Archives for January 2019

Images for Good with Kevin Krisco

(Jan. 2, 2019) Catherine Read interviews Kevin Krisko, founder and President of the nonprofit images for Good, and Yassmin Salem, a student currently working with the organization. They discuss the history, purpose and goals of this unique program that teaches visual storytelling while supporting the work of other non-profits.

Images for Good is a mentored service photography nonprofit that empowers new service leaders in the community, using photography as a tool of change. Students who are interested in telling the stories of important work being done in the community are mentored in the art of photography to help amplify and elevate the good work being done all around them. Krisko founded the organization after volunteering his own services for nonprofit events, because often times they do not have a budget to hire a photographer to capture professional style images. He thought that pairing the opportunity to teach a student about the art of photography, while giving back to the community, was a perfect way to both teach and inspire students. So images for Good was born, and is currently thriving.

The all-volunteer staff strives to close opportunity gaps through youth development and social innovation. Images for Good partners with small, community based nonprofits to document their events and tell their stories. Krisko emphasizes that it is important to have a diversity of perspectives when telling stories, so images for Good is deliberate about recruiting students from a variety of backgrounds. Their recruiting material is even translated into ten different languages.

Students who participate in this program are taught and mentored by professionals in the field. The goal is not only to teach photography skills, but also to open the students’ eyes to the world around them. Krisko notes that they teach students how to see things differently by bringing heart and soul to their work, with the goal of inspiring the students to ultimately live their life in a more altruistic manner. Once a student graduates from the program, they are encouraged to in turn become mentors to new students who want to get involved.

Yassmin Salem, a student at George Mason University and current participant, was connected to images for Good when searching for a community service opportunity as part of her course work at school. She has thoroughly enjoyed her experience working with the organization, and was excited to be exposed to so many community nonprofits that she did not know about before she embarked on this journey. She has learned about photography and editing skills, as well as how to frame a good picture, capture authentic images and how to tell a story through her pictures.

Since inception in March of 2015 images for Good has worked with over 100 nonprofit organizations and covered over 150 various engagements. They have brought in 27 adult mentors to inspire, teach and plant seeds in the students who they work with. They are always looking for more adult volunteers, and welcome any donations to help purchase more equipment and continue their good work. As the organization grows and they build a network of relationships, Krisko hopes to inspire students to be open and welcoming to new people and new experiences, as well as learn how to advocate and support causes that are meaningful to them.

Krisko is grateful to everyone who has helped images for Good get to where they are today, including individual donors, corporate donors and everyone who volunteers. They can be found on Twitter (@imagesforgood), Facebook and Instagram (@imagesforgood) as well as online at www.imagesforgood.org

by Rachel Simon

Delegate Kaye Kory on Your Need to Know

(Jan. 9, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with Delegate Kaye Kory (D-38) to discuss the upcoming legislative session in the Virginia General Assembly. Korey represents the Bailey’s Crossroads and surrounding neighborhoods in Fairfax County.

After a career in community organizing, Korey launched her political career as a member of the Fairfax County School Board starting in 2009. After serving on the board for 10 years, and having accomplished many of the things she set out to do, she challenged the party incumbent in a primary and was ultimately elected to the General Assembly in 2009. She was excited for the new challenge, and eager to represent her constituents in Richmond. She has always looked for common sense, practical solutions to problems she sees in the system.

Many of the bills that she files are the direct result of constituents who come to her with ideas, or complaints, with how specific issues are currently being handled. Working together with groups or individuals, Korey prides herself on learning the ins and outs of any specific problem, and working hard to find ways to solve it. She is well versed in the inner workings of the legislature, and is eager to get to work on behalf of her constituents in Richmond.

This year, Virginia could become the 38^th and final state to ratify the federal Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Korey was instrumental in raising a discussion about the ERA during last year’s session by working with her colleague Del. Sam Rasoul to start the discussion in the Privileges and Elections Committee. This helped to set the stage for the debate to happen in 2019. (Update: as of today, the bill has passed through the Senate, and will be sent to the House).

In addition to the ERA, Korey is always looking for ways to advance issues surrounding education, as it is an area near and dear to her heart. Bringing her experience as a school board member in the largest school division in Virginia, she is intimately aware of the challenges faced by teachers and administrators alike, and is always looking for opportunities to make things better.

In the 2018 session, one of her signature bills was HB 83. This bill requires that correctional facilities in Virginia provide menstrual hygiene products to inmates at no cost. The bill passed unanimously, and Korey has dedicated a great deal of time over the past year working with the Department of Corrections to ensure that the language on their books accurately represents the intent of the bill. She has diligently traveled the state to meet with corrections officers, and to personally see the impact of her legislation.

All 140 seats in the General Assembly are up for grabs this November. While the Republicans still hold a slim majority in both the Senate (21-19) and the House (51-49), the makeup of these two bodies could look drastically different come January of 2020.

by Rachel Simon

Northern Virginia Family Service – Inside Scoop

(Dec. 3, 2018) Catherine Read interviews several members of the Northern Virginia Family Service leadership team to talk about the wide array of services that they deliver to families throughout the region. For the past 95 years, NVFS has delivered support to the most vulnerable families in Northern Virginia. The organization was recently selected by Jeff and McKenzie Bezos to be a recipient of a $2.5 million grant from their Day 1 Families Fund to help end family homelessness in our region.

NVFS Programs

In the first segment, Catherine speaks with Andrea Eck, Executive Vice President of Programs at NVFS. Andrea points out that the programs offered to families range from workforce training to housing assistance to hunger relief to early childhood development and support. The unique thing about NVFS is that all of their programs are integrated with one another, and are designed to support the families they serve in a holistic manner, with the goal of moving the family toward self-sufficiency.

Eck notes that NVFS works collaboratively with partners throughout the region to help deliver necessary services, so that resources can be used wisely and efforts are not duplicated. She is confident that their excellent track record is what led to the grant from the Day 1 Families Fund. The grant money will be used to fight family homelessness in Northern Virginia. Specifically, they will be enhancing their housing locator service, improving their career navigation center, and enhancing the availability of mental health services in order to get people healthy so that they can support themselves and contribute to society.

Multi-Cultural Center and Youth Initiatives

In the second segment Catherine talks to Meredith McKeen, Director of the Multi-Cultural Center and Youth Initiatives. On the multi-cultural center side, her job is to oversee the array of services designed to help people recover from exposure to trauma and violence. Her department utilizes case management to navigate the issues, and services are delivered in 7 different languages to meet the needs of the community. Many families have suffered trauma throughout the immigration process, and McKeen’s department is designed to assist families with immigration legal aid, as well as assist them in finding the support services that they need within the community.

Under the youth umbrella, NVFS runs a gang prevention program to help keep kids safe and out of trouble. Additionally, for young people who have witnessed or been exposed to violence, her department is tasked with helping them find and access mental health services. Getting young people access to these critical programs is so important, because the sooner they can deal with the trauma that they have experienced, the sooner they can get back to school and be able to move their lives forward.

Another important aspect of McKeen’s department is the family reunification program. Many times, immigrant families are separated from one another for many years, with some parents being separated from their children for up to a decade. Reunification is always the goal, but with it comes its own set of challenges. First off, parents and children need to get to know one another again. Additionally, the children may have endured an arduous journey to make it to America, and they may have residual trauma from their travels. This program is aimed to get ahead of these challenges and address issues up front in order to keep everyone safe. It has been shown to help avoid child abuse, future foster care placement and potential mental health problems down the road. It is an investment in the family today that can have a lasting impact into the future. Families are resilient, but they need the right tools in order to be healthy and happy.

Workforce Development

In the third segment of the show Catherine speaks with Julie Mullen, Director of Workforce Development about how NVFS is working toward customized career training for its clients. This new approach is aimed at helping their clients identify their goals, attain the necessary skills and ultimately find a sustainable wage job. The One on One Navigator program is one of the areas that will greatly benefit from the grant give by the Day 1 Families Fund. A job with sustainable wages is the best way to keep a family out of homelessness, so this program will be critical to meeting their goals.

The One on One program will allow career counselors to help clients tap into their talents, then connect them with the partners in the community who can help them build the skills that they need to succeed. Money from the grant will be able to help pay for certifications or English classes, even assist with the costs of opening a new business like an in-home childcare center. The career navigators can assist with understanding the regulations and the paperwork needed to get a business started. Removing these barriers and hurdles are critical to helping clients move forward.

This winter NVFS is launching their “Team Up” imitative in the hospitality, manufacturing and healthcare space. They will be co-locating in space with their business partners to help deliver services and make sure that workers have the tools that they need to be successful and productive. For example, now that Medicaid has expanded in Virginia, NVFS will have people available to help workers understand that they are eligible for benefits, and assist them in learning how to apply.

Health Access and Nutrition Services

In the final segment of the show, Catherine interviews Ondrea McIntyre-Hall, Director of Health Access and Nutrition Services at NVFS. Her department oversees the Hunger Resource Center, located in Prince William County. The center serves 600-700 families a month, and processes approximately 3.3 million pounds of food a year. There is a growing community of food insecure families in our region, and NVFS is looking at creative ways to help stem the tide of hunger by providing food support and nutrition services. Their resource center includes cooking classes and demonstrations, in order to teach families how to make the best use of the ingredients that they have access to. Additionally, there is no limit on the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables that families can take when visiting their facility.

Thanks to generous donations from local farmers markets, grocery stores and the USDA the Hunger Resource Center receives a great deal of fresh, perishable food. Therefore, they partner with other smaller food pantries in the area so that the food can get better distributed in a timely manner. Many families cannot access the center in Prince William, so this gives the smaller, more local pantries an opportunity to get fresh fruit and vegetables distributed to their clients.

Currently, NVFS is launching an exciting pilot program with Mason and Partners (through George Mason University) that will give clients a “prescription card” for certain fruits and vegetables that clients need to maintain their health. Clients will then be able to redeems these cards at participating vendors – food pantries, Farmer’s Markets, stores where the cards are accepted. This innovative approach to providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables recognizes that what we eat can greatly contribute to supporting a healthy lifestyle.