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Current Projects
Quarter 4 2023
Youth Renewal Fund | Israel
Everyone at P4T is horrified and outraged by the terrorist attacks conducted on innocent Israeli citizens by Hamas. We grieve for those who died and pray for the safe return of those who are being held hostage. We fully support Israel’s right to defend itself against terror and understand that a price will be paid for peace.
Unfortunately, the military crisis in Israel has already become a social crisis as well - the education of Israeli children across the country is in peril. In certain regions, students cannot attend school due to the threat of rockets launched from Gaza and Lebanon. Moreover, as the IDF recalls 360,000 soldiers out of 450,000 potential reserves, students across the country are simultaneously losing their parents and teachers. Students in underserved communities are feeling a disproportionate impact, as they lack the computers and other appropriate materials to transition to online learning.
One organization that has been committed to serving such students over the last 35 years is the Youth Renewal Fund. YRF is the philanthropic funding partner for the Darca network of schools in Israel. By operating 47 schools in 23 cities, which serve over 27,000 students across Israel, Darca provides Israeli high school students in lower-income communities an excellent education designed to improve social mobility.
As an organization whose mission follows the Jewish ideal of Tikkun Olam—repairing the world—we immediately realized that we must do more than pray as this crisis develops. We must act. Therefore, we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with YRF and raise money for the emergency fundraising campaign they have launched in the wake of Hamas’ terror and the necessary retaliation. Every dollar raised will go directly toward devices for underserved students affected by the war, and every dollar up to $50,000 will be matched.
Approximately 50% of Darca students & teachers live within the most heavily war-torn and high-risk areas, creating an immediate demand for 400 devices (and counting) for students and staff in need in the regions of Hof Ashkelon and Netivot. These areas face constant rocket fire from Hamas, making remote learning the only option for students residing there.
Completed Projects
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Quarter 1 2021
Ms. Easley | Cincinnati
Shirley Easley is an Elementary teacher for Cincinnati Public Schools. She currently works in a low-income community at Chase Elementary as a 2nd grade teacher. Ms. Easley grew up in Cincinnati and attended Cincinnati Public School as a child, and knew what it is like to grow up in the inner city and receive government assistance. To her, being in school was a safe haven and she loved learning. As an undergrad, her major was Journalism and was interested in having her own talk show , but people always used to tell her that she should be a teacher. She didn't believe them, but even though teaching wasn't her goal as a career at first, as a child she would gather all the younger kids and siblings in her neighborhood to play school. Ms. Easley created lessons, served lunch (snacks) and even had recess. Fast forward, upon graduation she worked at AAA, self-published a book and applied to be a substitute teacher after quitting her job. After being in the classroom for several years she went back to school to get her Masters in Early Childhood and here she is today as an educator, like everyone had told her. She loves teaching students and seeing that light bulb shine ever so brightly when they understand the concepts she is teaching.
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For her classroom during the pandemic, she had requested headphones to distribute to each student. Not every student has their own space to do work during online school, and these headphones allows her students to tune out distractions and focus on their education.
Another resource she requested was online access to Scholastic Magazine to assist in reading current news on a child's reading and interest level. Students would be able to read the magazine at home and learn about what is current in news all around the country and world.
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In all, these devices and digital resources we sent to Ms. Easley cost around $2000
Quarter 2 2021
Washington Heights Y | New York City
"Established in 1917 as one of the first Jewish community centers in New York City, the YM&YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood (the Y) is a thriving and visionary not-for-profit human services organization in Northern Manhattan. [They] welcome people of diverse ethnicities and all ages, from pre-school to older adults, into the Y family with a wide range of educational, recreational, and social services and programs that focus on improving the quality of their lives. With a long and distinguished history, the Y is a multi-service community center that is well known for its nurturing environment and non-judgmental philosophy. "
This project focuses on the Nursery School program at the Y.
From Nursery Director Susan Herman:
"Teaching young children is a life-long passion of mine because this is the age where a love of learning can set the foundation for future academic and career success. The creation of a classroom environment where critical thinking skills, problem-solving and decision-making are encouraged allows children in my classroom to explore and experiment while constructing their own learning. It is empowering to observe the children in my classroom thinking critically through the implementation of open-ended questioning and the use of the scientific method while exploring their environment. The creation of units of study that are based on the students’ interests allow my students to investigate explorations that are most relevant and this sustains their involvement and participation. An example of a unit that has intrigued my students include immigration –where do we come from – wherein students created an airport within the classroom, developed passports and studied maps of their neighborhood and the world. Another intriguing unit was ancient civilizations wherein students wrote using hieroglyphics, created pyramids and baked cookies with dates and honey. While guiding students through these units where the curriculum areas are integrated, my teaching team and I are intentional in our conversations with the students in order to encourage learning through teachable moments in the classroom."
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So they can continue providing experiences that excite students and persuade them to become more involved in their learning, the Washington Heights Y is requesting a grant of around $4000 for 2 classroom laptops and a classroom TV. These will be vital to their goals of transforming their students into critical thinkers and problem solvers. In a COVID-19 setting, the Y does not have the budget to bring in separate enrichment programs for each pod, and these devices will allow them to do this. In a non-COVID-19 setting, this technology gives the Y the ability to diversify their enrichment curriculum and encourage learning from a young age.
Quarter 3 2021
Netter Center | Philadelphia
Founded in 1992, the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania develops and helps implement democratic, mutually transformative, place-based partnerships between Penn and West Philadelphia that advance research, teaching, learning, practice, and service and improve the quality of life on campus and in the community.
A core component of the Netter Center’s strategy is to work with the community to create and sustain University-Assisted Community Schools throughout its local geographic area of West and Southwest Philadelphia. University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS) function as neighborhood centers or “hubs” and develop school day and after school curricula focused on solving community-identified, real-world problems. UACS connect Penn students, faculty and staff with public school students, their family members, as well as other members of the community to achieve improved learning and a better quality of life for all. Programming occurs during the school day, afterschool, evenings, weekends and summers and focuses on advancing literacy, STEM education, health and nutrition, arts and culture, sports and recreation, grief and trauma support, college access and career readiness, and neighborhood development.
The Netter Center’s UACS programs in West and Southwest Philadelphia reach approximately 3,700 children in kindergarten through 12th grade. Comprehensive programming is provided at eight public schools: Comegys School (grades K-8), Hamilton School (K-8), Lea School (K-8), Mitchell School (K-8), Mastery Charter School - Shoemaker Campus (grades 7-12), Robeson High School, Sayre High School, and West Philadelphia High School. Netter Center site directors collaborate closely with each school and its community to determine activities that best serve their specific needs and interests. Programming is supported through government grants and private funding, as well as the Academically Based Community Service courses (Penn’s term for service-learning), internships, and work-study and volunteer opportunities that bring over 3,000 Penn students into the schools and community each year.
The Netter Center had requested around $5,000 to purchase technology that will support its growing data and evaluation efforts. In particular, Bluetooth Wireless Hands-free Barcode Scanners and iPads with Wi-Fi were needed to take real-time program attendance in the Netter Center's after school and summer programs to ensure timely and accurate attendance records for K-12 student participants. This will drastically reduce time spent manually digitizing program data, facilitate accurate data entry “to the minute” as required for grant reporting, as well as support comprehensive, long-term evaluation efforts on the impact of Netter Center programming.
As a thank you note, the center sent us: "We are so grateful to Philanthropy4Technology for supporting the purchase of Bluetooth Wireless Hands-free Barcode Scanners and iPads that will support the Netter Center's after school and summer programs in West Philadelphia. These new tools will greatly enhance our ability to take timely and accurate attendance records, which are critical for our ongoing program operations, evaluation, and grant reporting. These tools also give us more resources to focus on the core of the work -- enhanced learning and improved quality of life for students of all ages! Thanks for helping to make this possible."
-- Rita Hodges, Associate Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships, University of Pennsylvania​
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Quarter 1/2 2022
UJA-Federation | New York City
UJA-Federation of New York, in partnership with the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, has developed a Digital Food Pantry system, which leverages technology to make the experience of getting food from a pantry more efficient and dignified. When clients log into the system via a smartphone or computer, they see the pantry’s available inventory and select the foods they want using points assigned to them based on family size. Their customized bags are either picked up at the food pantry or delivered to their homes. The Digital Pantry system interfaces with Google translate so that if a food pantry client and food pantry staff or volunteer speak different languages, this is no longer a barrier to a clients’ ability to fully utilize the pantry. To date, UJA has transitioned 11 of the 29 pantries in our network to the digital system. Collectively, these pantries are serving an additional 20 satellite locations – places such as nearby senior residences or social service agencies that don’t offer food pantry services - where social workers visit with the digital system on iPads to help people order food.
The Digital Pantry model reduces lines, wait times, and food waste; creates a more dignified experience; and enables clients to select food that aligns with their needs and likes. Clients have expressed that they are willing to travel to a digital pantry (even if a traditional pantry is geographically closer) as it provides a more dignified experience. Ultimately, more clients walking into food pantries means more opportunities to not only solve the immediate crisis of hunger, but to connect them to a host of other social services that will stabilize their lives.
Recently, UJA sought to invest in the Digital System by expanding it to college campuses through the City University of New York (CUNY) Hillels. Recent studies have shown that many CUNY students and their families are struggling with food insecurity – a challenge that has only been exacerbated during the pandemic. UJA wanted to be sure they can get food to students in a place that is most convenient and accessible to them, and in a way that de-stigmatizes the need to use a pantry. They knew this could be accomplish by placing the Digital Pantry technology on site at the five CUNY Hillels across the city.
In order to do this, Philanthropy4Technology, in partnership with UJA, raised funds for one-time investments in both hardware and software to digitalize their CUNY Hillel food pantries, including iPads, printers, and updating their ordering program. Aiming to both use technology to solve for food insecurity in the city and to support the educations of vulnerable students, we were able to raise $5000 for these digital pantries. This was P4T's first venture outside of a strictly educational space, and we appreciate the overwhelming support we received for this project!
Finally, Here are some highlights from an amazing thank you letter we received from UJA: “Thank you so much for your recent $5,000 gift from Philanthropy4Technology to UJA-Federa- tion of New York to support the Digital Pantry system on CUNY campuses... We were committed to combatting food insecurity before the pandemic, and now since the beginning of the pandemic, demand is up at UJA-Federation funded food pantries by 40%. As a result of Coronavirus, those who were already struggling with food insecurity were joined by hundreds of thousands of others. Though it wasn’t designed for this purpose, the Digital Pantry system has proven to be a critical response tool, enabling us to safely offer clients choice at a time when so much else feels out of their control.” — Kerry Newman, Assistant Director Capital Gifts & Special Initiatives
Quarter 3 2022
Afya Foundation | Global
Since 2008, the Afya Foundation has been strengthening health systems in low-resource settings around the world. Afya accomplishes this by coordinating with local medical professionals on the ground and facilitating customized shipments of surplus medical supplies and equipment that improve local health systems. To date, they’ve delivered supplies to partners in 79 countries. Their regional network of medical supply donors and volunteers enables Afya to meet immediate humanitarian needs in areas devastated by natural disasters, public health crises, or conflict in tandem with their long-term programs to address chronic health disparities.
Most recently, Afya has been able to get critical medical supplies into the hands of healthcare providers, volunteer hospitals, and medics throughout Ukraine. Thus far, Afya has delivered more than 500 pallets of medical supplies to Ukraine, where most are being received by Alinea International, an international development consultancy working directly with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health to direct supplies where they are needed most.
Afya requires efficient and effective warehouse operations to meet the growing global demand for their medical supplies, especially in times of disaster. Their response to the crisis in Ukraine has both demonstrated what can be achieved by their hard-working team, and also made more visible the inefficiencies of their current warehouse systems. In addition to a strong operations team and a well-organized warehouse, Afya relies largely on the contribution of community volunteers to ensure that requested supplies can be identified, packaged, and shipped in a timely manner. Afya’s volunteer program has the dual purpose of serving individuals with disabilities from the local community, specifically those with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, and offering community service opportunities to people in Westchester County and New York City.
In order to strengthen the integration of these distinct elements of their warehouse operations, and identify specific opportunities for improvement, Afya has embarked on a partnership with Nexera, Inc., a top-tier healthcare supply chain consulting firm. Nexera has completed an assessment of Afya’s operations and made recommendations for a redesign which include software and hardware investments and workflow improvements that will significantly enhance their delivery of critical supplies.
In the second half of 2022, one of the key elements of the warehouse redesign has been to install a new inventory management system. While the heart of the system is software, there are key pieces of hardware needed that support the efficient handling of inventory. These include bar code printers, tablets/scanning devices, and desktop computers. These items facilitate the rapid identification of boxed supplies and accurate stock adjustments, which together support efficient and accurate entry of new items into inventory, efficient picking and staging of shipments, and accurate real-time inventory management. These warehouse operations enhancements will significantly improve Afya’s logistical capacity to respond to disasters like Ukraine while maintaining their ability to serve local community-based health care providers and community service organizations.
Investments in new technology will also lead to more robust training opportunities for their vulnerable volunteers. Young adults with barriers to employment such as first-time offenders or those with developmental disabilities in Yonkers and the surrounding region will gain transferable skills working with the advanced tools common to other warehouse settings.
Afya is eager to implement Nexera’s recommendations, as they will have a significant impact on their ability to meet the extensive and long-term supply needs of their partners in the US and abroad, while at the same time, supporting their workforce devolvement program. To support Afya's efforts, Philanthropy4Technology has raised $5,000 to provide some of the hardware necessary for their warehouse redesign. We hope to give provide updates on the system’s implementation in the coming months, and as strong believers in their mission to provide vital medical supplies to underserved areas across the globe, we are excited to use technology to help Afya towards their goals!
Quarter 1 2023
River Haven Youth Shelter | PoughKeepsie, NY
River Haven is a safe certified shelter, a project of Hudson River Housing, funded through federal, state, county and private grants; services are confidential and available for all families in Dutchess County.
They provide adolescents 10-17 years of age with a safe, structured, pleasant and free temporary home for up to 30 days, supplying food and counseling services as well. This assistance is for youth in a variety of vulnerable situations, including those who may have experienced abuse, who may have been thrown out of the house, do not wish to stay at home due to conflict, or when the family needs a cooling off period during a volatile situation.
Their main goal is to help youth and families reconcile and reunite. When this is not possible, River Haven can help parents/guardians and youth plan alternative stable living arrangements. Through service planning and referral (with youth’s consent), the case managers utilize other community providers to obtain counseling, mediation or other essentials needed to enhance a young person’s living situation.
Importantly, there are expectations and responsibilities that residents must abide by; youth must attend their own school or become enrolled in a school program. River Haven arranges transportation to and from school with the cooperation of respective school districts. On school nights residents attend study hour, and while they did have a computer room open for residents to use for their schoolwork, River Haven had been hoping for a few more devices to meet everyone’s needs. A printer to add to their computer room was vital, as it now allows residents to print assignments as needed.
Furthermore, River Haven requested two tablets that residents can use for therapy or virtual court meetings. In comparison to computers stationed in the communal room, River Haven feels as if tablets are better for the resident’s privacy, allowing them to attend their therapy sessions in more secluded room.
Specifically,
The printer they requested was the Canon - PIXMA TR7020a Wireless All-In-One Inkjet Printer - Black, priced at $99.99.
The tablets they requested were the Amazon - Fire HD 8 10th Generation - 8" - Tablet - 32GB - Black, priced at $89.99 each.
We raised around $300 to complete this project, in order to cover shipping and tax costs as well.