Welcome to the Kleinert Foundation Weekly Reader! Each Monday, we deliver a variety of resources to help keep our community informed and engaged.
Articles, Blogs, & Reports
Amid challenges of pandemic, Hugs Café finds ingredients for success By: Dallas Morning News, Nancy Baldwin
“Turning hardship into hope is an everyday occurrence at Hugs Café. The pandemic is just one more opportunity for inspiration.
“We’ve had to be extremely creative. We have to. We can’t let this fail,” says founder Ruth Thompson.
It’s through that creativity and a dash of inventiveness that the restaurant has continued despite recent challenges. The nonprofit eatery employs adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Workers train in every aspect of the restaurant, from the kitchen to the front of the house. To keep employees engaged and learning, Thompson and volunteers have redesigned a variety of programs and created new opportunities for learning.” Read more here.
Community Conversation: Cyntoia Brown-Long By: NBC DFW, Laura Harris
“Cyntoia Brown-Long is now a college graduate, a published author and a nationally recognized speaker. This all after she was sentenced to life in prison for killing a man in 2004. She was just 16 at the time.
Brown-Long, who is also a survivor of sex trafficking, said that man bought her for sex, and she feared for her life during the encounter. She has always said his death was a result of self-defense.
Brown-Long will be the featured interview at the New Friends New Life virtual luncheon in September. The Dallas-based nonprofit works to bring awareness to sex trafficking and helps women and men get out of a dangerous life and into a life of promise and hope. Their annual luncheon is their biggest fundraiser of the year to fund the many programs they provide.” Read more here.
Amid pandemic, Dallas County is devising a new strategy to deal with prostitution cases By: Dallas Morning News
“COVID-19′s consequences have fallen hard on the vulnerable women — many already without a shred of hope — who walk Harry Hines Boulevard and other Dallas prostitution hot spots to line the pockets of sex traffickers.
Even when police officers made arrests this year, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office rejected case after case in order to keep the jail population down and reduce the chance of a coronavirus outbreak behind bars.
But that decision also sent prostitutes back into the arms of waiting pimps.
Thank goodness, beginning this month, the DA’s Office has found a better way forward.
The DA’s office now offers pre-trial intervention agreements that provide a road map to a better life. The agreements will allow any individuals arrested on a misdemeanor or felony prostitution charge to be eligible for their case to be dismissed and expunged from their record.” Read more here.
Five For-Profit Practices That Philanthropy Should Avoid By: SSIR, Judy Park & Kavya Shankar
" There are many differences between the organizational structures, practices, and goals of the social and private sectors. Appreciating the nuances of each approach can strengthen both. In the same way nonprofits have benefited from adopting smart business thinking, the private sector may benefit from some tenets of the social sector: clarity around mission and theory of change, investments for long-term gains, consideration of all stakeholders, tailored metrics, and the humility to listen before speaking. In a time of increasing inequality and wealth generation within the business world, our hope is that newer donors come into philanthropy with an open-minded perspective on how to drive change through the sector, rather than assuming that for-profit thinking is always the right approach.” Read more here.
Podcasts
How We Can Bring the Best of Silicon Valley to Underserved Communities in America, By: Cause Artist
“In episode 64 of the Disruptors for GOOD podcast, I speak with Di-Ann Eisnor, CEO of byCore and Co-Founder of Neighborhood Start Fund on selling Waze to Google for $1 billion and bringing the best of Silicon Valley to underserved communities in America. We also speak about her short time at WeWork on building connected cities and lessons learned about toxic company cultures.” Listen here.
What’s Next: The Life Cycle of a Pandemic, By: SSIR
“The past two decades have been marked by natural and man-made disasters that include the California wildfires, Hurricanes Maria and Sandy, the 2008 financial crisis, and 9/11. Amid the many lessons they taught the philanthropic sector about managing crises, which insights stand out amid the COVID-19 pandemic of today and how will they help when the next world-shaking event strikes?
SSIR's publisher, Michael Voss, speaks about philanthropy and its responses to crises of yesterday, today, and tomorrow with Regine Webster, vice president of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, and Brian Howell, director of business development at Schwab Charitable.” Listen here.
Upcoming Events
Genesis Women Shelter 27th Annual Luncheon
September 2, 2020 | 11:30 am CST
“To ensure the safety of our staff, supporters and the community as a whole, we are excited to announce that we are moving the Genesis Annual Luncheon to a VIRTUAL event! If you haven't yet bought a ticket, you can still tune in to hear actress Nicole Kidman, who received an Emmy Award, Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award and SAG Award for her portrayal of Celeste Wright in Big Little Lies. Kidman played a former attorney turned stay-at-home mom with a seemingly perfect life, but whose husband was abusive behind closed doors - effectively opening audiences' eyes to the fact that domestic violence can happen to anyone. Don’t miss your chance to tune into this event… purchase your ticket now!” Learn more here.
Austin Street Center’s 20th Annual Humble Beginnings Luncheon
September 25, 2020 | 11:30 am
“Tony and Grammy Award-winning performer, Leslie Odom Jr. will take the stage as the keynote speaker at Austin Street Center’s annual Humble Beginnings luncheon.
Best known for his breakout role as ‘Aaron Burr’ in the smash hit Broadway musical, Hamilton, Odom Jr. received a 2015 Drama Desk Award nomination and won the Tony Award for “Best Actor in a Musical” for his performance. He also won a Grammy Award as a principal soloist on the original cast recording. Odom Jr. was most recently seen on the big screen starring alongside Cynthia Erivo and Joe Alwyn in “Harriet”, the story of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes responsible for freeing hundreds of slaves. This spring, he released a book – FAILING UP: HOW TO TAKE RISKS, AIM HIGHER, and NEVER STOP LEARNING. In 2018, Odom Jr. released “Mr” – his first album of original songs.” Learn more here.
Wed, Oct 28, 2020, 11:00 AM -Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 12:00 PM
“Building systems that are equitable for women and people of color expands prosperity for everyone. The opportunities for human-centered design, innovation and impact that will take us there are unprecedented. But even as there are growing reasons to hope, we must commit to reform through principles, policies, and practices that level the playing field and create opportunity. bigBANG! 2020 will lift up rightful disruption and its methods to dismantle injustice and intentionally rework and rebuild systems that provide equal opportunity for all people to participate with dignity in the economic life of our society.” Learn more here.
From Dallas Doing good
Q&A with Tony Fleo: Social Venture Partners is Doing Good Better By: Jan Osborn
“During the past few months of a global pandemic and social unrest, many people are hoping to hear more good news and how we can become better as a society. For Social Venture Partners (SVP), “Doing Good Better” has been their mission for over twenty years. SVP is a group of engaged community leaders committed to improving lives and maximizing social impact through the thoughtful application of their collective resources and expertise. SVP cultivates effective philanthropists, strengthens nonprofits, and invests in innovative solutions – building powerful relationships to tackle our community’s social challenges.
Tony Fleo, CEO, has been serving Social Venture Partners since April 2013. We recently visited with Tony and asked him about his work with SVP. Tony is optimistic about the future and how our community can do good better!” Read more here.
From The Liberty Line Newsletter
Racial Disparities, COVID-19, and Human Trafficking By: Polaris
“Human trafficking and the COVID-19 pandemic have something in common: Both take advantage of those most affected by the inequities prevalent in our societies. COVID-19, like human trafficking, can happen to anyone. But they are a lot more likely to happen to people who are already facing other hardships – like poverty, for one. In the case of COVID-19, people living in poverty generally have less access to healthcare and are therefore typically in poorer health. People in poor health are more vulnerable to COVID-19. In the case of trafficking, people living in poverty likely have fewer options available to them. They may have no economic option outside of their trafficking situation to support their families; or they may be more vulnerable to false promises that lure them into trafficking. ” Read more here.
August Book of the Month
Anointed By: Aelicia Watson
“Aelicia Watson serves as an Urban Missionary to the women of the Bonton Neighborhood and women all over the greater Dallas metroplex. Aelicia has always had a servant’s heart and a strong desire to serve the Lost, the Least, and the Lonely. She began volunteering every month with several different organizations and ministries that serve the South Dallas – Bonton Community. In 2016 she answered God’s call into full time ministry. During that year, she felt that God was calling her to begin a new ministry, focused on women and their unique needs and problems. In 2017 in response to that call, she established “Redeemed Women”. This ministry will address the pain, suffering, brokenness and obstacles women who are victims of generational poverty face such as: homelessness, hunger, sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, educational deficiencies, transportation, physical and medical needs, unemployment, lack of a viable support system, and exploitation.” Learn more here. To purchase a book, please email chocolate@redeemedwomen.org.
August Product of the Month
Three Designing Women Custom Engraved Tumbler
Three Designing Women is a small but mighty female and minority operated wholesale manufacturer based in Dallas, Texas, that started with a simple yet ambitious objective: To produce the finest personalized goods in the world. Now entering its second decade, Three Designing Women has risen to become The Most Awarded Personalization Company in History! Each month TDW supports one or more non-profit organizations as recipients of their time and resources, and their retailers are integral to this outreach. To learn more please visit www.threedesigningwomen.com. To purchase, please visit Artisan Stamp.