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This document is a Grant Template/Business
Plan and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to purchase.
It contains confidential information, including trade secrets, and may not be reproduced without the express permission of
the company named below. |
PROPOSAL FOR FACILITY START UP
FUNDING FOR Family-Based Transition Services For Women Exiting
Correctional Facilities
Submitted to
FUNDING SOURCES
SERVICE COMPONENT:
COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATION
TRANSITIONAL LIVING FACILITY
HOLISTIC PREVENTION AND TREATMENT
CHILDCARE AND AFTERCARE
SUBMITTED BY
XXXX XXXXXX
EMPOWERMENT CENTER
XXXX
XXXX
XXXX
XXXXX
Seeks Grantor Contributions
In The Amount Of
$2,450,000
XXXXX
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND
CONTACT PERSON
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Business Plan Highlights: ♦ Holistic transition services for women exiting XXXX
XXXXXX correctional system ♦ Breaks the generational cycle of destruction
that plagues these women ♦ Targets XXXX XXXXXX market of $1.8 billion and
U.S. market of $57 billion ♦ Management team led by an expert, who will be
assisted by top advisors |
Table of Contents
Proposal Body
Face Page i
Table of Contents ii
Abstract 3
Project Narrative 4
History and Mission 4-5
Organizational
Structure 6
Organization
Capability 6
Needs and Target
Population 6-9
Justification of
Program 9
Problem Statement 10
Organization Capacity
and Capability 11
Description Program Objectives and Plan 13
Organization and
Staffing Plan 15
Evaluation Procedure 20
IRS Determination
Letter 25
Letter of Support/Need 26
No Change in Exempt
Status Letter Form 27
990 28
Current Annual Budget 30
Board of Directors 33
Current Funding
Sources 35
Letter of Zero Board
Support 38
Budget Justification 40
List of Other Funding Sources 42
Amount of Proposal
Request 45
Biographical Sketches 47
Letters of
Collaboration 50
XXXX
XXXXXX Empowerment Center
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Executive Summary |
ABSTRACT
I don’t
want [cash assistance] for the rest of my life. I just want it until I can get
back on my feet – so I can focus on my recovery, get myself together. I have no
income whatsoever right now and I need something. Now it matters because I’m trying to do the right thing. What are you supposed to
do if you can’t get a job because you are an ex-con,
how do you get help with your drug problems, help with violence in the home?
How am I supposed to show my children I am somebody?
XXXX XXXXXX Woman
Affected by Incarceration
Company.
XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center will be the premier provider of transition services for women,
who are exiting XXXX XXXXXX correctional facilities or may be on probation.
This not-for-profit entity offers a unique, holistic approach for reintegrating
these women with their families, and with society, at large.
Services.
The company
provides a safe, therapeutic environment, in which holistic wellness, family reunification and extensive aftercare can occur, thereby
dramatically reducing the rate of recidivism that plagues 52% of offending
women. Revenues are derived from contributions, program fees
and investment income.
Market.
In 2005,
the rehabilitation market for these types of transitional services in XXXX
XXXXXX is projected to be $1.8 billion. However, XXXX
XXXXXX has selectively targeted a group of states, with an aggregate market of
$5.7 billion, and on a national scale the demand for
these services is projected to be nearly $57 billion.
Industry.
Existing providers of transition services to women, who may be under the care
or control of correctional facilities are limited to public agency programs
that are under funded and a handful of private programs that focus on specific
risk factors. With its holistic approach, XXXX XXXXXX will dominate
competition.
Strategy.
Strategies for success include: establishing
commercial capacity, by completing six months of pre-operating activities;
optimizing operating processes to maximize program effectiveness; marketing
company offerings maximize revenues; and promoting robust research and
development to assure growth.
Implementation. The operating plan focuses on developing infrastructure and program
integrity, in anticipation of the commencement of full operations, by
Management.
The management team is led by a woman, who is the mother of nine
children, and who possesses impressive credentials, involving crisis
intervention and family reunification. The full management team, comprised of 13 key positions,
will maintain a Board of Advisors, top consultants and qualified staff.
Risk Assessment.
XXXX XXXXXX
is poised to address the urgent need that exists in XXXX XXXXXX, and
nationally, to break the tragic, generation-to-generation cycle of destruction
that threatens offending women and their children. Key success and critical
risk factors have been evaluated — success is highly
achievable.
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Financial Summary |
XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment Center is
seeking contributions, totaling $2,450,000, on
Capitalization Plan.
XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center proposes to pursue its strategic goals, by obtaining foundation
or government grants, totaling $2,450,000, by
Projected Operating Results.
Revenues are projected to increase, from $6.8 million, in FY1, to
$10.3 million,
in FY3.
Ending net assets increase from $4.0 million, in FY1, to $6.0 million, in FY3.
The projected minimum cash balance is $136K, which occurs in July 2005, and the
FY3 ending cash balance is $243K.
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Company |
XXXX
XXXXXX Empowerment Center will be the premier provider of transition services
for women, who are exiting XXXX XXXXXX correctional facilities or may be on probation. This not-for-profit entity offers a holistic
approach for reintegrating these women with their families, and with society,
at large.
XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment Center is a XXXX
XXXXXX Empowerment Center is established as a Utah S
corporation, operating as a 501 (c) (4) not-for-profit entity. XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center will lease suitable premises, in XXXX XXXX
including the center itself, and several HUD Section 8,
temporary living apartments, from XXXX XXXX LLC, and
a fully affiliated, for-profit real estate investment company.
Its founder, XXXX XXXXXX, will
provide active management of this company, along with XXXX XXXXXX LLC, XXX XXXX Learning
Center, whose primary purpose is to serve “at risk” women exiting XXXX XXXXXX
correctional facilities or may be on probation.
These women are often the statistics we read about, who suffer with
chemically dependency, are mentally and emotionally un-empowered, and who fast
become society’s homeless and disenfranchised women.
The proposal program, which is duel
in scope, will target 250 women in our holistic wellness, family reunification and extensive aftercare program. XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment Center offers six
primary programs and multiple subprograms, which focus on self-esteem,
transitional living skills, housing, vocational skills, childcare, parenting
skills and self-empowerment.
XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center has extensive experience in responding to this most urgent
need in XXXX XXXXXX and its communities by providing programs, case management
counseling, help in finding transitional housing, life management skills
training and referrals to substance abuse-mental health prevention and
intervention services.
Our agency proposes to reach the
hard to reach the female population, which is extremely under-served in XXXX
XXXXXX. Ex-offender women, who become released into
the community, are released with little to no resources, voice, life management
skills or a healthy environment to return to. The cost to implement the proposed program
and conduct the activities outlines in the proposal is $2,450,000. XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center is requesting your assisting us in the
amount of $250,000.00 for the cost of implementation.
XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center not only wants to partner with you
to provide the services listed above, but more fundamentally begins to
facilitate behaviors, choices and lifestyle choices that will empower our participants
with the skills necessary to change their lives.
It has been
said, that society can best be judged by ‘how it treats those in the dawn of
life, its children, those in the sunset of life, its aged population and those
in the shadows of life - the indigent, disenfranchised, un-empowered, homeless,
drug addicted, lost soul.’
HISTORY AND MISSION
XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center (TEC) is a 501 (C)(4), non-profit
established in 1999 whose primary purpose is to serve “at risk” women who are
chemically dependent, mentally and emotionally un-empowered, XXXX XXXXXX
ex-incarcerated releasees.
The mission
of XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment Center to intervene and empower
women and do this with compassion and professionalism. XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment Center will do this
through its transitional housing program, life management skills training, case
management and substance abuse-mental health prevention and intervention
services, family building skill learning, childcare
and vocational training. We are located at XXXX XXXX
where a microcosm of the targeted population resides. A relationship has been
established with XXXX XXXXXX service providers to ensure that no woman
is a “castaway”.
The U.S.
prison population, which is nearly 2 million, represents one-quarter of the world’s
incarcerated population and carries an annual social cost of $41 billion. While
only 7% of these inmates are female, over 1,139,000 women in the U.S. are under
the care, custody or control of some form of correctional agency — 91% of these
offenders are in the community, as probationers or parolees, and over 70% are
parents of 1.6 million affected children. Tragically, while over 90% of women
offenders commit non-violent crimes and 60% of these women are themselves the
victim of reported abuse, the risk factors associated with failed
rehabilitation are numerous, resulting in a recidivism rate of 52% — moreover,
the children of these women are, themselves, five times more likely than their
peers to someday be incarcerated.
While
several publicly and privately sponsored programs exist to facilitate the
transition of these women back to their families and to the community, most of
these resources are narrowly focused, with few programs
reporting broad success. XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment Center intends to squarely address this
perplexing challenge, by providing a fully integrated, holistic solution
that focuses on self-discovery and the power of parenting to bring these women
back to the mainstream — based in XXXX XXXXXX, this not-for-profit enterprise
will offer an array of wellness, foster care, daycare, family reunification and
comprehensive aftercare services that are calculated to break the cycle of
individual despair and destruction that plagues these women, their children and
society.
In 2005,
the narrowly defined market for these services, in XXXX XXXXXX, is projected to be $1.8 billion — however, the more broadly
defined national market is over $57 billion.
Keys to success
include establishing commercial capacity, optimizing operating processes,
marketing company offerings, and promoting research and development of new
services and markets. In order to achieve its
strategic
goals, XXXX
XXXXXX Empowerment Center is seeking grants, totaling $2,450,000, by
XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center’s current population is approximately is 57% White, 26%
Hispanic, 14% African American, and 3% Other. Age distribution: 43% ages 30-39; 36% ages
40-49; 11% ages 20-29 and 10% other.
Approximately
39 % of our clients are homeless new releasees, 34%
utilize shelters, 14% seek temporary shelter at the house of a friend or relative, 11% other and 2% rent their own
apartment. The majority of our clients
are at or below the poverty level guidelines.
The majority of our clients seek employment at labor halls, which do not
require pre-employment drug screening.
Many of our clients have been employed at times in their life, but now
indicate domestic violence, drug abuse and mental
health issues as the cause of their current dilemma.
In the past
ten years, there has been increasing documentation of the growing incarceration
of mothers, as well as of the devastating impact this has had on family
structures. Department of Justice research shows that 63% of white women and
67% of African American and Hispanic women incarcerated in state prisons have
minor children. Many of the children
separated from their mothers due to incarceration will only interact with their
mothers in correctional
environments or through letters or telephone calls, while others will have no
contact for many years. Such interference with the parent-child bond will have
a serious impact on the psychological and emotional well-being of mothers and
children, which will require significant attention during a mother’s reentry
process. The lifetime ban significantly affects women’s ability to reestablish
environments in which the parent-child relationship can flourish.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
A Board of
Directors governs XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment Center. The Board, which is composed
of 12 members,
meets on a monthly basis. The Board of
Directors is responsible for the overall management, including, strategic
planning, program approval prior to implementation, formulating and amending
policies, fiscal expenditures, etc. The
daily organizational administrative operations are delegated
to the Executive Director, who reports directly to the Board of Directors. Trained and skilled staff who have
consistently demonstrated that they are capable of engaging and involving
minority and high-risk populations in available services provides direct client
services.
ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITY
XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center will provide transitional housing, life management skills
training, case management, childcare, parenting skills and
substance abuse-mental health prevention and intervention services to our
ex-incarcerated woman population while facilitating feelings of: empowerment, self-esteem,
self-assertion, self-discovery and the skills necessary to change their lives.
NEEDS AND TARGET POPULATION
I remember when I
shifted from being angry at him or manipulated by him to feeling really scared
of him…First I thought drugging would make us close, like a real couple…so I
started with heroin. At first it worked.
I wasn’t so scared; he was very hot for me, and then
he’d sleep a lot. When we didn’t have money for drugs,
I was in real trouble because his abuse got really out of control. So I started selling as a way to keep us supplied.
Incarcerated Woman in XXXX
XXXXXX State Correctional System
This grant
will allow us to expand into our new counseling, aftercare transitional housing
facility. The ex-incarcerated women of
XXXX XXXXXX exhibit the most severe and immediate need because the current
epidemic trends such as, substance abuse and lack of adequate mental health
services, homelessness, disenfranchisement and incarceration are affecting
females more than any other at-risk group currently.
XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment Center has
learned and documented within the context of this grant that mothers who do not
have a support network to provide continued shelter for them and their children
become at risk of homelessness. Others, in desperate need of an additional
source of income, may cohabit with an abusive partner or engage in illegal
activity leading to toxic family environments where substance abuse, violence,
and neglect are daily occurrences, thereby leading to
the 52% recidivism rate currently exhibited in women ex-offenders within the
State of XXXX XXXXXX. Moreover, the
children of these women are five times more likely than their peers to someday be incarcerated.
Some
mothers will be forced to move in with friends or
relatives and live in overcrowded households to avoid homelessness. Under such
living conditions, mothers may not always be able to control the living
environments as much as if they had their own household, which can lead to
mothers and their children being exposed to anti-social behavior or victimized
by others in the household. Some mothers
may be so overwhelmed by their economic circumstances that
they may develop mental health problems, and become neglectful or abusive
towards their children.
Children
who are exposed to stressful family environments have
been found to be more likely to perform poorly in school and experience
emotional and behavioral problems. An Urban Institute study found that 31% of
children living under stressful family conditions had low levels of educational
engagement, compared to 17% of other children. The researchers also found that
15% of
children aged 6 to 11 who lived in stressful family environments had high
levels of emotional and behavioral problems, whereas only 4% of other children
experienced similar problems. Similar findings were found
among adolescents as well. Children and adolescents who do not receive the
necessary support to develop into healthy, positive, and productive social participants
are likely to engage in anti-social behavior harmful to society.
A study
conducted by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
shows a link between ex-incarcerated women in dysfunctional, abusive home
environments and the
maltreatment of children, low academic achievement, mental health problems,
drug use, teenage pregnancy, and delinquency. OJJDP’s research
shows that children raised by ex-incarcerated women in low-income, abusive and/or dysfunctional family environments are more likely
to be victims of maltreatment. Denying
mothers aftercare resources, vocations skills and building their empowerment
beliefs at a time they may most need them may prove to be exceedingly punitive
to the children for whom they care.
I want to get my GED and get totally
educated. I had a good job and they closed down with no notice. I need to get
educated and qualified. I want some backbone, some papers that say I completed
something and I’m capable. I want to get a college
degree.
Woman convicted of a drug offense
Since incarcerated
people have limited educational opportunities while in prison, few women will
have the necessary qualifications to successfully compete
in the labor market immediately upon their release from prison. Although correctional institutions have increased
the number of general education programs (i.e. adult basic education, GED, high
school) available to prisoners since the 1970s, as of 2002 only 52% of
correctional facilities for women offered post-secondary education.
Access to
college education was further limited in 1994, when prisoners were declared
ineligible for college Pell grants, leading to the inability of an increased
number of incarcerated women, especially low-income women and women of color,
to overcome their socioeconomic disadvantages prior to their release. Even
women who received educational training report that the skills acquired have
proven inadequate upon release from prison.
Women on
probation for a felony offense are even less likely to be
referred to general education programs. In 2002, only 7% of all felony
probationers participated in such programs.
Low levels of educational attainment will affect the employment
opportunities of women subject to the lifetime ban to varying degrees.
Another
contributing factor to high recidivism of our ex-incarcerated XXXX XXXXXX women
and the high statistical odds of their children falling in between the cracks
of society and becoming incarcerated themselves, is
the overcrowded households and family dissolution that is increasing stress in
their lives. Studies have shown that
stressful family conditions, including overcrowded households, turbulence and
family dissolution, adversely affect the well-being of children and
adolescents, and can lead to poor engagement in school, emotional and
behavioral problems, or delinquency.
Given the
varying barriers women face as a result of poor employment skills, criminal
histories, and the racialized and gendered labor
market, women should be afforded the time and assistance needed following a
criminal conviction to build marketable skills. This requires vocational training
in areas where women with a criminal record are not
automatically excluded and challenges to such exclusions, as well as
training for the types of jobs that provide living wages
along
with employment benefits. The availability of transitional assistance while
women engage in substantive vocational training ensures that they are able to
house and feed themselves and their children as they devote themselves
full-time to gaining employment skills which will
enable them to eventually become self-sufficient. For many women, vocational
training may be insufficient to reach self-sufficiency, and increased access to
educational opportunities for women, who are returning to their communities may be necessary.
The problem
is documented, stated and proven. The answer is XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment
Center. XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment Center
offers solutions, helps heal lives, begin new dreams
and reaches into the population that is quietly desperate and helps turn them
into confident and empowered citizens.
We foster improved self-esteem, self-worth, and self-efficacy and
promote healthy boundary setting for the additional individuals reached with
the additional funding.
Drug usage,
hopelessness, mental illness, low self-worth, loneliness, and a general lack of
empowerment for women are but a few of the contributing factors to their current
ex-incarcerated status, substance abuse, domestic violence and mental health
issues which have had significant behavioral health consequences in their lives. Fear and hopelessness are overwhelming among
women who are powerless in dealing with all the issues mentioned above.
XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center’s programs more adequately serve individuals in a culturally
competent manner as prepares our participants in how to become more empowered
and self-sufficient. We want to partner with you in playing a leadership role in responding
to behavioral health needs resulting from these large-scale emergencies with your
assistance. Compassion, Integrity,
Trust, Commitment and Holistic Healing set our program apart from the rest.
The
proposal program will target 250 recently released incarcerated women in XXXX
XXXXXX prisons. Since the local city,
county, state and national agencies have cited this group as both the fastest
growing and highest at-risk groups of all newly cited populations in the United
States, XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment Center is making this group “state of
emergency” top priority status for its program services.
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Services |
Heal The
Woman and Ultimately the Child and Family 
During 6
months of planned site construction, XXXX XXXXXX Empowerment
Center will
hire and train personnel, optimize processes and complete other
pre-operating activities, necessary to commence operations, by
♦
Holistic Wellness: A therapeutic environment, which promotes physical,
mental
and emotional healing will serve as the setting for further transition.
♦
Family Reunification: Progressing women will be allowed
to move to temporary
apartments,
where supervised, mother-child reunification will occur.
♦
Aftercare Support: Graduating women will be relocated
to urban settings,
supported
by jobs, housing and local access to comprehensive aftercare.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Avg.
Revenue: $250,000 / Contribution
Broad public
and private support for the societal value of the program’s end
purposes
are expected to attract generous individual and corporate donations,
in
addition, an array of private foundation and government-sponsored grants.
PROGRAM FEES
Avg.
Revenue: $60,000 / 1-Year Stay
Program
entrants will consist of private pay and publicly supported entrants
on a 2:1
ratio — fees will include a one-time enrollment fee of $2,000, uniform
costs of
$50, and a recurring program fee of $4,800 per month of enrollment.
INVESTMENT INCOME
Avg.
Revenue: 4% Return On Investments
A minimum
cash balance will be maintained for operating
purposes, but any
excess
cash will be funneled into various high quality, short-term investments.
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Empowerment Process |
XXXX XXXXXX applies a multi-step process
that begins, by healing the woman, while concurrently, caring for her children.
As wellness occurs, the family is reintegrated under
close supervision, but in a positive outcome, is reinserted into the community,
under an umbrella of extensive aftercare.
Heal The
Woman
XXXX XXXXXX
Empowerment Center provides fully licensed residential treatment programs for
women, who are exiting correctional facilities or on probation for illegal activity.
It is committed to offering a safe, structured environment that promotes well
being and discovery, which will inspire each woman to create a positive pathway
for realizing her independence, as an individual, and her potential, as a mother.
As caregivers of the leaders of tomorrow, each woman is called upon to heal
herself, by abolishing the demons of physical, psychological or chemical abuse
that rob families of the hope, necessary to enjoy each other, grow with dignity
and respect, and contribute to the larger community, in which they must live.
Provide Foster Care
As the
woman undertakes the daunting task of healing herself, XXXX XXXXXX protects and
nurtures her children, by facilitating their placement in a supervised foster care
setting, which assures absence of abuse or neglect and promotes continuity of
family relationships, through effective teambuilding and active collaboration.
Support The
Children
Older
children, who are experiencing difficulty in their
foster placements and exhibiting acting out or defiant behaviors are provided a
variety of strong therapeutic programs. Similarly, young children, ranging from
infants up, are provided a daycare facility that
facilitates diagnostics and structured learning, in a secure setting.
Reunify The
Family
Progressing
women that have demonstrated appropriate coping and parenting
skills,
and are deemed ready for reunification with their children, are rejoined, by
moving
them into nearby 2 and 3-bedroom units, under close supervision. These
families
continue to receive therapeutic support, as they learn how to self-manage.
Achieve Healthy Independence
The final
transition to independence and self-sufficiency involves moving qualified families,
from XXXX XXXXXX, to more urban settings, like St. Louis, Kansas City or
Joplin, where quality housing and employment await, and where a XXXX XXXXXX
satellite center will provide ongoing skills training, child care and aftercare
management.
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Transition Programs |
The centerpiece of this holistic approach
is a wellness center, in which program participants, who are often themselves
victims, can begin the healing process. This facility is
supported by an elaborate network of programs that provide transitional
services for these women and her children.
XXX XXXX Healing Center
A
centerpiece of the program is its wellness center, whose mission is to
reintegrate the fragmented lives of its entering women, by helping them realign
themselves, spiritually, physically and emotionally. This holistic environment
promotes structured healing, through self-discovery, self-assessment,
self-esteem, self-assertion, and, finally, self-empowerment. Therapeutic
emphasis is placed on preventative health, physical fitness, yoga training and organic nutrition, to center the woman, as she
seeks to emerge from a life of victimization and reactivity, to one of
proactive independence. An on-site gym, yoga facility, beauty shop and health food store are available to assist her, as
she manages her journey back to wholeness.
FamilyXXX XXXX
This vital
program provides assurance that, while the mother is healing, her children are being protected and nurtured, through high quality, foster care
placement. Teambuilding skill
development and creative collaboration are relied upon
to facilitate successful long-term outcomes, ranging from family reunification
to adoption.
Children Learning Centers
For teens
that experience difficulty adapting, XXXX XXXXXX Learning Center provides behavioral
therapy, school programs, recreational outlets, and substance abuse counseling.
For younger children, Sandbox Early Learning Center provides traditional and
non-traditional learning, in a safe, caring and
entertaining setting.
XXX XXXX
This key
transitional program allows families, who may be ready for reunification, to put
knowledge into motion, by placing them into living settings, involving
residences that are physically separate from the Center, but closely monitored.
Knowledge is put to the test, as each woman applies
her new coping and parenting skills.
Project XXX XXXX
For
families that have successfully integrated, the payoff is handsome — relocation
to an urban setting, replete with pre-arranged employment and decent housing. A
full range of aftercare services is provided by
satellite drop-in centers, and within two years, women with good histories may
even be eligible for home ownership.