NEWS YOU CAN USE
•	Your input sought on your community economic development & green jobs project, technical assistance needs, and success stories Watch for Partnership’s “Survey Monkey” later this week
•	Want an insightful analysis on President Obama's FY 2011 budget? Sign up for free webcast with Bob Greenstein, Debbie Weinstein - Feb 5th
•	Sign up for Center for Law & Social Policy offers free audio conference on proposed early childhood funding in President Obama’s budget – Feb 3rd
•	Help make the 2010 Census as accurate as possible Check out these new tools from Nonprofits Count
ISSUES AND OPINIONS
•	November, 2009 data shows 49.1 million people in America are food insecure Partnership advocates for emergency food resources
PARTNERSHIP NEWS
•	IRS Commissioner Richard Byrd meets with Partnership staff Plans begin for new joint projects & collaborative efforts

The Partnership is working closely with the federal Office of Community Services on a variety of community economic development, job creation, and green jobs initiatives. These range from a three-year OCS grant to the Partnership to identify, package, provide T&TA on exemplary practices on community economic development to our role as a lead agency in an OCS working group (with NASCSP, CAPLAW, and NCAF) on job creation and green jobs.

This Friday, February 5th, you will receive a brief, to-the-point survey from the Partnership that will ask for your input on a series of community economic development and job creation topics, including what your agency does now, what training & technical assistance needs & opportunities are of greatest need and interest to you, and other relevant matters. Your input will be very important in helping guide the Partnership with its planning of future training and resource development and information exchange opportunities that you can use.

If you already have sent your jobs/economic development materials to Don Mathis as part of our earlier requests for our federal Pathways Out of Poverty application or our eNews this past fall asking for your program descriptions on your jobs and employment & training programs, your information is still on file in the Partnership office and will be factored in to this week’s survey and you do not need to resend.

There are many, many success stories in our Community Action network about incredibly creative and effective economic development programs and practices that are making systemic improvements in communities across our nation. And given the continuing challenges with unemployment and under-employment statistics nationwide, Community Action’s work in helping people find and keep jobs while working with their local Workforce Investment Boards and private sector employers are stories and strategies that we want to share with policymakers, potential funders, and people-of-influence.

Coming soon to an eMail/eNews to you—watch for our surveys this week. Help our Community Action Movement grow & prosper!

Thanks to Debbie Weinstein and our great colleagues at the Coalition on Human Needs, we want you to know about this Friday's webcast, "The President's Budget Explained." Bob Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, will provide a thoughtful overview of the President's FY 2011 proposed budget. If you're in the Washington, D.C. area, you're welcome to attend. Otherwise, the registration info for this free webcast appears below.
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The President's Budget Explained
Friday, February 5, 3:00 -4:30 p.m. EST

In-person and by webcast. Join us at:

AFSCME
1625 L Street, NW
Washington, DC

and online by registering at:
http://www.bostonconferencing.com/chn2/register.

Presenters:

• Robert Greenstein,, Executive Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Deborah Weinstein,, Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs
• Moderator: Ellen Teller, Director of Government Affairs, Food Research and Action Center

A unique opportunity for advocates in Washington and around the country to learn together about President Obama's FY2011 budget, which will be released on February 1.

Bob Greenstein is a much-celebrated federal budget expert. A recipient of many prestigious awards, including in 2008 the Heinz Award for Public Policy for his work to "improve the economic outlook of many of America's poorer citizens," he will provide an overview of the Obama budget and the short- and long-term challenges in working to meet the needs of low-income people and restore the nation's economic health.

Deborah Weinstein has tracked human needs spending at the state and federal levels for 30 years. Each year she helps advocates and policy-makers to understand the impact of budgets on low-income people, why it matters for our nation's future, and effective actions advocates can take.

RSVP's not necessary for in-person attendance. To participate online, click here to register:

Online participants will hear the presenters and see powerpoint slides. They will also be able to type in questions.

Thanks to Jodie Levin-Epstein and CLASP for making this audioconference available for our Community Action network. Register today!

AUDIO CONFERENCE

The President's Budget Proposal: Opportunities and Challenges for Early Childhood Programs, Wednesday, February 3, 2010, at 3 p.m.

The White House recently announced a new agenda for middle class families that includes a proposed $1.6 billion increase in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and a nearly doubling of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for middle-income families. On Monday, February 1, the Administration will release more details about these and other early childhood proposals. Join CLASP and the National Women's Law Center for this free audio conference on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern to learn more details about the President's 2011 Budget Proposal and what it means for early childhood programs. Register today! The conference call is free to participants, but registration is required.

Thanks to our good colleagues at the Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network in Boston, we are pleased to share the no-cost resources below. Let’s show how effective Community Action can be in helping getting an accurate count in 2010.

Dear Don,

The Census is 2 months away! Time is short to get a complete count of our communities.

I am writing to let you know about the newest resources from our Nonprofits Count! campaign, our nationwide effort to get nonprofits involved in the 2010 Census.

Please alert your networks to these census resources for nonprofits on our website, including:

1. Online toolkit: On our online toolkit, you can view or download fact sheets in English and Spanish. You can also print a sample census form, and use our 50-state-map to contact your local Census office. Our new "About the Census" one-pagers are great sources for Census messaging to include in your communications.

2. 18 x 24 Census Posters (shown below): Display a poster to communicate your organization's support for the 2010 Census. The posters highlight a sample questionnaire and toll free numbers to call for help. Nonprofits can order a poster free from our website.

The constituents of nonprofits and social service agencies are at the greatest risk of an undercount. With two months to go and billions of dollars in community funding on the line, we can't afford to wait. Act now to ask your partners, members and friends to join in getting the word out.

Thanks so much for your interest and participation.

Questions? Reply to this email - I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you!

Bridgette Rongitsch
National Director
Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network

Since 2007, there has been a 36% increase in the number of people who live in food insecure households; 16.7 million are children. With appreciation to our colleagues at the National Farmers Union and Feeding America, the Partnership signed on to the letter below.

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The Honorable Senator Herb Kohl
Chairman, Senate Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Senator Sam Brownback
Ranking Member, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

 

January 29, 2010

Dear Senator Kohl, Representative DeLauro, Senator Brownback, and Representative Kingston:

The number of Americans facing hunger has increased dramatically as economic conditions have worsened and millions have lost their jobs. Food banks and emergency feeding organizations are seeing more unemployed individuals and families coming to them for help, many of them for the first time. While the Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in FY 2009 generously provided significant levels of supplemental foods and funds for emergency food assistance, more federal funding is critically needed to help our nation’s food banks replenish their rapidly depleting inventories and be able to serve this increasing demand. As a result, we call upon Congress to take immediate action to shore up the emergency food supply by providing an additional $250 million in funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

According to data released In November 2009 by the USDA, there are now 49.1 million people in this nation who live in a food insecure household. That number reflects a 36% increase over 2007. Of those 49.1 million people, 16.7 million of them are children. These numbers, from 2008, reflect the most recent information we have available. And, with nationwide unemployment having reached 10%, we can only assume that these numbers have continued to grow over the past year as more and more people across this nation struggle to make ends meet.

In September 2009, Feeding America released the results of a survey conducted to learn more about the challenges being faced by food banks, their member agencies, and the clients they serve. Comparing demand in the summer of 2008 to the summer of 2009, Feeding America found that 99% of all food banks surveyed had seen an increase in demand. Nationwide, the average increase in demand was 30%. Not surprisingly, nearly all surveyed food banks reported a rise in the number of first-time users, with 91% citing unemployment as the key contributing factor. This influx of new users coupled with the growing need of existing clients has made it increasingly difficult for food banks to adequately serve those in need.

These shortfalls in emergency food resources are not occurring due to government inaction. In addition to the mandatory $253 million in TEFAP funds in FY 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act generously provided $100 million worth of emergency food assistance. In addition, the USDA in FY 2009 provided nearly $400 million worth of bonus food commodities to emergency feeding programs. But,
despite this influx of food and funds over the past year, the demand continues to outpace available resources leaving the outlook for emergency food looking bleak in 2010.

While in FY 2010 TEFAP will receive $248 million in mandatory funding for food commodities and $60 million worth of cheese and other dairy products as a result of FY2010 appropriations, TEFAP is not projected to see much in the way of any additional supplemental food commodities. The last remaining commodities purchased using the funds provided by ARRA are expected to be delivered to food banks by March 2010. Meanwhile, restrictions on the use of Section 32 carry-over funds will severely hamper the ability of the USDA to intervene in struggling agricultural markets to purchase surplus food commodities for donation to emergency feeding agencies. According to estimated projections, USDA bonus commodity donations to food assistance programs are expected to decline by more than $200 million in FY 2010. These shortfalls will have a detrimental effect both on the agricultural markets that are struggling to recover and on the emergency food assistance network.

In light of such startling statistics and worsening trends, we urge the Congress to take immediate action to help mitigate the effects this economy is having on the agricultural industry and the ever growing numbers of Americans in need of food-relief by providing an additional $250 million in emergency funding for TEFAP. We strongly believe that prompt enactment of this proposal is critical to ensuring that USDA can intervene in struggling agricultural markets while also ensuring that emergency food assistance continues to be available to hungry Americans in these difficult economic times.

We thank you for your continued strong leadership and your consideration of this important matter; and look forward to working with you and the Congress to find solutions to provide relief to the more than 49 million Americans who face the prospect of hunger each day.

Sincerely,

Alliance to End Hunger
American Agriculture Movement Inc.
American Commodity Distribution Association
American Corn Growers Association
American Sheep Industry Association
Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs
Bread for the World
Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association
Catholic Charities USA
Coalition on Human Needs
Community Action Partnership
Congressional Hunger Center
End Hunger Network
Feeding America
First Focus
Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Half in Ten Campaign
International Dairy Foods Association
Land O’ Lakes
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
Meals On Wheels Association of America
Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

Richard Byrd, Jr., Commissioner of the Wage and Investment Division of the Internal Revenue Service, visited the Partnership office and met with the Partnership's 1st vice chair Kip Bowmar and our staff to discuss future cooperative efforts of the IRS, specifically the Stakeholder Partnerships, Education, and Communication, and the Partnership. Commissioner Byrd described a variety of training, information tools, and other citizen input options with which the IRS wants the Partnership to facilitate with Community Action Agencies and state associations across the nation. For example, Commissioner Byrd and the IRS are interested in helping EITC recipients access and use asset development programs like Individual Development Accounts. The Partnership will continue to work with our Beckie Harrell of SPEC who continues to be a valuable resource for our Partnership.

From left: Kip Bowmar; Don Mathis, Partnership President & CEO; Richard Byrd,Jr.; and
Lisa Holland, Partnership Director of Communications