December 1, 2011
Dear Friends of Meadowbrook: While this has been, personally, a difficult year for me, dealing with a chronic illness, the silver lining has been the time I had for reflection. I’ve been at Meadowbrook since April 1993, and over a span of that many years, one tends to forget a few of the lessons learned along the way, like taking time for self, and thinking to the fu-‐ ture. How all of this relates to Meadowbrook is that I have brought back to work with me an even stronger desire to grow, sustain and replicate the Meadowbrook Collaborative.
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Hopefully, by now we all recognize the new normal world is that nothing stays the same. We must continually move forward. It’s still really important to celebrate past successes, so we remember from where we came. But at the same time, determining where we are at today allows us to look at the foundation, the bricks and mortar of, in this case, the M eadowbrook Collaborative. Other than a bit of tuck-‐pointing, we’re good to go. We have three dedicated stakeholders in the City of St. Louis Park, the School District, and Park Nicollet Health Ser-‐ vices. Our relationships with community, immediate and at-‐large, are healthy and strong. Meadowbrook’s volunteers who work with our teachers and children are amazing role models and friends – Su-‐ san Hodder, who stepped in when I couldn’t be here; Brian Weitz, a teacher in another district who is here every week; Courtney Selstad, our webmaster; John McHugh and Kevin Locke, city employees who after a long day show up because they know how important it is to us. Michael Goitom and Gina Montillo, two remarkable young people, have been connected to Meadowbrook since high school. Our teachers – Kelsey Okey, Nate Tangen and Kathryn Storlien, reach out to the children, meet them where they are, and give them the tools to succeed … and feel loved. In looking to the future, even with a sound structure, we recognize with anticipation the ever-‐changing needs and as we consider best practice ways to continue investing in the lives of Meadowbrook’s families and children. Over the next few months, we will be moving forward in a couple of important ways. The first is to pull together our leadership, those with a vested interest, to recommit to the Meadowbrook Collaborative. Our advisory council is made u p of some talented people, and we need to do more to more systematically tap into those tal-‐ ents to create a greater, stronger circle of influence. Perhaps the common challenge is that people come and go, and we need to set aside enough time to re-‐energize and make sure our team has a respect and understanding for the history, and common goal for the future. I look forward to working with this creative team – let me take a moment to introduce you to them:
Matt Schadow SLP Sunrise Rotary Ameristar Agency Lisa Greene Director, Community Education SLP Schools Jason Boll Asst. Principal, Junior High School, SLP Schools Mark Schwartz Community Ed. Adv. Council Unemployment Judge, retired
Rebekah Forrest CNP, Native American Community Clinic
Frank Johnson Principal, Susan Lindgren School, SLP Schools Lisa Abernathy Parks and Recreation City of St. Louis Park Lori Dreier St. Louis Park Police
Allyson Hayward Park Nicollet Creekside Clinic Corey Maslowski Principal, Park Spanish Immer-‐ sion, SLP Schools Angela Bernhardt Park Nicollet Foundation
Linda Trummer Staff
Meadowbrookcollaborative • 4072 meadowbrook lane • st. Louis park, mn 55426 • 952/935/9239 www.meadowbrookcollaborative.org
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Another step we will be taking is to re-‐invent a Marketing/Fund Development committee to give us a fresh look at fundraising opportunities that we hope will generate financial stability, as well as recruit new partners and friends. We continue to look at funding our cost-‐effective strategy for preparing children to succeed in school. It’s discourag-‐ ing to know how many of Meadowbrook’s children are not receiving any early childhood education beyond their home environment We know that if we can add an additional $10,000 to our annual budget we can p rovide that ser-‐ vice to approximately a. dozen kids for an entire calendar year. We developed a pilot this past summer that can and does serve the children and help prepare them for future success. Being an established collaboration lends us the full support of our partners, covering all sorts of things like fiscal management, payroll accounting, technology support, on-‐site programming like Summer Playground and Targeted Services. The property owner donates the use of the space we u se, a contribution valued at $18,000 a year Did yo u know ? 88% o f o ur bud get is fo r sa lar ies a nd benef it s o f sta ff. T he ot her twelve percent is f or hea t, electr ic ity, et c. One hund re d pe rcent of ev ery d ollar goe s d irec tly into serv icing fa milies and c hildr en in t he M ead ow broo k co mm un it y. First and foremost we need to secure our operating funds for fiscal year 2012 – 2013, and to do that I am again com-‐ ing to you for help. We need to sustain the Meadowbrook Collaborative by raising $105,000 over the next 7 months. If you are saying – HOLY COW – the good news is that I’m making this request of more than one person (although if you h appen to h ave a spare $105k, feel free to send a check!). Forty seven p ercent of our operating income h as come in the form of $100 checks. We all do what we can, and I promise you that even a $10 gift makes a difference in the quality of service provided by the Meadowbrook Collaborative. Did yo u k now? Th e Mea d owbr ook co lla bor ativ e d oes not r eceiv e gov ernm ent a id or fina ncial su ppo rt fro m the U nited way . We o pe ra te e ntirely on so ft m oney , d epend ent on priva te d o natio ns fro m pe ople like y ou and m e. Your financial gift is important to us, regardless of the amount. Please ask your friends and families to join our effort. For Uncle Bob who h as everything plus some, a gift can be made in his name, tax deductible, and we’ll send a recog-‐ nition of your gift to Uncle Bob, Grandma, or in memory of someone special. The easiest way to donate is to go to our website www.meadowbrookcollaborative.org and make an on-‐line contri-‐ bution directly and securely into the hands of our fiscal partner, Park Nicollet Foundation. Just designate your gift, tax deductible, to the Meadowbrook fund. You will get a receipt, and huge thanks, for every donation. You have been a good friend to the Meadowbrook Collaborative, through the test of time. I know there are many worthy organizations also asking for help – I, too, get those letters. One thing I am so proud of at Meadowbrook, and why I reinvest my earnings back into the project is that I know every single day that what we do makes a difference, and compared to many programs, we are really able to d o a great job with a small budget! I hope to see you soon. We love visitors… or take that next step and volunteer with our Targeted Services program, where you will get to see first hand how important your investment in Meadowbrook families and children truly is. Happy Holidays!
