Dear Thrive Community,
Please join us on April 1 at 1:30 pm at the Fox Forum for a
countywide Census launch event
. Thrive and SAMCEDA are proud to co-host this San Mateo County Census 2020 countdown. Community leaders will learn how to make the April 2020 count a success, and will also be introduced to funding opportunities to support their outreach efforts.
Our Thrive Action Groups (TAGs) have become more interconnected than ever before. Just this past month, two TAGs joined forces to bring us great speakers and information on the topic of transportation for our nonprofit workforce and clientele. How can we become more streamlined in these efforts in order to maximize our recruitment and retention efforts, and in order to make sure those in need are accessing services? And this month, our TAGs will partner again to review
Thrive's recent gathering and report
on the needs of North San Mateo County - its children and families who live in poverty, and those nonprofits who serve them. Once again, read below for recaps and more.
Thriving Together,
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Georgia Antonopoulos, Executive Director
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Petra Silton, Policy & Advocacy Coordinator
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The San Mateo County Manager and Board of Supervisors invite you to join leaders from nonprofit, business, civic, local government, and community organizations to kickoff San Mateo County's Census Day 2020 countdown.
Monday, April 1, 2019, 1:30 to 4:00 PM
Every 10 years, the federal government is required to count ALL people living in the United States through a national census. This is a cornerstone of our democracy, ensuring equitable political representation and fair allocation of funding for critical community programs and services.
Participating in the census is one of the most powerful tools residents have for civic engagement.
We need your support and input to make sure EVERYONE in our county - regardless of immigration status, age, or income level - is counted and fairly represented.
We want to hear your ideas on how we can educate and engage all groups within our community to stand up and be counted.
Share your insight and also learn:
- what's at stake
- why it's important to have a complete count
- how you can make a difference
- where to get funding for local outreach efforts
Special Welcome by Supervisor David Canepa
Moderated Panel
Manufou Liaiga-Anoa'i, IHSD Head Start, San Mateo County's Commission on Status of Women, Jefferson Elementary School District Board
Andres Connell, Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto
Evan Jones, Mid Peninsula Boys & Girls Club
Diane Leeds, San Francisco Peninsula People Power
Moderated by: Georgia Antonopoulos, Thrive Alliance
Census Outreach Funding Information Session
Manuel Santamaria, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Kelly Batson, United Way Bay Area
Emma Gonzalez, San Mateo County Office of Community Affairs
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Want to learn more about the Census on a National level? Watch this
video
from the Ford Foundation.
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Transportation: Information Nonprofit Leaders Should Know, and Actions to Take Right Now
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At our Joint TAG Focus on Transportation, we learned from John Ford, Executive Director,
Commute.org
and Chris Lepe, Senior Community Planner, Silicon Valley,
Transform
. Here are key takeaways:
- Is your organization compliant with the Commuter Benefits Regulation? If you have 50 or more employees, this is mandatory. Here is a one pager explaining the Commuter Benefits Program. For more information, go to 511.org or read this Employer Guide.
Commute.org offers many benefits, described
here
. For example:
- If you take public transit to work you can get a free ride home in the event of an emergency. Let your employees know about this by posting this flyer about the Guaranteed Ride Home program from Commute.org.
- Commute.org offers shuttle services, commuter benefits consulting, transportation surveys, carpool and vanpool incentives (cash! gift cards!).
- Commute.org will reimburse organizations that install bike racks, lockers or repair facilities (up to $500!)and will come to you and do free bicycle safety programs.
- Commute.org also has a STAR Commuter Platform. STAR commuters can discover and plan commute options, which include carpool, vanpool, transit, shuttle, bicycling, and walking. When commuters log commute trips in their STAR account, they gain access to rewards, incentives, and challenges. Thrive will be working with Commute.org to explore creating a dedicated nonprofit community to use the STAR platform, customized for nonprofits. Email Petra at Thrive if you are interested.
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Everyone is welcome to attend any of our TAG meetings.
Please note: there is no fee, but registration is now required.
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Arts & Culture TAG
Facilitated by Georgia Antonopoulos, Executive Director,
Thrive
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April is Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month (ACCM), sponsored by Californians for the Arts. Please submit your “Arts Impact Stories”
here
and for
Californians for the Arts
to use in social media throughout the month. More information on their campaign and how to be a part of it can be found
here
.
We are collecting our own
Arts Impact Stories
to present to the Board of Supervisors in April. When you submit to Californians for the Arts, please also submit
here
. You can submit any format into this google folder. It is open to the public so please share the link so we can collect as many stories as possible to show the vibrancy of our local arts community. More explanation can be found
here.
Some great ideas for how to engage for Arts, Culture, and Creativity month can be found
here.
Come to an advocacy training in San Jose on
March 12
or
March 19
. Sign up
here
to join for the Advocacy Day in Sacramento on April 23.
Next meeting:
Monday, April 8 (note new date), 3:00 - 4:00 pm,
Topic:
Upcoming Advocacy
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Immigrant & Worker's Rights TAG
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At our last meeting, The San Mateo County Office of Community Affairs, Immigrant Services, shared some new resources and tools that are available on their website.
Immigrant Services Website
Information about various community resources in San Mateo County including legal immigration services, employment organizations, a community event calendar, and various resource guides and information on the County’s work in immigrant affairs.
Know Your Rights Video
Office of Community Affairs has partnered with Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto and the Human Services Agency to produce a “Knowing Your Rights” video. Through this partnership with removal defense contract partners and the Rapid Response Network, the County was informed that there was a slight increase in Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) activity and enforcement in the last month. Here is a quick one-minute video in English and Spanish. The video includes:
- Information on individuals' rights in the US
- How to proceed if you encounter an interaction with ICE
- The difference between a valid and non-valid warrant
- Where to turn for more information and assistance
Immigration Toolkit
The Immigration Tool kit was developed as a response to growing concern within the immigrant community about changes in immigration policies, ICE activity, and general fear. The tool kit includes:
- Information to help residents understand their rights
- Template to help families create a childcare plan in case of an interaction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Step-by-step guide to check immigration statuses
- Local non-profit legal service providers
Next Meeting:
Wednesday, March 20, 9:00 am - 10:00 am
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Environment & Sustainability TAG
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Sustainable San Mateo County (SSMC) will honor TransForm, the Citizens Environmental Council of Burlingame, Lime, long-time SSMC volunteer Bill Schulte and the Half Moon Bay Library at its 20th Annual Awards Dinner, for their contributions to sustainability in San Mateo County. Buy your tickets
here
.
Take advantage of early bird pricing until March 10th!
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The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Grantmaking Program will award approximately $250,000 annually and is intended to build a collaborative, community-wide approach to environmental stewardship by building the capacity of local community organizations. Apply
here
.
Last month we spoke with Leora Tanjuatco Ross from the Housing Leadership Council about the intersection of housing and transportation. She offered us the opportunity to take action and sign on to letters urging Caltrain to adopt affordable housing and transit-oriented development policies. Please see the housing section below for links to the letter.
Next Meeting:
Wednesday, March 20, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Featured Speakers:
- Peter Ruddock, Coordinator, California Food Policy Council and San Mateo County Food System Alliance
- Nickie Irvine, Beekeepers’ Guild of San Mateo County
- Jayne Battey, Owner, Miramar Farms
- Kellyx Nelson, Executive Director, San Mateo County Resource Conservation District
- Claire Felong, President, Incredible Edible Mid Peninsula
Topic:
Food & Footprint: Sustainability in San Mateo County
– How food leaders across the county are practicing sustainable & humane farming, decreasing our ecological footprint, and promoting healthy diets high in local, seasonal organic agriculture.
We will be providing some sustainable food. Details to come!
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Joint TAG Session:
Regional Solutions for Children & Families in Poverty
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Next Meeting:
Wednesday, March 27, 9:00 - 10:00 am
Featured speakers:
Georgia Antonopoulos, Executive Director, Thrive Alliance
Kateryna Romanova, Membership and Marketing Manager, Thrive Alliance
Topic:
Regional Solutions for Children and Families in Poverty. We will discuss the findings of our nonprofit needs assessment survey for North County and how the lessons learned apply to the County as a whole. Review Thrive's presentation: The Needs of North San Mateo County Families and the Nonprofits That Serve Them
here
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Free Tax Help and New Cal EITC Rules
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Join HLC to Ask Caltrain for More Affordable Housing and Transit Oriented Development
Any organization or individual who would like to urge Caltrain to prioritize using its land for housing and to include a 20% baseline requirement for Below Market Rate Housing can sign on to this
letter
or use it as a template. HLC has written a draft affordable Housing Policy for Caltrain that you can access
here
. The Caltrain Board will be discussing the transit Oriented Development p
olicy on 10 am March 7, at Edward J. Bacciocco Auditorium located on the second floor at SamTrans Administrative Offices, 1250 San Carlos Avenue, San Carlos, CA 94070-1306. This is open to the public. Questions? Email
HLC
.
Housing Leadership Council Helped Get More County Funding for Affordable Housing
Congratulations to all of the housing advocates!
Home for All Community Convening
Home for All
San Mateo County is hosting a Community Convening on Strategies for Talking about Housing So People will Listen, Think, and Act on March 28. Register
here
.
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Advocacy Days and Partner Campaigns
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Opportunity Summit 2019: Generating Powerful Pathways to Economic Security For All
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Friday, May 10, 9:30 am
The Rise Together 2019 Opportunity Summit will gather over 300 changemakers to focus on taking collective action for the most powerful pathways to economic security through cross-sector collaboration, ensuring the opportunity to thrive is a reality for all Bay Area residents.
A few highlights:
- Welcome by San Jose State University President's Office
- Keynote: Lenny Mendonca, California Chief Economic and Business Advisor
- The New Bay Area Regional Equity Atlas; San Francisco Foundation
- Racial Segregation and Housing; Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society
- State Budget and Policy Forecast; California Budget & Policy Center
- 2020 Census Complete Count; United Way Bay Area and Partners
- Employment Policy to Generate Opportunity for All; REDF
- Toward a Fair Chance Workforce System: Debut of Regional Recommendations and Workshop for Fair Chance Hiring; Checkr
- Disrupting The Wealth Draining Impact of Fees & Fines; Debt Free Justice California Coalition
- The Promise and Challenge of the CASA Compact; BARHII
- The Strong Start Index; First 5 Association
...and much more. Speakers added daily!
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Serving Families & Children in Need:
Focus on North San Mateo County
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Last week, on February 26, Atkinson Foundation, Give Local Silicon Valley, Sand Hill Foundation, Sunlight Giving, and Thrive Alliance, brought philanthropy, nonprofit, corporate, and public leaders together for a unique gathering to learn more about needs and challenges of North San Mateo County communities, explore creative solutions, and discuss potential partnerships to strengthen the region.
Copies of the presentations that include more informati
on about NSM
C needs, challenges, and successful local initiatives are available below:
A special thank you to our esteemed speakers and panelists joining us in the South San Francisco Council Chambers, sharing their experiences, and providing concrete ideas on how to best serve North San Mateo County communities and beyond!
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Contact Thrive with your ideas or questions!
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Thrive Alliance | 650-654-7993 | ThriveAlliance.org
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