Sprout Fund Seed Award

Seed Award Page 1 The Sprout Fund’s flagship funding program

SEED AWARD APPLICATION COVER SHEET Project Information:

• The Book ‘Em Branch Out! Project • Thomas Merton Center • Book ‘Em Website: www.bookempittsburgh.org

Project Description: In 250 words or less, please provide a statement that summarizes the project for which you are requesting support. Be sure to include details about what your project will accomplish, who will be involved, and if appropriate, where it will be taking place. You should also describe how Sprout Seed Award support will be used to catalyze your new initiative. Book 'Em, a project of the Thomas Merton Center, sends hundreds of packages of donated books each month to incarcerated people, primarily in Western Pennsylvania and the rest of the state. Our aim is to confront the challenges of the prison system by giving inmates the opportunity for self-education, which can lead to rehabilitation. The Book ‘Em Branch Out! Project will create dialogue among local residents about how high levels of incarceration have affected our communities, and contribute to a sustained community-driven response. We aim to do this by promoting and supporting the following internship positions which will be held from January 2012 to April 2012:

• Fundraising Events Coordinator • Community Outreach Coordinator • Strategic Planning Coordinator

These 4-month internship positions will be promoted at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work, Duquesne University School of Law, Carnegie Mellon University, Point Park University’s Innocence Institute, and will also be posted on websites that list volunteer and internship positions. Internships will involve a commitment of 10 hours of logged work per week, in addition to attending Book ‘Em’s book packing sessions from 4pm-7pm each Sunday. Interns will outreach to a number of communities, including book clubs, restorative justice programs, religious groups, and local residents. Community outreach and engagement will be the main focus of each intern, with the Fundraising Events Coordinator outreaching to local businesses and organizations, the Community Outreach Coordinator organizing community education events and developing a service learning curriculum for volunteers, and the Strategic Planning Coordinator developing relationships with other local non-profit organizations by researching their strategic plans. Creating visibility for the Branch Out! Project will be the primary responsibility of the Community Outreach Coordinator, who will be consulting with Justseeds Artist Cooperative in developing a poster campaign that uses already-designed graphics from their Critical Resistance prisoner rights portfolio. Sprout Seed Award support will primarily be used to launch this community outreach initiative by paying for costs associated with printing posters, organizing community film screenings and discussions, and holding fundraising events.

Budget/Funding Request: • Amount Requested: $1,000 • Total Revenues: $1,730 (including in kind support) • Total Expenses: $1,250 (projected)


Estimated Participation: How many people will be engaged by your project activities? Include in your count audience members, project management, collaborators, and team members. Separately detail your reasonable estimate of online traffic, if appropriate.

• This project will engage up to 250 people

Geography: List the communities/regions in which project activities will take place.

This community outreach initiative will focus on neighborhoods in the eastern region of Pittsburgh, including Garfield, Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, Friendship, Polish Hill, Oakland, and East Liberty.

Internship opportunities for university students will be posted on the websites of universities and colleges located in the city of Pittsburgh, as well as websites that promote local, national, and international social justice volunteerism.

Timeframe: What are the key dates/milestones for your project? • When project planning began: June 2011 • When project activities begin: January 2012 • When project activities conclude: May 2012

How did you hear about Seed Award? Please choose one of the following, or describe “Other:” From a: Funded Project / Poster / Brochure / Friend / Staff / Website / Presentation at an Event / Other?


SEED AWARD APPLICATION QUESTIONS Please directly answer questions 1-10 in 4 pages or less:

1. Statement: Seed Awards provide catalytic funding to help transform ideas into reality. Please describe why your idea for this program, project, or initiative merits Seed Award support.

Book ‘Em was founded in 2000 by a group of friends who were concerned about not being able to mail books or reading material to a friend of theirs who was incarcerated. This concern developed into a sustained community-driven response to create an entire library of donated books which was shelved in the basement of one of the co-founders, etta cetera. Book ‘Em now partners with the Big Idea Bookstore, is housed by the Thomas Merton Center, and sends quality reading material to inmates all over the country.

Book ‘Em’s co-founders have recently moved on to other projects, and most core volunteers are new to the group. During this turn-over, one of the most notable shifts to occur is that most volunteers do not have personal or direct connections to incarceration. Book ‘Em volunteers are committed to contributing to social justice but most have never been incarcerated themselves, nor do they have family or friends who have been incarcerated. This is a concern because those who are affected by high levels of incarceration are those who stand to contribute the most to a community driven campaign to provide rehabilitative support to prisoners.

The Book ‘Em Branch Out! Project aims to address this concern and bring Book ‘Em back to its roots by involving and engaging local residents and community organizations in the activities of Book ‘Em, and primarily targeting folks who have direct experience with incarceration, either by having been imprisoned themselves, or by having a friend or family member in prison. Funding from the Sprout Fund would catalyze the Branch Out! Project by printing Justseeds posters to promote Book ‘Em, organizing educational events in the community, and holding fundraising events to ensure the sustainability of our books-to-prisoners program.

2. Focus: What issues in your community are the focus of the project? How does the project

address these community issues? What research have you found to strengthen your understanding of these issues?

Pittsburgh's violent-crime rate is 251% greater than the Pennsylvania average and 201% greater than the U.S. average. Among approximately 64,000 incarcerated in Pennsylvania, 90% will ultimately be released into the community. Allegheny County Jail alone holds more than 2,000 inmates. Recidivism is closely related to important educational and psychological factors, including a person's interpersonal skills, and the ability to obtain and hold a job (see, eg, Yamatani, "Overview Report of Allegheny County Jail Collaborative Evaluation Findings," 2008). Communities benefit when incarcerated people do not return to jail; costs of incarceration are drastically cut, and violent crime is decreased. Rehabilitation was once the stated goal of prison systems. Today, funding for most educational and rehabilitation programs has been cut or eliminated. In 2010, the Pa. Dept. of Corrections spent over $26,500 to incarcerate each inmate at a correctional institution, yet set aside only $818 per inmate for education or training. Book 'Em provides critical educational and psychological support for inmates by sending hundreds of donated books each month to prisoners in local, state, and federal prisons in Pennsylvania. Because prisons usually prohibit inmates from receiving packages from family or friends, we provide a critical step in rehabilitation for the inmates and, ultimately, help the region at large by the educational and psychological benefit afforded the inmates. Finally, the growing racial imbalance in Pa. prisons (from 55% minority in 1980 to 61% minority in 2009) reflects the racial imbalance of U.S. education (e.g., 4.8% high school dropout rate for whites; 9.9% for blacks in 2008).


Book 'Em's efforts to send inmates who request GED material, high school textbooks and for some, even grade-school-level textbooks, offers less-educated inmates the opportunity to close these educational gaps in their lives. Book ‘Em’s Branch Out! Project will draw attention to these issues, create dialogue among local residents about how high levels of incarceration have affected our communities, and contribute to a sustained community-driven response.

3. Inspiration and Uniqueness: Describe your inspiration, or what influenced your thinking about the project. What is unique or innovative about your idea? Why is your project idea more likely to make an impact than a traditional approach to the same issue?

Book ‘Em itself is a truly unique and unconventional approach to addressing social injustices that arise due to high levels of incarceration in our communities. The Branch Out! Project is specifically designed to increase the scope and capacity of Book ‘Em’s operations and ensure that we include in our campaign the voices and experiences of those who have direct experience with the prison system. Rather than developing a grant proposal asking for funds that would mainly be used to cover postage costs (our primary expense), the Branch Out! Project is unique in that it aims to develop diversified, sustained, and long-term revenue through the efforts of committed interns. By offering 4-month internships that receive support from our Project Manager Amanda Johnson, we hope to attract dedicated individuals who are passionate about making a big impact in a small social justice-education organization. Additionally, the community outreach component of our project aims to build grassroots community support and partnerships with local organizations, so that our community maintains an emotional connection to, and a personal investment in, the work that Book ‘Em does. Fostering this kind of community support helps to ensure the work we do remains relevant to our community and that local residents are invested in the work that we do together as a community. Furthermore, by promoting Book ‘Em’s activities in the community and involving community members and university students in meaningful volunteer and internship opportunities, this project will ensure that we will increase our capacity to create progressive social change, not only in our communities but across Pennsylvania within the prisons to which we send books. Particularly inspiring are the letters that we receive from inmates from across the country, who describe how Book ‘Em has personally affected them:

...You were kind enough to mail me your 2005 Prison Resource Guide. From that small act of kindness from you, I was able to reach out from the state of solitary confinement that I still find myself in. I have connected with organizations, made friends, and have been able to survive the past year and a half in solitary confinement. And I must say that I could not have done it without that first Resource Guide.

-J, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania

Thank you for the very wonderful books that you sent to me. I received a self publishing manual and a wonderful book on Integrity. This book is right on time because in my [study group] we have been discussing "Ethics" for three weeks and now I have something to build upon to contribute without deviating from the topic.

-W, Somerset, Pennsylvania

So as I said, I would like you to know I really appreciate the books you sent. Books are so hard to come by in here. It's sad... You should know, though, that those who are interested will likely also be reading what you've sent my way. When all is said and done I want to be sure all these books have been very well read... Know you are all thought of with warmth and deepest gratitude. Be well.

-T, Trenton, NJ

4. Audience Engagement: Describe the target audience your project will engage and how they will participate in the project. Be sure to also address the following in your response:

• What experience or familiarity do you have with this target audience?


• Will different parts of the audience have different levels of engagement in the project? (e.g., project management team, volunteers, staff, participants, and the general public)

• How does your project contribute to diversity (cultural, gender, racial, socioeconomic, ethnic, sexual orientation) and/or diversity-related issues in your community?

Book ‘Em has been in operation since 2000 and has involved hundreds of members of the local community in its operations. The staff at the Thomas Merton Center and the volunteers of Book ‘Em have formed important community partnerships with local churches, individual community members, restorative justice programs, book stores, and libraries, and are all therefore extremely familiar with the target audience of this project. The project management team will consist of Thomas Merton Center staff, Book ‘Em volunteers, and the interns. This team will primarily be responsible for the coordination of each stage of the project and ensuring its overall success. Engagement of the general public will include promoting volunteer opportunities with Book ‘Em, holding community education events, and organizing fundraising events. Pittsburgh’s high violent crime rate combined with the lack of quality reading materials in prisons underscores the importance and relevance for a project that will assist Book ‘Em in continuing to create racial and socioeconomic equity in our communities.

5. Implementation: Describe how you propose to implement your project. Detail key program activities from planning to execution, specifying how you plan to overcome anticipated challenges.

From October 2011-December 2011 Project Manager Amanda Johnson will promote the 3 internship positions by posting the positions to a number of websites and volunteer bulletins in local universities and colleges. The project will officially start in January when the internship positions begin. Fundraising Events Coordinator: Primary responsibility is to organize at least two major benefit events, such as a book sale and a fundraiser at Justseeds’ studio featuring Critical Resistance graphics. At least one major fundraising event should be held at the half-way point of the internship and one event toward the end of the 4-month position. Justseeds has already confirmed that they will offer up their studio space for a fundraising event, and suggested that we feature the posters as part of the fundraising event. Community Outreach Coordinator: Primary responsibilities are to develop a poster campaign with Justseeds Artist Cooperative using graphics from the Critical Resistance project to advertise Book ‘Em volunteer opportunities, organize community discussions and film screenings, and build connections with other community organizations. This intern will also be responsible for developing a service learning curriculum for new volunteers and orienting new volunteers during the Sunday packing sessions.* Strategic Planning Coordinator: Primary responsibilities are to develop a strategic plan for Book ‘Em and to initiate a membership drive. The membership drive will aim to secure at least 100 Book ‘Em supporters at a membership fee of $30 per year through a mail campaign that targets past donors. The intern must meet with 3 local non-profit organizations and research their strategic plans. Strategic planning must also include researching organizations that offer grants for which Book ‘Em is eligible. *Note: Volunteer opportunities include working on the “day to day” aspects of keeping Book ‘Em running: routinely reorganizing and re-stocking the donation library shelves, sorting books, working with volunteers on mailing boxes of books directly to prison libraries, soliciting quality book donations from


book stores and libraries, and managing the outflow of “junk” books. Volunteer positions are unpaid and do not require a long-term commitment. One of the anticipated challenges of the Branch Out! Project is providing adequate support for the interns and preventing possible burn-out. In a non-profit, all-volunteer run group such as Book ‘Em, several major responsibilities often fall to the hands of only a few volunteers, who are not able to juggle all of the competing needs of the organization. We aim to address this challenge by having a team of three dedicated core project members available to offer weekly support to the interns. Long-term Book ‘Em volunteer Scott Kennedy, Thomas Merton Center staff Viv Shaffer, and long-term Book ‘Em volunteer/Branch Out! Project Manager Amanda Johnson have each committed to providing weekly support to the interns. Furthermore, the internship responsibilities have been designed in a way that makes them important, but not crucial to the operations of Book ‘Em. While community outreach, creative fundraising, and strategic planning are all essential components of maintaining a healthy organization, Book ‘Em would not fall apart without these components. The internships are therefore designed to be creative, exploratory, and meaningful learning experiences.

6. Marketing and Promotion: How will you promote the project (its events and activities) in the community and build awareness among the target audience? What is your marketing/ advertising strategy?

Promoting the internship opportunities will involve reaching out to local colleges and universities as well as actively posting internship opportunities on relevant volunteer websites and bulletins, such as: idealist.org, the online Peace and Collaborative Development Network (internationalpeaceandconflict.org), pittsburghcares.org, volunteermatch.org, volunteerpittsburgh.com, pittsburghproject.org, and studentguidetopittsburgh.com. We will also send out emails through the Thomas Mergon Center and the Big Idea Bookstore’s email distribution lists.

The Community Outreach Coordinator and Fundraising Events Coordinator will be actively involved in promoting and marketing their fundraising events and community partnerships. This will involve promoting Book ‘Em activities through the poster campaign, organizing book sales, and tabling at community events. Specfically, our postering campaign will begin by targeting local book stores, cafes, libraries, churches, restorative justice programs, and organizations that provide support for friends and family members of those who have been incarcerated.

Such organizations include: Allegheny County Jail Coalition, Big Idea Bookstore, Amachi Pittsburgh, Fight for Lifers-West (a project of the Thomas Merton Center), Human Rights Coalition, Fed Up! (also a project of the Thomas Merton Center), Americorp and Goodwill literacy programs, Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Summer Dreamers Academy and Carnegie Library Book Groups. Book ‘Em’s Pennsylvania Prison Directory Action booklet has a full listing of all organizations involved in restorative justice and prisoner support initiatives, and the Community Outreach Coordinator would use this booklet as a starting-point for outreach.

7. Community Connections: What steps will you take to connect your idea to the work of other community initiatives? Are there any other organizations or projects focused on this same issue? If so, how is your project similar/different?

Book ‘Em is the only group that sends reading materials directly to inmates. However, by focusing on the similarities that Book ‘Em shares with many of the above-listed local organizations, we will be able to successfully outreach to a diverse community, including: those who love to read, those who have family and friends who are incarcerated, and those who wish to become more civically engaged.


8. Goals, Outcomes, and Measures of Success: What are your principal goals for the project? What outcomes will you achieve in the community and for your target audience once it concludes? Describe how you will use qualitative and quantitative measures throughout the course of the project to determine if your project succeeds and achieves the specified effects.

Principal goals for the project are to:

• Attract qualified candidates for 3 internship positions and provide in-kind volunteer support to the individuals involved in these internships;

• Provide ongoing support to the 3 interns (weekly meetings with Project Manager Amanda Johnson, weekly check-ins with Scott Kennedy at the Sunday packing sessions, and organizational support from Viv Shaffer);

• Launch a poster campaign that promotes the activities of Book ‘Em, using graphics from Justseeds Artist Cooperative’s Critical Resistance project;

• Generate greater community involvement and engagement in discussing how high levels of incarceration has impacted our local communities;

• Improve the capacity of Book ‘Em to pack 50 books per week (in order to meet the needs of our 200 inmate requests/month) by increasing the number of volunteers at Book ‘Em’s weekly packing sessions;

• Increase our long-term capacity through the creation of a strategic plan, and;

• Implement a membership drive that secures a $30/year membership fee from at least 100 supporters of Book ‘Em by May 2012 (which includes a yearly membership drive event).

To determine how successful the Branch Out! Project is, Amanda will have weekly check-ins with the interns and address any challenges they may experience. Our core Project Team (Scott, Amanda, and Viv) will also meet regularly with the interns, on a bi-weekly basis, to discuss the goals of the project and the effectiveness of the steps being taken to achieve these goals. Project effectiveness will be measured in terms of: well attended community outreach events (such as film screenings or discussions), an increase in the number of weekly book-packing volunteers (to meet the goal of packing 50 books per week), fundraising events that generate revenue for Book ‘Em (after expenses for organizing the event are taken into account), and generating $3,000 for Book ‘Em by May 2012 through the implementation of a membership drive.

Leadership and Experience: Who will work on this project and what will they do? How much time will they spend on this project? What skills and experience do they have that demonstrates that they have the capacity to do this work? How will your project help develop and motivate this team to become civic leaders and active in community affairs?

As Project Manager, Amanda Johnson will be responsible for posting the internship positions on relevant websites, culling applications and interviewing the applicants, meeting with the 3 interns for approximately 1 hour per week, and writing the final project report for the Sprout Fund. Amanda has been involved with Book ‘Em since it was founded in 2000 and has a wealth of experience coordinating interns and volunteers. Specifically, Amanda was responsible for initiating and coordinating several book packing sessions this summer with the Pittsburgh Public School’s Summer Dreamers Academy students, in which dozens of high school students spent an afternoon in the Thomas Merton Center helping to organize our library and package books.

As Project Team members, Viv Shaffer and Scott Kennedy will serve as Amanda’s primary “go-to” people, with additional poster campaign support from Mary Tremonte. As one of the staff-members of the Thomas Merton Center, Viv will provide organizational context and history as well as important community contacts. As one of Book ‘Em’s core and long-term volunteers, Scott will be particularly helpful for the Community Outreach Coordinator, by providing relevant operational and logistical information about Book ‘Em’s Sunday packing sessions.


With such diverse talent and experience, this Project Team will create the environment needed to launch the Branch Out! Project and support Book ‘Em’s new interns. Core to this new initiative is the belief that the Book ‘Em interns will not only develop their own community leadership skills, but that they will also encourage and motivate local community members to become engaged in civic affairs.

Additionally, if you represent an organization: 1. Please describe your organization (its size, history, mission, tax status, and budget).

History: The Thomas Merton Center began in a storefront office on the Southside in 1972 to protest the continuation of the war in Vietnam. Today, the Thomas Merton Center is located at 5129 Penn Avenue in Garfield (next door to our old location, 5125 Penn Avenue) and has expanded to include over twenty organizing campaigns and projects. It serves as a valuable resource for dozens of social justice and peace groups within the region. Our monthly newspaper,The NewPeople, is a key source of information for activists on current actions, campaigns, and events. Our website provides an up-to-date action calendar, and we send out a weekly electronic newsletter to let people know what's going on and how to get involved. Mission: Book 'Em, a project of Thomas Merton Center, sends hundreds of packages of donated books each month to incarcerated people, primarily in Western Pennsylvania and the rest of the state. Our aim is to confront the challenges of the prison system by giving inmates the opportunity for self-education, which can lead to rehabilitation. Since most Pennsylvania prisoners are ultimately released into the community, Book ‘Em benefits all Western Pennsylvanians by helping these people prepare for productive, nonviolent lives. Book 'Em's sponsor, Thomas Merton Center, works to instill a consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, and oppression. TMC members are people from diverse philosophies and faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just society. People served by the Thomas Merton Center: 1500 (approximately, through all of the projects of the Thomas Merton Center) Number of paid staff: Book 'Em is an all-volunteer group; TMC has two part-time paid staff member (bookkeeper and office coordinator) Number of Book ‘Em volunteers: 25 core; 100+ occasional Tax status: Thomas Merton Center has 501(c)3 status

Budget: Please see attached budget for Book ‘Em’s overall operations

2. How does this project contribute to your organization’s mission and/or long-term goals?

Central to the mission of the Thomas Merton Center is to develop community led campaigns to advocate for prisoner rights. Book ‘Em’s Branch Out! Project will contribute to this mission by increasing the number of community members who are active with the Thomas Merton Center, generating greater overall awareness in the community about how high levels of incarceration affect us locally, and, most practically, by ensuring the fiscal sustainability of Book ‘Em.


9. Funding and Other Resources: What level of funding is required to take your project forward? How do you propose to use the requested funding from The Sprout Fund? What other resources (financial or otherwise) are required make your project happen? If appropriate, how will your project sustain itself beyond Sprout funding?

Book ‘Em’s Branch Out! Project requires approximately $1,250. The estimated amount of revenue we are able to raise for this project totals $250 (not including the in-kind support of staff and volunteers), so we are asking Sprout for a Seed Award of $1,000.**

We will primarily use the Sprout grant to cover poster printing and design expenses as well as costs associated with holding fundraising and community education events.

Other than the necessary funds to make this project successful, we will also require the dedicated in-kind support of the core Project Team: Amanda Johnson, Viv Shaffer, and Scott Kennedy.

**Note: Total revenue on the attached budget includes an additional $480 for in-kind staff and volunteer support. This is an approximate value for the time they will be giving to the project, and is not included in this section because it is not actual revenue.

Documents

Sprout Fund Seed Award