#interview: Miriam Avins, Founder Of The Baltimore Green Space
Greening Baltimore,one lot at a time
This is a repost of an article that original appeared on the MKCREATIVE Nonprofit Marketing Blog in December, 2010.
Shortly after Miriam Avins and her family moved to Baltimore in 2003, she and her neighbors started a community garden after a dilapidated house next door to them was taken down. A few years later when someone wanted to put up seven condos with underground parking, she became concerned about the fate of many community gardens in the city.
“What struck me was the way people could put in this type of work for many years – much more time than we had done – and still have no more security in terms of the land remaining available for the community. Gardens bring beauty, food, and often even lower crime. Yet a garden can disappear in an instant.”
| Category Community, Community Gardens, Environment, Greening, Interview, iPhone Apps, Technology, Urban Farming | | Comments Off
Written by: Cate Neilson
#Interview: Erin Barnes & Brandon Whitney of ioby.org
Cassie, Brandon, & Erin
One New York non-profit is making great strides in addressing the adage — a real connection to others starts ‘in our back yards.’ The organization, ioby (in our back yards), began with the need to answer the question, ‘What is the fastest & easiest way for someone to get involved with something meaningful?’
Founding members Erin Barnes and Brandon Whitney, as well as Cassie Flynn, were all Yale graduates (2007) who had individually completed field work in Africa and South America. Back in the states they each came to New York for different career and personal paths. While pursuing their young careers and keeping in touch, they saw people who really wanted to do something good for the environment but whose options seemed limited. The three began to discuss the possibility of launching their own grassroots organization to help neighbors reach out to neighbors. For the triumvirate, career changes were in the works, as Erin and Brandon worked on ioby with Cassie, who remained on the Climate Change Team at the UN, where she has provided strategic advisory services to UN bodies, governments, and civil society groups on climate policy issues.
| Category Grants and Funding, Greening, Interview, Nonprofit | | Comments Off
Written by: Cate Neilson
#Interview: Galina Madjaroff & Kevin Heffner, The Erickson School
As the Baby Boomer generation moves toward retirement, with people living longer and stronger, the perspective of aging in America must change. A unique graduate program at The Erickson School at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County (UMBC) goes beyond academics to reach its goal of educating a community of leaders who will improve society by enhancing the lives of older adults.
Galina Madjaroff (Lecturer) and Kevin Heffner (Director of External Relations) of the Erickson School are two of those people.
| Category Aging, Assisted Living, Community, Healthcare, Independent Living, Interview, Retirement Living, Seniors Life, Technology, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Cate Neilson
#Interview: Cass Naugle, Executive Director of The Alzheimer’s Association Greater Maryland Chapter
Alzheimer’s is a word most of us have heard, but how many of us know much about the disease itself?
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks of daily living. In most people with AD, symptoms first appear after age 60. According to recent estimates, as many as 2.4 million to 5.1 million Americans have AD, with numbers expected to grow with the growth of the population. Today, there is a worldwide effort under way to find better ways to treat the disease, delay its onset, and prevent it from developing.
One organization actively working to raise awareness and support for this disease is the Alzheimer’s Association, started in 1980. With a mission to ‘eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to provide and enhance care and support for all effected, and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health,’ today, the Association reaches millions of people affected by Alzheimer’s across the globe through its national office and more than 75 local chapters. As the largest donor-supported, voluntary health organization for Alzheimer’s, the Association is a catalyst for advancements in Alzheimer research and care.
| Category Advocacy, Aging, Facebook, Fundraising, Interview, Nonprofit, Retirement Living, Video Interview | | Comments Off
Written by: Cate Neilson
Perspectives: Kristen Cambell of the National Council on Citizenship
Kristen Cambell, Director of New Media
When was the last time you tested your ‘Civic Health’ to find out if your actions, attitudes, and behavior indicated your full participation as an American citizen?
The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) has established a ‘Civic Health Index’ to measure this very thing. Founded in 1946 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1953, this non-profit organization leads the way in promoting our nation’s civic life. Established to track, measure, and promote civic participation and engagement in partnership with other organizations on a bipartisan, collaborative basis, NCoC focuses on ways to enhance history and civics education, encourage national and community service, and promote greater participation in the political process.
The NCoC relies strongly on New Media (NM)—often referred to as Social Media for this readership—to get its message out to citizens across the country, and this week’s Perspectives spotlights their NM outreach director Kristen Cambell. (more…)
| Category Conference/Congress, Interview, Nonprofit, Politics, Special Series, Technology, Video Interview, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Cate Neilson
#Interview: Ellayne Ganzfried, Executive Director of The National Aphasia Association
Ellayne Ganzfried, Director of the National Aphasia Association
(As promised, we return to our look at the condition called Aphasia in a conversation with Ellayne Ganzfried of the National Aphasia Association.)
Ellayne Ganzfried wanted to be a teacher, but a hiring freeze in New York steered life in a completely unexpected direction. Ganzfried, Executive Director of the NAA, has had a lot of unexpected surprises along her career path, all leading to work she loves—helping raise awareness for people with aphasia.
Forced to explore options other than teaching, nothing stood out until a counselor made her a proposition. “The college I attended in Brooklyn, attempting to correct the local accent, required a speech screening to decide if a student should take classes in public speaking…after I read the passage my advisor asked my major, which I hadn’t decided. She promised to exempt me from the public speaking class if I took a course in speech-language pathology. I told her she had a deal, and once I started taking the classes I fell in love with it.”
| Category Healthcare, Interview, Nonprofit, Special Series | | Comments Off
Written by: Cate Neilson
#Interview: Andrew Vincent & Allison Pendell-Jones of Greater Baltimore AHC
If you’ve ever watched Extreme Home Makeover, you’ve seen the kind of satisfaction one group of people can bring to another by providing them with a home that suits their needs. While the Greater Baltimore AHC (GBAHC) hasn’t caught this kind of ‘extreme’ media attention, they’ve certainly caught the attention of the Baltimore area. GBAHC is part of AHC Inc., a private, nonprofit developer of affordable housing that’s been providing quality homes for low- and moderate-income families since 1975. A subsidiary of AHC Inc., an affordable housing developer in Arlington, VA, Greater Baltimore AHC opened in 2004 to address the need for more affordable housing in the Baltimore region. Today GBAHC has six properties with more than 1,100 affordable apartments.
| Category Affordable Housing, Community, Interview, Revitalization, Special Series, Sustainability | | Comments Off
Written by: Cate Neilson