The Community Clothes Charity recently awarded Family Support Services a grant of $87,500 for an attachment bonding program to be run at FSS's Family School

Towards the end of 2007, board members of the Community Clothes Charity (CCC) convened in Strafford, PA to review the results of their 2007 CCC designer clothing re-sale fundraiser. They reported profits from this year's sale of $175,000.

The funds will be dedicated to two programs; one that promotes parent-child attachment and bonding among families at Family Support Services, (FSS) and the other that addresses childhood trauma at Children's Aid Society (CAS). The profits were split evenly between the two nonprofit organizations as one-time allocations of $87,500.

Family Support Services will be using the CCC grant to train staff in the assessment and treatment of attachment and bonding relationships between parents and their children. FSS Executive Director, Shawn M. Lacy, Esq., says that achieving parental-child attachment is essential to the emotional and physical survival of an infant or child, yet many of the children involved with the foster care system suffer from disrupted relationships with their parents and caregivers. In fact, FSS has found that when dealing with instances of child neglect and abuse, social workers and parent educators need to begin by improving parent-child attachment in order to achieve parenting success. "By funding this project with a grant," Ms. Lacy said, "the CCC is ensuring that we can do the right thing for these children from the start."

Children's Aid Society is using the CCC grant to boost its capacity to address traumatic family histories among foster care and group home children enrolled in its programs. A full-time therapist trained in trauma informed treatment therapy will be hired with the funding provided by the CCC. The agency says that by assessing and treating each child’s needs, the program should reduce children's levels of distress, school failure, peer relationship problems, and lower the risk of adult mental illness, substance abuse, or delinquency.

The CCC board attributes the success of their once-a-year designer clothing resale event to the high quality of clothing collected and sold. Over the years they have built a network of several hundred individual donors, stores, and boutiques who are invited to donate thousands of new and gently used fashion items by premier designers. During a three-week period in October, CCC committee members log in, price, sort, and store the donated clothing on rolling garment racks. A CCC subcommittee organizes handbags, jewelry, scarves, and other fashion accessories for sale in a charming “Boutique” that is built around tables manned by helpful volunteers.

Throughout the three-day sale CCC committee members work with volunteers (provided by the benefiting non-profit) to assist shoppers and return clothing to racks. Fashion-savvy local and out-of-state women value the CCC sale for its many items from European and New York fashion houses like Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren. Shoppers cite the wide range of outstanding attire as their reason for returning to the sale each October, and the CCC has acquired a reputation for excellence that draws collectors of designer and vintage clothing from New York, Connecticut and Washington.

A significant philanthropic event in the Philadelphia region, the Community Clothes Charity sale has raised over 2 million dollars since 1977. Each year the CCC selects different non-profit organizations as its beneficiaries, and prior grant recipients include The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Bryn Mawr Hospital's Comprehensive Breast Center, and the HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy. In 2008, the sale will support a project at the Overbrook School for the Blind. It is scheduled to run from Thursday, October 30th through Saturday, November 1st at the Village Hall in Spread Eagle Village in Strafford, PA. To be added to the mailing list for this event, please contact Rosemarie Colyvas, the CCC Executive Secretary, by phone at 610-995-9096 or email at info@communityclothescharity.org.

The Community Clothes Charity recently expanded its outreach with a newly-launched website that will help inform shoppers about the annual October event. For more information about the CCC please go to www.communityclothescharity.org

Family Support Services (FSS) social workers used to rely on a patchwork of handwritten reports, word documents, paper files, and excel spreadsheets to monitor progress made by clients enrolled in child welfare programs. Records were primarily kept in paper files and on stand alone workstations, and there was no way to easily search the data social workers collected to access the long term histories of families with multiple Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) contacts. But, a new SocialSolutions software platform will be changing all that.

Part of a multi-year project to overhaul FSS's capacity to capture data on progress made by the children and families it serves, the SocialSolutions software allows FSS social workers to log and report on enrollment, individual advancement towards goals, and family outcomes. It is built upon a restricted database that has been tailored specifically to FSS's needs, and one of its greatest benefits is that it will allow social workers to track an array of data surrounding individual risk factors, trauma and special health needs that can be aggregated into global reports on constituency needs.

A $5000 grant to support this new child welfare software initiative was recently awarded Family Support Services by The Connelly Foundation. FSS will be using the grant to fund further improvements to the software platform and customization work provided by the SocialSolutions software company.

Family Support Services Inc. (FSS) was recently awarded a $50,000 technology Infrastructure Improvement grant through the pooling of six different charitable funds managed by The Philadelphia Foundation.  The grant was provided by the Brodsky Family Fund, the William C. Schmid and Emma Schmid nee Rentschler Memorial Fund, the Edward T. and Ethelyn A. Chase Family Fund, the Lillian Gest Memorial Fund, the Charlotte L. Hammell Fund, and The Alumni Association of the School of Nursing of H.U.P. Women and Children Fund.

The grant was announced by R. Andrew Swinney, President of the Philadelphia Foundation, and approved by the board of managers on July 3, 2007.

Shawn M. Lacy, Esq., Executive Director of Family Support Services, said that the funding would allow the agency to overhaul its information technology infrastructure, increase organizational efficiency, data management and storage, and facilitate strategic planning through improved internal communications.  FSS will be implementing the project with the help of Peter Blau of IT Data, Inc. and will be taking advantage of a
virtual network solution system that allows users to access their network files and resources remotely.

Ms. Lacy said that The Philadelphia Foundation’s new grant seeking process was a tremendous resource for small to medium sized non-profits like Family Support Services.  A key part of the application process, The Philadelphia Foundation’s Organizational Effectiveness (OE) Assessment is designed to help any nonprofit organization identify capacity strengths and challenges, and establish organizational effectiveness goals.  Both a diagnostic and learning tool, the OE Assessment Tool also makes it easier for non-profits to assess and track growth in organizational effectiveness over time. 

Once in receipt of the OE assessment, The Philadelphia Foundation provides a work plan template to help potential grantees structure and implement large projects.

 “It was a delight,” Ms. Lacy said, “to work with Alexandra Samuels (Program Director, Grantmaking Services for The Philadelphia Foundation) as we developed our work plan for technology.  There are specific timelines and results built into our plan, and the process has sharpened our focus and helped our board understand the nuts and bolts of taking this kind of technology project from start to finish.”

FSS serves about 1700 children annually though child welfare, family health, early intervention, and suburban childcare programs in the city of Philadelphia and Delaware County.  It focuses primarily on birth to five year old children in Philadelphia, reducing
child neglect and abuse through parenting education and family support programs.  FSS’s early intervention programs address significant delays in development among young children referred for services by Childlink and Elwyn Inc.  The Delaware County programs support working parents with educational programs for kindergarten to grade five children in Radnor and Haverford school districts.

The Philadelphia Foundation, a public charity, is Southeastern Pennsylvania’s leading center for community philanthropic engagement and is committed to improving the quality of life in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties through funds established by its donors. The mission of The Philadelphia Foundation is as vital now as it was in 1918 when it was first established. Today, with more than $325 million in charitable assets under management, The Philadelphia Foundation continues to help donors harness their generosity and vision by providing tools, knowledge and financial stewardship directed to maximize the strategic impact of charitable contributions. Grants from more than 750 charitable funds strengthen the effectiveness of nonprofits and support programs that are vital to the people of this region.

Announcing a Community Clothes Charity Designer Clothing Resale Fundraiser to Benefit Family Support Services (FSS) and Children’s Aid Society (CAS) 

Now you can indulge your shopping passion at the ultimate fashion sale, by shopping at the Community Clothes Charity’s event of the year -- this coming October.

Have you ever wished you had Audrey Hepburn’s fabulous wardrobe in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”?  Well, wish no more, your moment has come.

The Community Clothes Charity (CCC) collects new, vintage, and gently used designer clothes, shoes, accessories, and handbags and resells them during a three-day fashion bonanza each October.  The sale is open to women only (due to a rather open, Loehmann’s style, changing room) and raises money for a different cause every year.

This year the sale will take place on October 25, 26 and 27 and the proceeds will be split between Family Support Services (FSS) and The Children’s Aid Society (CAS).  “This will be the 30th year the sale has been held by the CCC,” says CCC Press Contact and committee member, Julie Jensen Bryan.  She adds that since its founding the Strafford-based charity has raised “over two million dollars that we have given to local charities.”

Managed by a close-knit group of about 45 civic-minded volunteers, the sale used to be hosted in empty retail space, or large homes loaned by realtors, until The Village Hall, at Spread Eagle Village in Strafford PA, was made available by a devoted CCC member, Mrs. Samuel M.V. Hamilton.

These same volunteers solicit boutiques, fashionable friends with overflowing closets, and upscale stores for designer items.  They price, tag and sort the donated clothing, scarves shoes, and handbags, issuing tax receipts the following January for all items in resale condition. They also man the sale itself with the help of volunteers from the current year’s benefiting charity.

Pamela S.K. Campbell and Janice N. Wetherill, co-chairs of the CCC, say that FSS and CAS were selected as this year’s beneficiaries because of their mission—supporting children.  Mrs. Wetherill adds: “Both non-profit organizations have programs for children and women, and they are the types of programs we like to support.  Also their needs for the specific programs, in this case, trauma, can be met by profits from our sale.”

Shawn M. Lacy, Esq. FSS’s Executive Director says “we are absolutely delighted to be the lucky recipient of this grant...and will assist (the sale) in any way we can.”  Grace Cooke, FSS’s Development Coordinator, used to work as a fashion editor and stylist at      Glamour magazine in New York.  A veteran of designer sample sales, she says: “There are many resale shops, but nothing with the   panache of this sale.  It culls the best clothing, and sells it at a big discount.”  So, all you fashionistas, get ready for some fun!