Grant and Information Request Form Your Account or Fund Name: ___________________________________________________________ I would like to distribute $_______.___ from my/our fund for________________________ I would like to distribute $_______.___ from my/our fund for________________________ I would like to distribute $_______.___ from my/our fund for________________________ Please provide me with more information about: _________________________________ Please provide me with more information about: _________________________________ Please provide me with more information about: _________________________________ ____________________________ ______________________ ___________________ Signature Print Name Date ____________________________ ___________________________________________ Phone number Email address

Revitalizing Downtown Two recent reports, Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America’s Older Industrial Cities (2007) by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Land Institute’s Advisory Services Panel Report on Rochester, NY (2005), point to two central strategies for revitalizing the city’s core. Both reports draw attention to the benefits of development along the Genesee River, and recent projects like Corn Hill Landing attest to the success of this strategy. Rochester is lucky to have a wonderful collaboration on the waterfront—the Rochester Historical Society and Corn Hill Navigation. Together, these two agencies have nurtured an appreciation of our region’s waterways and history. This summer, residents can ride the Sam Patch on the Erie canal while listening to urban planner Kal Wysokowski discuss the future of Bushnells Basin, or sail below the new Troup-Howell Bridge while discussing public art with arts advocate, Roslyn Goldman. Corn Hill Navigation also sponsors educational tours for children in partnership with the Rochester Museum & Science Center. Since 1991, over 20,000 local students have toured our local waterways while learning about our area’s history. Unfortunately, Corn Hill Navigation’s larger boat, the Mary Jemison, is currently beached for repairs, with repair costs estimated at close to $40,000. Many individuals, groups, and companies are contributing funds to get the Mary Jemison back on the river where it belongs. If you would like to support this effort, call Ed Doherty at The Community Foundation at 271-4271, ext. 4312, or call Corn Hill Navigation’s Executive Director, Victoria Schmitt, at 509-8229. See the organization’s Website (http://samandmary.org/) for information on this summer’s tours. The Brookings and Urban Land Institute reports also highlighted the importance to downtown revitalization of a vital arts and cultural scene. The recent report Arts & Economic Prosperity (III), by Americans for the Arts, discusses how vibrant art scenes appeal to the “creative class”—those younger, well-educated, entrepreneurial individuals so many cities are looking to attract, and that census data indicates the Rochester area is losing (i.e., the “brain drain”). The Rochester Contemporary, home to our contemporary art and performance scene, is sponsoring events this summer and fall geared directly towards attracting young professionals to downtown. There will be a series of “New History Tours”—bike tours of downtown focused on particular historical topics. Guide Erik Olson will explore obscure events on the Genesee in August on the tour, “Down by the River,” and this September, local lecturer Karen VanMeenen will lead the tour “Beyond Susan B: Revolutionary Women of Rochester.” You can obtain more information about the tours by visiting www.tours.obadiahdogberry.org. Also in September, the new performing arts group Method Machine will host a multi-site event called “POST:SEPTEMBER11.” The group has obtained access to

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Matching Your Generosity with Community Needs Looking for other ways to make a difference? We have researched and recommend the following opportunities.

opportunities G I V I N G Summer 2007

Photo courtesy of the Rochester Museum and Science Center

over 5,000 index cards originally posted by New Yorkers on 42nd Street during the days after the attacks. These cards will be on display at 4 different sites, including one on Main Street. Onlookers will be able to write response cards while members of Method Machine perform street theatre inspired by the original cards. Contact Ed Doherty at The Community Foundation at 271-4271, ext. 4312, or Bleu Cease at the Rochester Contemporary at 461-2222 to support these events. Cutting Edge Research on Children and Families The Community Foundation has been a leader in supporting vital research to inform public policy and practices that impact children and families. The Early Childhood Development Initiative (ECDI), a collaborative of The Community Foundation, United Way, Rochester City School District, and Monroe County, among others, has undertaken an important study on child care subsidies in Monroe County. The study, being conducted by the Center for Governmental Research (CGR), is looking at who is eligible to receive subsidies and why more families aren’t taking advantage of child care subsidies. Since 2001, the number of families accessing child care subsidies has decreased substantially - from 13,000 to 9,000. It is anticipated that this work will help identify the barriers that exist for families attempting to access child care subsidies so that those eligible will be able to provide their children with high-quality care.

The Community Foundation is also supporting two key pieces of research on after-school programming in collaboration with GRASA (Greater Rochester After-School Alliance), an initiative of The Community Foundation. GRASA is a volunteer steering committee made up of funders, policymakers, researchers, and parent and provider representatives, among others. In 2002, GRASA released the results of an after-school survey conducted by CGR which found that only 12% of 5-to-14-year-olds in Monroe County were served by formal after-school programs. That inventory is being updated now by The Children’s Agenda, a member of the GRASA collaborative. GRASA felt it was particularly important to update the survey now due to significant state after-school funding stream changes impacting Rochester. The Children’s Agenda is in the process of identifying after-school programs and

collecting important information on the programs via surveys and phone calls. The new inventory, to be released in the fall, will be invaluable to the community in identifying geographic gaps in after-school services and the number of children not participating in formal after-school programs. GRASA is also involved in an important study being conducted by The Children’s Institute that seeks to assess the quality of after-school programs in Monroe County. More than 45 program were reviewed this year through on-site observations and other measures. The Children’s Institute would like to include many more programs in this work. Once complete, this study will form the basis for a set of “best practice” recommendations for after-school programming. This is an important strategic step in helping to boost after-school program quality to the same level as Rochester’s early childhood programs. The Community Foundation is committed to seeing after-school programs participate in quality assessment research and make quality program enhancements. If you are interested in supporting any of these vital research studies, please contact Caroline Merenda at 271-4271, ext. 4303.

(Continued from page 1) On the international front…. The Community Foundation understands that many of our donors have interests that take them outside the Rochester area. Additionally, the Foundation is always interested in promoting international exchange between Rochester and other countries and cultures. The HUGS Foundation, Inc., is an international medical aid society founded by local physician Vito C. Quatela, M.D. in order to bring corrective facial surgeries to children in Quito, Ecuador. These children suffer from congenital facial deformities at a higher rate than in other Latin American countries, and research is underway to determine why that is the case. Dr. Quatela noted that most of these children would not receive any corrective surgery, and was inspired to recruit a team of doctor and nurse volunteers to go to Quito and provide these vital surgeries, without which, these children would likely suffer lives of medical problems, rejection, and abuse. Since HUGS was founded in 2003, 216 children have received corrective surgery. Hugs estimates that each surgery costs approximately $650—a small price to pay for the invaluable impact these surgeries have for the children who receive them. If you would like to support Hugs and their work in Ecuador, please contact Bonnie Wallace at 271-4271, ext. 4308, or call Nancy P. Good, Practice Manager for HUGS, at 244-1000. Be sure to check out the HUGS Foundation webpage at www.helpusgivesmiles.org. According to AHEAD Energy (www.aheadenergy.org), a nonprofit energy access group focused on African energy development, currently 3.5 billion people in Africa rely predominately on dung, charcoal, firewood, and crop residues for energy. These energy sources are not self-sustaining, create illness and death from indoor air pollution, and contribute to deforestation and other environment ills. AHEAD is seeking new ways and ideas to help bring energy to those 3.5 billion, and the University of Rochester is helping in this important effort. This year, the University will host two African experts on biofuels, Drs. Joao Venancia and Joao Chidamoio of Mozambique, who will perform in-depth research on sustainable energy sources for the developing world. This research has the potential to impact so many people, both here and abroad. If you would like to help support this historic collaboration between AHEAD and the University of Rochester, please call Bonnie Wallace at 271-4271, ext. 4308. Last year, 8 members of Rochester Wheels, a group of top-notch basketball players who just happen to be in wheelchairs, were given a wonderful opportunity to play in an international competition in Rochester’s sister city, Rennes, France. Rochester Wheels is part of SportsNet, an athletic program created by the Rochester Rehabilitation Center which helps other-abled individuals engage in athletics. The team obtained a loan from the Rennes-Rochester Sister City Committee for the trip, and have paid over half the loan back, but $3,300 is still owed. If you would like to help support Rochester Wheels and the Rennes-Rochester Sister City Committee, please call Ed Doherty at 271-4271, ext. 4312, or Steve Barbato, Coach of Rochester Wheels, at 271-2520, ext. 674.

Photo courtesy of HUGS Foundation, Inc.