THE HARRY AND JEANETTE WEINBERG FELLOWS PROGRAM
AIM FOR EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Past Award Winners

The AIM for Excellence (Achievement in Management for Excellence) award encourages Weinberg Fellows to put their learnings from the program to use by making positive changes that affect their mission-targeted communities.

The AIM awards program was established by The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

2006 AIM for Excellence Award Paul’s Place and Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity Ward Street Stabilization Fund

The Ward Street Stabilization Project combines Paul’s Place’s vision and resources for stabilizing the 1100 block of Ward Street through targeted property acquisition with Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity’s track-record, resources and technical expertise in creating affordable housing for low-income homeowners. Paul’s Place has created a significant Ward Street Stabilization Fund to purchase vacant properties on the block on behalf of two nonprofit housing developers that can bring them back into productive use. Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity will develop at least three homes for affordable homeownership, and Southwest Visions will develop several homes for affordable rental.

Through this truly collaborative effort, the 1100 block of Ward Street will be transformed into a clean, well-kept street populated by new homeowners and renters who will care about their community and make it a better place to live. Furthermore, the three organizations will be working together to preserve affordable housing in a neighborhood where long-time residents are quickly being priced out. This project demonstrates a viable model for diverse service providers to undertake joint planning and resource-sharing for the greater good of the community.

Maryjoel Davis, Alternative Directions, Inc.

Before Alternative Directions, Inc. (ADI) Executive Director Maryjoel Davis participated in the Weinberg Fellows Program, ADI had created a “fledgling” program to provide information on service providers to women about to be released from prison. The program was offered intermittently depending on staffing, funding, and the availability of representatives from partnering organizations to send speakers to the women’s prison facilities.

The Weinberg Fellows Program became a catalyst for enabling the ACT program to blossom into a well-organized, ongoing activity benefiting hundreds of incarcerated women each year. The relationships developed among the Fellows helped ADI achieve a partnership of over 60 organizations and agencies that could be relied on to meet with women in the prison and put a human face on the many service providers in Baltimore City. The fundraising sessions were helpful in obtaining financial support for ACT. ACT is making a difference in the lives of many more women and their families as a result of the Weinberg Fellows Program.

Caroline Harmon, Community Mediation Program

This application summarized a comprehensive agency restructuring, based upon numerous Weinberg Fellows sessions. Community Mediation Program (CMP) had $87 in the bank and, following layoffs, a small, angry staff of 3. The Board was disappointed and in several cases disconnected, and only a small steady stream of service was being provided to the community. The executive director was 28 years old, a hard-working community organizer who had been a good volunteer community mediator but had never raised more than $50,000 in her life, or managed a program.

Their goal was to do a complete overhaul of the organization by: re-igniting the staff, raising $300,000 quickly, making strategic partnerships, re-involving the board, building financial controls from the ground up, expanding technology and public relations capacity, and, while they were at it, making peace in Baltimore neighborhoods.

As a team, CMP has tripled its caseload, tripled the number of mediations performed and drastically increased its public education and conflict resolution training functions. They did it by retaining all original staff members while adding 2.5 FTE, increasing revenue from $250,000 annually to $425,000 through diverse sources, adding eight committed board members, updating the strategic plan, creating modern and ethical financial controls, aligning four fruitful strategic partnerships, and putting new resources into marketing and technology.

Janice Frey-Angel, The League for People with Disabilities

Using learnings from the Weinberg Fellows Program, The League for People with Disabilities set out to improve the results of its Vocational Services Program in Employment Services by increasing job placements and the retention rate for job placements.

Going back to the teachings of the Weinberg Fellows Program, the presentation of Connie Matsumoto and Phil Stewart provided a solution. Ms. Matsumoto’s approach of a continuum between strategic and tactical approaches led us to look at structuring the program differently. When looking at changing the structure, not for change sake, but to increase efficiency and effectiveness, the Asset-Based Approach presented by Phil Stewart brought new energy and light to program directors and supervisory staff. As a result, we reorganized the program making it significantly more efficient and effective.

The measurable impacts were increasing the percentage of participants placed within 90 days of entrance into the program from 22% in the first quarter to 56% in the fourth quarter (after the third quarter restructuring) and improving the employment retention rate for our participants from 18% to 72% over the same time period. The quality of life for our participants, more than one-third of whom survive on annual incomes of $15,000 or less, has also improved because the enhanced placements have increased wages and benefits.

First Winners

The first winner of the AIM Awards in Baltimore was a collaboration of three Weinberg Fellows: Leslie Kirkland of The Loading Dock, Talib Horne of East Harbor Community Development Corporation, and Jenny Hope, formerly with Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity. This collaboration included a series of homeowner training programs which were jointly planned and marketed by the three agencies.