to analyse the data I had, see if I could make any sense of it as is, try to understand the bigger picture of what I was looking at. Once I changed my perspective, I decided to make tallies of all the violations and break them down individually, to give the Advocate some statistics and be able to explain everything I didn't know, in order that she could draw general conclusions from my work.

I worked right until 12.30, which was when the Advocate's information session started. She explained to an internal dozen of us what the new changes in NYCDHS housing vouchers system, a more thorough explanation of her explanation to me on the project she handed me. It was a very informative two hours.

After that, she and I sat down to discuss my findings. I found myself nervous, unsure of how I would explain all of my findings; I felt unprepared, but I managed my way through. She drew some conclusions from my numbers and asked me into a conference with the CEO about my findings and what our next step would be. There I was, sitting before the CEO, someone who I'm normally extremely relaxed around, to the point of comfortable, and I was nervous and felt put on the spot. But I was able to explain to him what I'd found and sit back, privy to their planning session. It felt important.

I was supposed to meet with another Attournery with the Partnership, J, but I was too busy and had to cancel on her. I was also supposed to have ready a tangible agenda for the Discussion this Thursday, but that got pushed aside, too, mostly by the Advocate work, but intermittently with Grant Writing discussion, editing, and planning.

Heck yeah, 8 hours were worked today. I'm STILL sitting in the office.

Friday, 14 January

Today was a continuation of yesterday's work. I spent the bulk of the morning going back and forth with the Grant Writer and the CEO about how we wanted to write the letter of interest (LOI) to the Foundation which, I thought, was due today (the one I referenced yesterday). We decided one important thing: the letter didn't need to be mailed today; in fact, we could wait a week on it considering the deadline isn't until March. However, the CEO gave me a list of changes to make to the Grant Writer's work and I was determined to make them. This required actually writing the letter! The first assignment where I am allowed full creative license! This was a difficult task, though, and required a good bit of research on the Partnership to be able to write a fully knowledgeable letter. In the end, the Grant Writer took over it because I was swamped with other tasks (though, at this moment, I can't tell you what all I was working on- just that I was busy all day long).

Also today I worked on learning the language of the Housing and Preservation Department's website in order to answer our lead Advocate's questions about the addresses she asked me to research. I quickly discovered the website's incompetence at explaining the violations summary reports and found myself calling around to different HPD departments to have my questions answered. Nobody wanted to help me. One gentleman even suggested I come down to his department for assistance. For the most part, the difficulty in them answering my questions rested in fact that they were looking at a different format than I was, so they couldn't explain to me what was on the screen. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

I worked 8 hours today.

Thursday, 13 January

As predicted, I paid dearly today for my absence yesterday. I arrived with a mailbox full of emails regarding, most pressingly, the upcoming panel discussion and the lack of venue nailed down. By the end of the day, and much back and forth between the primary organiser of the event as well as the speaker at the discussion (which felt unprofessional because it wasn't her job, yet, because we were getting a discount for securing the venue under her name, it was necessary that we do), we had the venue locked. I ordered the catering and contacted the AV folks (who reminded me that they hadn't been paid for our last event*) and got the majority of the details squared away.

Interspersed with those details was my work with the Grant Writer, who passes everything she writes past my nose before handing it over to the CEO for his perusal. It's flattering that my opinion on the work she does is considered valuable, and weird simultaneously, mostly because I know far less about the subject than I should know, even though, considering I'm just an intern and not "responsible" for knowing such things, I feel a sense of accountability for this. I bounced back and forth between editing a recent proposal and reviewing and planning for upcoming deadlines to making calls to hammering the details for next Thrusday's event. I hiked across town to the future site of the next panel discusison (the Feb 17th one) to check out the facilities and make sure they met our requirements for an open forum discussion.

When I returned, I was approached by our Director of Advocacy and asked to take on a new project, one that involved filtering through an online database hosted by the city of NY for the purpose of looking up building code violations for clients of our FaF program (who have recently moved into housing and qualified for free furniture). The Partnership's concern with Mayor Bloomberg's recent announcement about the changes to NYC's voucher system (Section 8) and plan to combat the disintegration of Section 8 vouchers by replacing them with the Housing Stability Plus programme is fueled by our pre-existing fear that, in the City's aggressive attempt to rapidly move people from the shelter system into permanent, (ultimately) self-sufficient housing, formerly homeless families and individuals will be / are being moved into sub-standard housing (the fabled "slums"). My task is to quietly research addresses of former clients to dig up building code violations on the properties. She gave me the "tools" to perform this task and explained that, essentially, anyone can do what I'm doing, but not without understanding the language of database system. My job: learn the language to effectively explain the Violation Summary Reports to her (and others). She needs numbers by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, we have a deadline for a foundation proposal tomorrow and an unfinalised draft of said proposal that will require a few hours' work to complete. It must be mailed by the end of the day. Also, I was asked by the Director of FaF, who is organising this coming Thursday's event, to put together an agenda for the event, which requires reading through the panelist's academic papers and summarising them. It's not a tremendous amount of work, but it will require lots of quiet time to concentrate, a commodity rare in the open-space cubicle I occupy. Looks like I'll be taking my work home this weekend.


I worked 8 hours today.

*an issue I went straight-away to my accounting department to resolve and had resolved by the end of the day.

Wednesday, 12 January

Today I took a half-day because the Grant Writer was out of the office and also because we were going to attend the grant writing seminars in the afternoon. I didn't think there was much work to be done. I also got lazy about finding the location of said seminars.

On the location of the seminars, it listed the NY Library, which, I assumed, was the same as the NY Public Library, a building, I made an ass out of myself assuming, I figured I would have no difficulty finding. Turns out, the seminars were held at a downtown building, way down in Union Square, far from Mid-town (where the main branch of the NY Library is located). With the first seminar nearly half over by the time I discovered this, I called it a day and decided to register for the next available class. I can make up my hours in the next few days.

I'm sure to pay tomorrow for my laziness today. [kicking herself]

Tuesday, 11 January

Arrived: 9 am, sharp
Hours worked: 8
Checked out: 5 pm, also sharp

Today was far more productive than yesterday. I came into work and gave myself a desk right away. It's been a bit of a struggle finding myself a seat since I left the Executive Assistant position, but with the gaps in our Development Department and the holidays everywhere, I've made myself nice, impromptu homes. And anyway, the network here allows me to log into any computer within it and have access to the entire server (or, at least, to the departmental files I need anyway).

The greatest portion of my day was spent working on reserving a space for one of our upcoming panel discussions on February 17th. I was the unofficial logistics coordinator of our last panel discussion on December 7th (referenced in my prior post) and I offered my assistance to the coordinator of Discussion #4 (2/20/05), though I can't tell you exactly what the discussion is on, just that the title is, "Conversations with the Experts."

As I mentioned in my previous post, the series of panel discussions will be the topic of one of my research papers, though, no further details have been discussed.

Also today, I sat down to work on a grant proposal for a foundation. Here's how our development department works: We (the Grant Writers) are responsible for soliciting (accumulating and accounting belong to other positions within the department) revenue for the Partnership. The Partnership acts as an umbrella organisation that mothers smaller, more client-based programmes; these programmes are Positive Step, Peter's Place, Furnish a Future (FaF), the Family Resource Center (FRC), and the Senior Aides Programme (this is a very simplified and streamlined list). Our job is to find foundations into which our services fit their service interest areas. Our primary sources are our pre-existing files (two enourmous filing cabinets filed according to foundation/government contractor/trust name) and the Foundation Center, a website that has mostly updated information (though, boo hiss, we've discovered that all of the information is NOT up-to-date).

We have a master list of prospective foundations and also a master list of upcoming due dates for grant proposals and interim/final reports for grants that we received. Interim and final reports go out to foundations, etc. which request an update on how their money is being spent, the progress of our organisation and/or programmes, etc.

As my CEO's grant writer assistant (the position I have assumed since I left the Executive Assistant position), I've been charged with reviewing those lists and, due date by due date, reviewing the files on existing granters and researching prospective granters, surmising the information for his perusal so he can decide which foundation to request XX amount of money for one of our programmes. At first he asked to see all the information I dug up first hand. As we progressed in this process, I was able to answer his questions without showing him the information because I knew which questions he'd be asking. This allowed me to slowly learn this decision-making process and, ultimately, give him recommendations on which foundations to try for, how much to ask for and for what programmes.

As I was saying, there were two grant proposals that the CEO liked; one for the GP Foundation and the other for the Taconic Foundation. GP was very cut dry, short and to the point, the other more narrative style, emotionally pulling. He wanted me to find a way to blend the two of them together. I sat down, read through both (a tedious job considering they both include an overlap of information) and began the process of weaving the two. I was under the gun to complete this because we had/have a few Foundations that this proposal would work for and looming deadlines (one of them tomorrow). I completed the task and showed it to the Grant Writer, who was quite impressed.

Tomorrow I have two lectures, hosted by the Foundation Center, on Proposal and Budget Writing Basics. The Gimbel Foundation deadline is tomorrow and I haven't pulled the file on it. It's hard to decide who's responsible for what; my CEO will talk to me about something, but I'm unsure if the Grant Writer is ultimately responsible for completing it. I'll have to sit down and talk to him about the overlap between the two of us. It would be great if she and I had a system of handling our assignments so there was no confusion about who's doing what. I should sit down and talk to her about this.