We are struggling with our fundraising here at the Community House, and so we invite you to donate if you feel the goodness in what we are doing here.

But we are not trying to rely only on public support.  We have been seeking grants.  This tripped us up when we tried to submit a grant to the Community Foundation a group here in central Illinois.  They stated they would not grant to Foundations.  Not even operating foundations.  So what do we do?

I have signed up for the "Assurance Program" at the Foundations Group, the organization that helped me start this project, and they have hopped on board to help me through the process of what we call "A Walk Out."  Here I am transitioning from a private operating foundation to a public charity.  In case you are wondering, the paperwork that needs to be filed with the IRS is an 8940.

Certainly, the first year I was obliged to be determined as a Foundation given that the entirety of our funding came from an individual endowment, funds that had been left to me as an inheritance from my step-mom Sue.  But now that we are up and running, the goal is to become more of a publicly supported organization.

When I first asked about this, I was somewhat shocked to learn that the process takes 5 years.  Five years of operating as a public charity before we will be formally designated as such. So, if that is the direction I want to go, now is the time to get started.  Can we do it? That is the question of the day.

Here is a little piece of information, a total of 1/3 of the revenue stream needs to come from small donations (less than 5,000/ person), however, if a person donated 10,000, then 5,000 can still fall into the 1/3 bucket.  Also, if you are charging fees for any of your offerings, those go into the publicly funded bucket as well.  Finally, if the NFP is already holding assets, including cash, they are not included in the overall revenue stream.  So, if I want to create one last endowment now, before the walk-out, those monies won't be held against our determination as a public charity.  

Looking at the entire picture, I believe this goal of meeting the standard of public support shouldn't be too hard to accomplish. 

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We just completed our First Apprentice session coming up with the Qualities of Good Service, and if anyone embodies these, it is for certain that it is Griffin Heating and Cooling. 

​Owned and operated by Doug Ingersoll, this company has come to the rescue of the Community House Network on more than one occasion.  Today he is installing a new furnace and AC unit.  The old spider furnace, or body burner we liked to call it, is now gone and we have an efficient new furnace provided at cost.

Doug saw the good work we were doing and wanted to help out.  His prices was nearly $10,000 less than the competitors.  That is a lot, lot less.  We are still figuring out our funding so this act of altruism has saved the day for us.

We are ever so grateful to him and his team.

https://www.griffinheatingcooling.com/

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This weekend we are going to celebrate the life of Gene who passed away last December.  It was a tragedy for our kids who have been a big part of the Art Garage and all the activities at the Community House.

I feel like I am part of the family, and I can't envision what the project would be like without this amazing family.  

Gene was the paternal figure for all his grandchildren. He is also one of the few parents who have been involved at all in our activities.  

Often in our community, the grandparents take over responsibilites of the parent.  In this case, Gene took on the role.  He would sit the kids down on the porch and talk to them about right behaviors, making the right choices, and not getting involved in dangerous activities.  His own children struggled with addiction, and I believe he wanted to prevent his grandchildren from taking the same path.

He showed up to our functions, and checked on the kids when they were at the art garage.  He loved them and it showed.

So when he passed, I knew there would be a void.  I didn't want the lessons he taught to be lost. Maybe we could help keep his memory alive.

So we created the Neighborhood Hero Award.  To be given to a member of the community on the 6th of March.  This was Gene's birthday, and also the day we celebrate Harriet Tubman's birthday (her actual date of birth isn't known).

So Happy Birthday Gene, and we hope you are still with us in spirit.   We will do our best to keep your memory and love alive.