“Eileen will be a tremendous asset to CWU,” said Pamela A. Murray, CWU chair and principal, Bessemer Trust Company. “She brings 20 years of experience in sales and marketing in an extremely competitive business environment. Eileen's talents and knowledge in this area will be invaluable in helping CWU introduce new programs to low-income women striving to become economically self-sufficient.”
Foley, who joined BNY Mellon in 2006 and is responsible for all new U.S. business activity for the firm's Family Office Services Group, was voted unanimously to the CWU board at its December meeting.
Prior to her current position, Foley was a partner and director of sales and marketing for Lee Munder Capital Group, an investment boutique serving institutions and family offices. Previously, she was a principal at State Street Global Advisors, where she oversaw the development and implementation of marketing and the sales of investment strategies targeted to the family office market.
Currently co-chair of the BNY Mellon New England Region Women's Initiative Network, Foley was listed among the top 20 U.S. Women in Wealth Professional by Global Investor Magazine in 2007. Foley received her bachelor's degree from Boston College.
Crittenton Women's Union, a Boston-based nonprofit innovator in breaking the cycle of poverty, combines direct service programs, independent research and public policy advocacy in its mission to help low-income women achieve economic self-sufficiency. Each year CWU helps more than 1,500 people through its mobility mentoring, education, and workforce development programs. For more information, visit http://www.liveworkthrive.org/.
Stephanie Nichols. Director of Marketing and Communications
“The figures we're releasing today are sobering," said Elisabeth D. Babcock, CWU president/CEO. “Essential living costs have continued to escalate in the state, when at the same time median incomes here are now lower than in 2002. And it's worse for those at the bottom twenty-five percent of the economic ladder, who have not only seen their earnings drop by seven percent in the past twenty years, but have fewer and fewer job opportunities that will gain them a foothold in the middle class.”
Crittenton Women's Union produces a real cost-of-living budget and a Hot Jobs report every three years as essential tools in its work to help low-income women and their families become economically self-sufficient. This data helps low-income women determine what career choices pay enough to support a family, are attainable, and offer the most long-term opportunity.
The Mass. Index measures how much income various family types across the Commonwealth require to meet their most basic expenses—housing, utilities, food, basic transportation, child care, health care, clothing, essential personal and household items, and taxes—without public or private assistance. The Mass. Index is calculated at the state and county levels and for the City of Boston.
For example, according to the Mass. Index, the statewide average income necessary for a household with one adult, one preschooler and one school-age child to meet essential living expenses is $61,618 ($29.01 per hour)—approximately three and one-half times the federal poverty level of $18,310. In Boston, this family would require an annual income of $62,421; in Norfolk County, the state's most expensive area, the family would require $68,021 year; in Franklin, the least expensive county, $48,874. And no matter where a single adult working full time lives in Massachusetts, he or she needs an income of $27,084—60% higher than the state's minimum wage—to be economically self-sufficient. (For a full listing by county, see end of release.) The online Mass. Index calculator at http://www.liveworkthrive.org/ allows users to enter their specific family size and city/town of residence to calculate their Mass. Index income.
Child care is the largest expense for a single-parent family with a preschooler and a school-age child, taking up 31% of the family budget, followed by housing and utilities, which take up 22% combined.
“The Mass. Index is a bare bones budget that calculates how much income people need to break even without help from family or friends or government supports,” said Babcock. “In this budget, there's no money left over for any kind of savings—not for emergency reserves in case you lose your job or your car breaks down or you face a major illness.”
CWU's “Hot Jobs 2010” report defines Hot Jobs as careers that require two years or less of post-secondary education, meet the Mass. Index income level for a single-parent family with two children, and currently post high vacancy rates. “Hot Jobs 2010” identifies just 11 jobs in Massachusetts that meet the criteria, down from 26 in 2007 when CWU last published its Hot Jobs report.
“While it is difficult to talk about Hot Jobs in a struggling economy, it is also a very important time to evaluate the labor market,” said Deborah C. Youngblood, CWU's vice president of research and innovation. “Those hit hardest during a period of rising unemployment and diminishing vacancy rates are the economically most vulnerable. With a drop from 26 to 11 Hot Jobs in three years, our report clearly demonstrates there are now fewer routes out of poverty. This makes it all the more critical to identify those job opportunities that do exist.”
Each Hot Job listed pays a Mass. Index wage at the 75th percentile of the job's wage range (meaning 75% of people are paid at or below the represented wage) and has a vacancy rate of 100 openings or more. (See full listing at end of release.) The complete “Hot Jobs 2010” report is available online at www.liveworkthrive.org.
“This report clearly illustrates that the Massachusetts economy is becoming increasingly knowledge-based,” Youngblood said. “Yet nearly half of Massachusetts 3.2 million workers do not have an associate's degree. This makes it more critical than ever that we work to provide access to higher education for low-income working adults.”
Crittenton Women's Union, a Boston-based nonprofit innovator in breaking the cycle of poverty, uniquely combines direct service programs, independent research and public advocacy in its mission to help low-income women and their families achieve economic self-sufficiency. Each year CWU helps more than 1,500 people through its mobility mentoring, housing, education, and workforce development programs. For more information, visit http://www.liveworkthrive.org/.
Healthy Families program graduates 16 moms and 1 dad
NEWS ADVISORY: Crittenton Women's Union's Healthy Families program
graduates 16 moms and 1 dad
WHAT: Boston Neighborhoods Healthy Families, a program of Crittenton Women's Union (CWU), will graduate 16 moms and one dad who have completed the free, first-time parenting program. Suffolk University student Mickah Pierre, 21, of Hyde Park, is the first primary dad to graduate from CWU's Healthy Families program. The 16 moms hail from Brighton, Brookline, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roslindale, and West Roxbury.
CWU's Healthy Families serves 140 young parents every year, providing home visiting until the child's third birthday. Healthy Families offers first-time parents (20 years old or younger at the time of the child's birth) in-home support and guidance; parenting education; support groups; child development screenings; parent/child interaction groups; family-focused social and celebratory events; field trips to zoos, libraries, parks, museums, and other places of interest; and referrals to local community resources. CWU's Healthy Families serves Allston, Back Bay, Brighton, Chinatown, Downtown Boston, Fenway, Hyde Park, Kenmore, Mattapan, Roslindale, West Roxbury and Brookline.
A Tufts University evaluation of Healthy Families Massachusetts (HFM) found that HFM families had fewer incidents of child abuse, healthier children, and higher parental educational achievement than national averages of teen mothers.
WHO: Sen. Marian Walsh (D-West Roxbury)
Milena Gostanian, CWU Director of Child and Family Services
Heather S. M. Mook, CWU Healthy Families Program Coordinator
Healthy Families' graduates and their children
WHERE: Stony Brook Commons
390 Blue Ledge Drive
Roslindale, MA 02131
WHEN: Wednesday, June 24, 2009
5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Reception and Dinner
7:00 p.m. -7:45 p.m. Puppet Show
7:45 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Participant Recognitions
About Crittenton Women's Union
Crittenton Women's Union, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, combines direct service programs, independent research and public policy advocacy in its mission to transform the course of low-income women's lives so that they can attain economic independence and create better futures for themselves and their families. Each year CWU helps more than 1,500 people through its safe housing, education and training programs, and family support services. For more information, visit http://www.liveworkthrive.org/.
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Lappen Auto Supply CEO and Harvard Vanguard physician
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 13, 2009
BOSTON—Crittenton Women's Union (CWU), a Boston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping low-income women attain economic independence, recently elected Edward Lappen, CEO of Lappen Auto Supply, Inc., and Dr. Anne F. St. Goar, a physician with Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, to its board of directors.
Lappen, who has headed up Lappen Auto Supply for the past 27 years, and St. Goar, a physician with Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates in Watertown, Mass., and a staff member at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass., were voted unanimously to the CWU Board of Directors in March.
“Both Ed and Anne bring particular areas of strength to our board and we welcome their talents,” said Pamela A. Murray, CWU chair and principal, Bessemer Trust Company. “Ed combines a legal background with 30 years as a successful businessman. Having employed more than 400 workers, he understands the economic obstacles employers face in providing their workers with benefits and a family-sustaining wage and, at the same time, knows how imperative it is to create opportunities for people to get ahead and achieve the American dream.
“Anne's three decades as a primary care physician equip her with knowledge and insight into the mental and physical health barriers that often impede our clients' paths to economic self-sufficiency,” added Murray. “Anne's already been heading up a volunteer group of five doctors at our Hastings House facility designed to train CWU staff in recognizing and addressing client behavioral health issues.”
Lappen grew Lappen Auto Supply Co., based in Quincy, Mass., to 20 locations with over 400 employees. In 2005, he sold the business to Advance Auto Parts, but retained a small portion of the business that sells automotive service equipment. A resident of Cohasset, Mass., Lappen serves as vice chair of the Cohasset Advisory Committee and is a member of the local Democratic Town Committee. Lappen is an adult adviser for the Appalachia Service Project and team captain for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. He received his B.A. from Clark University and his J.D. from Suffolk University.
In addition to her positions at Harvard Vanguard and Mt. Auburn Hospital, St. Goar is a clinical instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. St. Goar, who resides in Cambridge, Mass., is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, American Women's Medical Association, and the Society of General Internal Medicine. Currently, she is a board member of Pathways to Wellness, a nonprofit organization that provides alternative therapies on a sliding fee scale. St. Goar received her B. A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
About Crittenton Women's Union
Crittenton Women's Union, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, combines direct service programs, independent research and public policy advocacy in its mission to transform the course of low-income women's lives so that they can attain economic independence and create better futures for themselves and their families. Each year CWU helps more than 1,600 people through its safe housing, education and training programs, and family support services. For more information, visit http://www.liveworkthrive.org/.
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Crittenton Women's Union is Named Finalist for $250,000 Nonprofit Collaboration Prize
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 14, 2009
BOSTON - Crittenton Women's Union has been named one of eight finalists for The Collaboration Prize, a national cash award of $250,000 presented to an outstanding model of nonprofit collaboration.
The Lodestar Foundation, in association with the Arizona-Indiana-Michigan (AIM) Alliance, created The Collaboration Prize in an effort to demonstrate how nonprofit resources can be used more effectively to create greater impact. Crittenton Women's Union was selected as a finalist from a competitive pool of over 644 U.S.-based nominations. The Collaboration Prize winner will be announced on March 5, 2009.
"We consider it an honor and a testament to the outstanding success of our merger to be a finalist for The Collaboration Prize," said Pamela A. Murray, chair of Crittenton Women's Union and principal, Bessemer Trust Company. "When we embarked on the merger of two historic Boston nonprofits - Crittenton and The Women's Union - our goal was to build on their complementary strengths to create an innovative organization that effects real change in the lives of low-income families, and we have."
Crittenton and The Women's Union merged operations in 2006 to form Crittenton Women's Union with the goal of furthering their shared commitment to helping low-income families attain economic self-sufficiency. Combining Crittenton's extensive programming with The Women's Union highly developed research and advocacy areas has positioned CWU to become a laboratory for social change. Today, CWU provides a continuum of services to foster a woman's journey from homelessness to a family-supporting job, conducts independent research into the obstacles the people it serves face, and advocates for policy changes to remove those obstacles.
"We went ahead with our merger because we were convinced that it would make us a stronger organization and allow us to create greater positive impact upon the lives of women struggling to be economically independent," said Elisabeth D. Babcock, president and CEO of Crittenton Women's' Union. "Being chosen as a finalist for this wonderful award is terribly validating because it shows that others, like the Lodestar Foundation, can see this impact, and that we are actually starting to achieve our dreams for the organization and the women we serve."
The Collaboration Prize winner will be announced on March 5, 2009 at a seminar in Scottsdale, Arizona on nonprofit effectiveness hosted by Lodestar and the Association of Small Foundations. The winner - chosen by a Final Selection Panel of leaders from the nonprofit and business worlds - will provide the most successful model of collaboration meeting the prize's criteria (as described on the award's Web site, http://www.thecollaborationprize.org/). All eight finalists will be invited to attend the seminar and to participate in panel discussions to share their experiences.
The announcement of the winner will come at a time when many nonprofits are desperately seeking ways to remain viable in an increasingly harsh fundraising environment.
"The economic crisis has decreased charitable giving and that has dramatically increased interest in collaborations and mergers among nonprofits, particularly with respect to eliminating duplication and sharing resources," says Lodestar board chairman, Jerry Hirsch. "Though such strategies can be an imperative during this economic crisis, collaborations and mergers are best practices that should be considered even in the best of economic times."
To set up an interview with Pamela A. Murray or Elisabeth D. Babcock of Crittenton Women's Union, contact Stephanie Nichols at 617.259.2946 or snichols@liveworkthrive.org.
To speak with someone from The Lodestar Foundation, the AIM Alliance or any of the other finalists, contact Claudia Gunter at cgunter@fenton.com or (212) 584-5000 x 226. For more information on The Collaboration Prize or for more details on the finalists, please visit www.thecollaborationprize.org.
The other seven Collaboration Prize Finalists are:
(in alphabetical order)
- Cancer Vaccine Collaborative, New York, New York, Cancer research collaboration promoting learning over competition
- Chattanooga Museums Collaboration, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Administrative collaboration among The Creative Discovery Museum, The Hunter Museum of American Art and the Tennessee Aquarium
- Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas, Merger among the Dallas Children's Museum, The Science Place and Dallas Museum of Natural History
- New York LawHelp Consortium, New York, New York, Collaboration among legal services organizations providing on-line resources
- Ready, Set, Parent, Buffalo and Lackawanna, New York, Collaboration between organizations supporting at-risk new parents
- ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia, Ilwaco, Washington, Merger of two community development financial institutions
- YMCA/JCC Integration, Sylvania, Ohio (Greater Toledo), Merger of Jewish Community Center and Young Men's Christian Association in Greater Toledo
About Crittenton Women's Union
Crittenton Women's Union, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, combines direct service programs, independent research and public policy advocacy in its mission to transform the course of low-income women's lives so that they can attain economic independence and create better futures for themselves and their families. Each year CWU helps more than 1,600 people through its safe housing, education and training programs, and family support services. For more information, visit http://www.liveworkthrive.org/.
Crittenton Women's Union board welcomes Shire executive Bruhn
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 28, 2008
BOSTON—Crittenton Women's Union (CWU), a Boston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping low-income women attain economic independence, elected Suzanne L. Bruhn, senior vice president of Shire Human Genetic Therapies (HGT), to its board of directors at its recent annual meeting.
“We're thrilled to welcome Suzanne to the CWU board,” said Pamela A. Murray, CWU chair and principal, Bessemer Trust Company. “With her expertise in strategic planning, Suzanne will contribute invaluably to CWU as we investigate and launch new programs and services that will help low-income families overcome lives trapped in economic distress and achieve economic self-sufficiency.”
Dr. Bruhn, who joined Shire in 1998 and heads up strategic planning and program management for HGT, was voted unanimously to the CWU board at its November 12 annual meeting held at the State House.
Dr. Bruhn has worked in the biopharmaceutical industry for 14 years. Prior to that, she was a post-doctoral research fellow in genetics at Harvard Medical School. Bruhn earned her Ph.D. in chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. from Iowa State University of Science and Technology.
About Crittenton Women's Union
Crittenton Women's Union, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, combines direct service programs, independent research and public policy advocacy in its mission to transform the course of low-income women's lives so that they can attain economic independence and create better futures for themselves and their families. Each year CWU helps more than 2,000 people through its safe housing, education and training programs, and family support services. For more information, visit http://www.liveworkthrive.org/.
CONTACT:
Stephanie Nichols
Ofc: 617-259-2946; Cell: 617-365-5931
Low-Wage Workers Earning $8/Hour Can Be Better off Than at Twice the Pay
New report finds disjointed public support system can lead to
greater family economic instability
BOSTON--A single working parent with two children in Greater Boston earning $16,000 a year, the state’s minimum wage, and receiving all the major public support programs available to her can better support her household than she could earning $16 an hour ($32,000 a year) and receiving aid because of the disjointed public work support system, according to a new study released today by Crittenton Women’s Union and The Center for Social Policy at the John W. McCormack Graduate School, UMass Boston.
“Fits & Starts: The Difficult Path for Working Single Parents” also reports that a single parent not receiving housing and child care aid will find herself up to $1,666 a month short of meeting her basic living costs when making the $8 an hour minimum wage, and will not earn enough to meet all her family’s living expenses until she earns $29 an hour or $58,000 a year. Two-thirds of eligible families do not receive housing and child care assistance, primarily because of lack of available funding to meet the demand, though they may be more likely to receive some public supports.
“Fits & Starts” highlights the tough choices Massachusetts low-wage workers must make between taking higher paying jobs and losing critical work supports before they can afford to meet their basic living expenses. Among the report’s key recommendations is a call for greater, more sustained investments in critical work support programs, chiefly by pegging eligibility to the real cost of living for low-wage workers in the state. The report also recommends improving access to financial aid for education for low-income adult students, in combination with expanded child care and housing supports.
“The current fragmented system of state and federal work supports, with its varying eligibility criteria and funding shortfalls, means that working parents can easily find themselves in worse financial straits even as they work toward economic independence,“ said Donna Haig Friedman, director, The Center for Social Policy, UMass Boston. “This research shows that housing and child care assistance can provide the greatest benefit to low-income families in meeting their basic family needs, yet these programs remain woefully underfunded.“
“In Massachusetts, a family of three needs to earn about 300 percent of the federal poverty level to make ends meet. However, most public assistance program thresholds don’t reflect that reality,” said Elisabeth D. Babcock, president and CEO of Crittenton Women’s Union and a report co-author. “We need a system of increased graduated supports that will sustain low-skilled working parents as they pursue the education and training necessary to get jobs paying wages high enough to eliminate their need for public assistance altogether.”
Those receiving public assistance find that their “net monthly resources”—their after-tax income from earnings plus the value of work supports minus the cost of all basic needs—do not rise in step with wage increases for full-time workers earning between $11 and $29 per hour. Instead, workers at higher wages levels can be left with fewer resources than when they earned less.
“Fits & Starts” reviewed the eligibility thresholds of seven public work support programs: child care assistance, Child Tax Credit (CTC), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Food Stamps, MassHealth, Section 8 rental housing assistance and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Applying these programs’ varying criteria, the report tracked the net monthly resources of a Boston family of three (single parent with two school-age children) receiving all eligible work supports as its earnings increased. A single parent making $8 per hour ($16,000/yr) nets $439 a month. However, at $16 ($32,000/yr) this is reduced to $391, and at $21 per hour ($42,000/yr), she’s left with $440, about the same as at $8 per hour.
Using the Massachusetts Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard (FESS) published by Crittenton Women’s Union, the Center for Social Policy found that close to 900,000 people in Massachusetts families with earnings—one out of every four—fall far short of meeting their basic needs, even with whatever work supports they receive. FESS indicates that, depending where they live in the state, a family of three requires an income of between $44,000 and $58,000 annually (between 266 percent and 350 percent of federal poverty level) to afford basic needs without public assistance.
The “Fits & Starts” report makes additional recommendations including training case manages to provide in-depth financial and educational counseling and introducing work support “calculators” to help families anticipate and plan for benefit loss.
About The Center for Social Policy at UMass Boston’s McCormack Graduate School
The Center for Social Policy, within UMass Boston's McCormack Graduate School, seeks to positively impact the public/private/nonprofit policies and practices that affect the lives of those with the lowest incomes in Massachusetts and elsewhere. The focus of our applied policy research participatory evaluation and action research, technical assistance and strategic messaging/outreach is on system-level changes targeted at the structural causes for poverty and social exclusion in low income communities. For more information go to: www.mccormack.umb.edu/csp and www.umb.edu/bridgingthegaps
About Crittenton Women’s Union
Crittenton Women
’s Union, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, combines direct service programs, independent research and public policy advocacy in its mission to transform the course of low-income women
’s lives so that they can attain economic independence and create better futures for themselves and their families. Each year CWU helps more than 1,600 people through its safe housing, education and training programs, and family support services. For more information, visit
www.liveworkthrive.org and
www.liveworkthrive.org/reports.php.
Suze Orman pledges $50,000 to Crittenton Women’s Union
Held on April 11, 2008, the 24th Amelia Earhart Award Luncheon honored Suze Orman , one of America's most recognized experts on personal finance. Ms. Orman is a two-time Emmy Award-winning television host, a bestselling author, a magazine and online columnist and a motivational speaker. As she accepted the organization’s 24th Amelia Earhart Award, Ms. Orman spontaneously pledged $50,000 to Crittenton Women’s Union, bringing the total raised at the event to more than $400,000.
The Working Poor Families Project Report
Read the and download press release about the new, Working Poor Families Project report, “Unlocking the Doors to Higher Education and Training for Massachusetts' Working Poor Families,” released March 12, 2008. The report calls for more financial aid, better counseling, and a more-coordinated education system to meet the needs of low-income working adults.
Crittenton Women’s Union to Honor Suze Orman
Crittenton Women's Union, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping low-income women attain economic independence, will present its 24th Amelia Earhart Award to Suze Orman, nationally acclaimed personal finance expert, best-selling author, and Emmy Award-winning television personality. Each year, the Amelia Earhart Award recognizes a woman who embodies Earhart's pioneering spirit, and who has significantly contributed to the expansion of opportunities for women. In 2008, CWU will pay tribute to Orman and her message of financial empowerment for women. The event, which benefits Crittenton Women's Union, draws more than 1,000 attendees.
FESS Report Release
Read the and download press releases about the 2006 Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard, published February 2007.
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Crittenton Women's Union Merger
Read the press release (139 kb) about the merger between Crittenton and The Women's Union, published March 9, 2006.
