The Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) raised a total of $538,280 over their six years in the Celebration Program. In addition, they received two Fund of Funds grants, helping to launch a national branding campaign and also hire new staff to implement improvements to their technology systems. Additionally, PCHP saw their revenue increase by 68 percent and were able to serve 1,250 more children.
Executive Director Sarah Walzer wrote the following letter commending the counsel and fellowship provided by Youth I.N.C:
On behalf of all of us at The Parent-Child Home Program, I want to express my thanks to all of you at Youth I.N.C. for your many years of support and friendship. After six years, we are ready to embark on a new adventure for our organization and we take with us many skills learned through our partnership with Youth, I.N.C.
We began our involvement in Celebration with the 2004 event, a wonderful evening that featured Alvin Ailey. We set a goal of $55,000 and were surprised and delighted when we raised nearly 20% more! We succeeded because we adhered to your model: identifying co-chairs, setting goals with each of them, and making sure that we never failed to follow up. We tried to attend as many of the workshops as we possibly could and encouraged our board to join us at the meetings. Many of them did and always found those meetings interesting, informative and often, inspiring.
Over the years, as Youth I.N.C. staff pushed us out of our comfort zone, we set our goals higher and higher and never failed to achieve them. Today, we have a board that understands the solicitation process and has the confidence to “make the ask” on our behalf, a skill that works to ensure the future of The Parent-Child Home Program.
Through our affiliation with Youth I.N.C., we also identified excellent board candidates, and their presence on our board has made a real difference in the organization. We have taken advantage of “Expert Advice” as well as the Board Advancement Program. In fact, I am not sure we can provide a comprehensive list of all the times we have sought your advice and counsel. We are a very different organization today than we were seven years ago, and there is no question that our partnership with Youth I.N.C. has helped to make that happen. It has strengthened us and been an enormous source of good counsel, fellowship, and support.
As newly minted alumni, we have much work ahead of us. We are already hard at work on our own fall fundraising event and it is reassuring to know that your advice will only be a call away. We will miss all of you, but I know that there will be many opportunities for us to work together. We look forward to seeing you, and the other alumni partners in the future. Again, on behalf of our board and staff, please accept our sincere thanks to you and your staff for your interest and encouragement. Your contributions to the future of The Parent-Child Home Program have been very important to us and we are most grateful.
With warmest regards,
Sarah Walzer
Between 2004 and 2009, Youth, I.N.C. introduced PCHP to four new board members. Youth, I.N.C.’s first placement, Eric Hess, recently became the Board’s new President, and secured the honoree for PCHP’s inaugural gala event in 2010. Another placement, Sonia Hamstra, has stepped into the role of First Vice-President, and will eventually lead PCHP’s Board.
