Monthly Newsletter

A LIFENET TEXAS PUBLICATION

MENTAL

N O T ES

Thanks to our Lifebuilders, new

Share the Warmth partners help drive donations

CORNERSTONE CENTER Lifenet’s new drop-in spot

LIFENET 2014 Our year in review

Lifebuilders Milestones Birthdays and anniversaries

Developing Partnerships A priority in the new year

LIAM’S LETTER

Have you ever heard the saying “Sometimes Life Happens”? I understand it to mean that in the long haul of our journey on this earth that we have to face what life brings us, good or bad. No matter how much we try to script our lives, the unexpected can and will happen. This is true in the lives of individuals. It is true in the lives of organizations.

Lifenet is 37 years old. While no one currently on staff has been on board for this entire period of time, a number of us do have the benefit of five, ten or even fifteen years of tenure here. My own view is that we have generally been blessed with a reasonable level of security during much of this time in a “business” that is by definition very unstable.

There is a reason that non-profit agencies do the work that we do (as opposed to for-profit companies). That reason relates to the extremely low funding made available to us to carry out our very important mission. The funds are inadequate to do all that we would like to do and it requires us to watch every penny that we spend in order to keep on doing what we do. We have generally been very successful in striking the delicate balance of living within our means. We’ve accomplished this by becoming more frugal in our spending and vigilant in our productivity in order to earn the scarce dollars available as reimbursement for our services. Lifenet is unique in that unlike many non-profits, we have the ability to earn some of the money needed to cover our expenses thereby reducing our dependency on donated dollars. The money available to us is sparse, but it is critically important to us and any interruption in the flow of this funding can have significant consequences for us.

So it is that “Life has Happened” to us over the past few months. As you have seen, the many long years of relative stability have morphed into a temporary period of instability for us. For multiple reasons, our success at earning dollars in the clinic has fallen off significantly over the past year. I think common sense tells you that if you continue to spend money at a faster rate than money comes in then you will get yourself in trouble. Seventy percent of the money we spend is spent on staff salaries.

So, in September, after months of hoping for improvements in productivity, we found ourselves in a situation where we had no choice but to reduce the money we were spending. We minimized the cuts we made; still believing that productivity in the clinic would increase. By November, we still didn’t see the shift so we were unfortunately forced to cut even more staff.

We’re now at the point that there is nothing more to cut. We MUST start achieving our earning requirements. Yes, sometimes “life” does happen. It’s been a tough experience for us all. But we can either feel worried or angry, but I’m convinced that these emotions are not what Lifenet needs right now. We need the stability that a positive, can-do, will-do attitude brings from you - our Lifebuilder.

As we bring our earnings back to previous levels we can and will begin to restore previous resources.

But first things first- please ask your supervisor what YOU can do to help us out. And please know that I sincerely appreciate all that you do each day for Lifenet Texas.

Liam Mulvaney President and CEO

2014 Lifenet Texas Board of Directors BOARD MEMBERS

OFFICERS Gary Keep, Chair Richard Best, Past Chair Steve Tortolani, Chair-Elect Cary Fitzgerald, Secretary

Ted Vaughan, Treasurer Liam J. Mulvaney, President/CEO Vincent Minor

Terry Bennett Doug Berman Paul Ditto

Rost Ginevich PJ Hoke

We isolate the problem, not the people.

L Lifenet Texas Cornerstone Center

Your support provides a safe drop-in center for the homeless and others in need.

Since 1977, Lifenet Texas has helped people living in need rebuild their life.

In this time, we’ve learned that most share one common problem - isolation.

With little social structure, such as support from family or friends, isolation threatens their hope for a better life.

You can help

We are determined to help solve this problem by introducing The Cornerstone Center - a new drop-in location to serve the greater Dallas community. We’re dedicating 4,000 square feet of space to activities that support recreation and socialization. Our goal is to do so at no cost to our guests. But we still need a few items. Your generous donation will help.

2 ways to donate mobile Text 41444, then type: center<space>$amount<space>NAME (example: center $30 John Doe)

and hit “send”

online lifenettexas.org/give

and select “one time” or “monthly” gift

REFRESHMENTS

GAMES

FURNITURE

lifenet texas

al disorders homelessness unemployment hunger addiction mental disorders homelessness unemployment hunger addiction mental disorders homelessness unemployment hunger add

Share the Warmth

Partners featured clockwise: Weir’s Furniture, The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and the team at Hanby Ramey King Insurance

We asked. You responded by helping us Share the Warmth this holiday season.

Thanks to you, Share the Warmth has doubled the number of partners that will help us collect coats and blankets for those we serve! For example, Gary Keep, the president of our Board of Directors met on our behalf with representatives of Weir’s Furniture and they agreed to host collection boxes in all 5 of their DFW stores. Likewise, Tim Greene, Lifenet’s Facilities Manager, approached his contact at Furniture One and they were looking at ways they could grow their existing partnership with Lifenet Texas. They were thrilled at the opportunity to place boxes in both their Dallas and Garland stores. And Brittany Griggs, our Young Minds office manager, introduced our Share the Warmth campaign to someone she knew at AT&T. And as a result of that conversation, they’re chosen to solicit their office 800 employees on our behalf and are now collecting cold weather gear, have elected to adopt 100 angel tree kids in our Young Minds program and have agreed to sponsor a holiday meal for all of these kids and their families at the Lifenet campus on December 19!

The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Lifenet’s original partner in this campaign, is back and will collect items during each of their 19 holiday concerts this season. They will also feature Share the Warmth in ticket reminder emails to their guests, on the DSO Web site and through their social media channels.

Share the Warmth is Lifenet’s annual holiday donation drive where we collect anything warm - coats, blankets, scarves, gloves, jackets, hoodies, socks... It can be new or gently used. So please, double-check your closet. If you find items that you’d like to donate, please visit any of these partners or drop off during business hours at the Lifenet Texas Skillman location.

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Developing Effective

Nonprofit – Corporate Relationships

by Mary Deacon

The world is facing challenging economic conditions.

Charities are proliferating to meet the needs created by less funding from governments and traditional philanthropic sources and are faced with more competition for seemingly fewer resources. Traditional sources for philanthropy are still giving but all are demanding more from the charities they choose to support. And corporations, one of the “go- to” sources for philanthropic support are giving less and expecting more from their community investments. How can charities maximize their potential for success given these challenges?

Having worked in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors I have perspective from both sides of the fence – as a fundraiser for over 25 years and now as the Chair of Bell’s mental health initiative – a unprecedented corporate investment in Canada’s $50 M investment in mental health.

While many charities seek and are successful in securing philanthropic support from corporations, most, at best, have a small handful of significant seven figure (plus) gifts. Securing these gifts require a commitment on the part of the charity to build and sustain multi-layered, multi-dimensional and long-term partnerships. While these partnerships are envied and sought after, they are few and far between, and require a commitment by the charity to embrace and excel at a number of fundamental practices.

Relationships Relationships are at the core of successful corporate partnerships and this means that the charity must invest in understanding the reasons companies give and what their needs are. This can be challenging at times because the nonprofit and corporate worlds are very different. If a charity wishes to secure corporate partnerships, it is incumbent upon the charity to understand their potential corporate partners and go more than meet them half-way.

Charities need to be business-like in order to successfully partner with business. Nonprofit organizations are powered by passionate people doing important work with dedication and single-minded purpose. Quite often, people who work in nonprofits have done so all their working lives and therefore may not be familiar with the workings of other types of enterprises. Similarly, people employed in corporations may have little exposure to the nonprofit world other than as a volunteer.

This can create a classic scenario where two parties “just don’t understand each other;” a situation that leads to relationship break-down and with it the failed prospect of funding.

Speed, quality, flexibility and excellent customer service Understanding why companies give illuminates the road to success. Traditional “cheque book” philanthropy has, for many companies, been replaced by strategic partnerships that do good in the community while also helping the company to do well.

Companies give to build strong and healthy communities. This is good for business. But, companies also (and importantly) give to reinforce their brand and reputation; to differentiate themselves in a competitive market place; to build positive relationships with clients and customers; and to help recruit and retain employees. At various points in the relationship and over time, the order of priority of these objectives and needs can change.

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Outcomes and measurement In choosing charities in which to invest and partner, corporations look for organizations with excellent reputations and sound financial management as a baseline. Potential partners also need to: - be organized and strategic to deliver high quality work on time - understand the importance of, and then actually deliver, benefits to the company - be very rigorous in measuring results and impact Businesses use numbers and data every day to measure progress and results and are very good at uncovering weak, exaggerated and/or unsubstantiated numbers. Charities will benefit greatly from following suit, tracking performance and returns on investment, be it in number of clients served, patients treated, etc.

Communications and public relations For my own nonprofit experience I know that resources are always scarce and often result in available dollars being invested in fundraising staff (sometimes at the expense of communications and public relations capabilities). Resource allocation will always be a challenge but it is important to understand that if strategic corporate partnerships are one of your priorities for fund development, communications and public relations expertise must be on hand, and of high quality.

Corporations are efficient in executing plans and usually have well-honed sophisticated capabilities in these areas. Making the gift decision is only the beginning of the relationship in a sophisticated multi- dimensional partnership. Much of the ongoing work is in the form of leveraging press conferences, recognition opportunities, meaningful engagement opportunities and much more. Missteps in these areas can create ongoing points of frustration and friction for your corporate partner.

Ultimately, success depends on the charity understanding and respecting the needs of the corporate partner. This may sound one-sided but really, with few exceptions, the pool of potential partners for corporations to support is much wider and deeper than the pool of potential corporate partners for a particular charity or charity project.

Charities need to be: organized and strategic, efficient in their communications, able to embrace the pace and quality expected by a corporation and willing to invest in, and value, the public relations needs and expectations of the corporation.

When objectives align, when expectations on both sides are clearly defined and when there are clear measurement plans, a strong relationship between the parties can form and impactful things can happen for the greater good.

The Lifenet Meal

Thank you for generously serving our community for 37 years.

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COATS | BLANKETS | GLOVES | SOCKS | JACKETS | KNIT CAPS | SWEATERS | SCARVES

Now you can text to help a family this winter!

Use your phone to make a donation of $10 and we’ll give a new blanket to a family in need.

1

Text 41444

2

In the message, type STW<space>$10<space>YOUR NAME

3

Hit send

example: STW $10 John Doe

Or Share the Warmth by dropping off your new or used winter clothing at any of these DFW locations DALLAS Lifenet Texas 9708 Skillman St. Dallas, 75243 (214) 221-5433

Meyerson Symphony Center 2301 Flora St. Dallas, 75201 (214) 670-3600

ALLEN Allen Knowledge Beginnings 1216 E Bethany Dr. Allen, 75002 (972) 747-7074

PLANO Weir’s Furniture 3219 Knox St. Dallas, 75205 (214) 528-0321

Furniture One 7038 Greenville Ave. Dallas, 75231 (214) 692-7038

lifenettexas.org/stw

The High Five Club

Weir’s Furniture 5801 Preston Rd. Plano, TX 75093 (972) 403-7878

FARMERS BRANCH

GARLAND

Weir’s Furniture 4800 Spring Valley Rd. Farmers Branch, 75244 (214) 560-0900

Furniture One 443 W. Interstate 30 Garland, 75043 (972) 303-4969

SOUTHLAKE

ROCKWALL Children’s Lighthouse of Rockwall 3009 N. Goliad St. Rockwall, 75087 (972) 771-3330

lifenet texas

MESQUITE Hanby Ramey King Insurance 307 W. Main St. Mesquite, 75149 (972) 285-0381

Hanby Ramey King Insurance 709 W. Rusk St. Rockwall, 75087 (972) 771-4110

Weir’s Furniture 201 N. Nolen Rd. Southlake, 76092 (817) 442-0321

#sharethewarmth

12/4 Wondrous L. Wilson 12/4 Angela Ndungu 12/6 Josue Nambo 12/8 Steven Cowan 12/8 Eurice Davis 12/10 Jerome Williams 12/11 Maria Gomez 12/16 Dameon Jackson 12/18 Joseph Garcia 12/18 Manuel Cano 12/19 Sylvester Dixon 12/19 Heather Tosco 12/24 Maricela Canava 12/29 Kalondra Ward

2014 Lifenet Texas

N I R A E Y W E I REV

FEB

APR

DMN Feature

Bridge Open House

Young Minds Spring Camp

Meadows Awards $200k

Northeast Dallas nonprofit plans to triple its space

Lifenet Texas leverages our partnership with The Bridge

Lifenet introduces first Young Minds spring camp

Friend offers largest gift for Lifenetʼs new home

In January, the headline above accompanied a full-page spread feature article in the Dallas Morning News NeighborsGo section.

Every night, thousands of guests move in and out of The Bridge Homeless Shelter in downtown Dallas. Lifenet Texas values our role as the exclusive provider of mental health and addiction treatment services for The Bridge. And in an effort to reinforce this partnership and generate additional revenue, February marked our first Open House event for their guests.

In March, Madison and the Young Minds team introduced the first spring break camp.

11 kids, ages 6-16 attended and for three days, they worked together on life skills, attended events within the community and practiced team work and character traits designed to benefit them throughout their life.

In April, the Meadows Foundation awarded Lifenet Texas with $200,000 and signaled a significant achievement for the Lifenet Texas team. For the first time in our 37 year history, Lifenet Texas would have a permanent place to call home. This milestone will also allow Lifenet to grow programs and services in new ways and in doing so, incorporate partnerships that support our mission.

Detailing our plans for expansion, it highlighted our need for more space to provide key services to the population we help. The article also explained how this purchase gives Lifenet a permanent home in the Lake Highlands area.

This feature also first publicly introduced the Becerra family, Rosa and Danielle, whose story would also be featured prominently in this year’s signature video and at the Lifebuilders Community Breakfast in September.

JAN

This Open House event allowed Lifenet the opportunity to increase visibility by posting Lifenet posters in the in the main welcome center.

We also worked closely with The Bridge Care Managers to establish referral leads and build trust with this population.

Isolation is a threat to these kids. So many spend time inside because they live in dangerous places and as a result, miss out on new experiences. This camp allow them to experience new adventures, meet other kids who experience the same struggles, and have the fun they should enjoy as kids!

MAR

This award also demonstrates Lifenet’s appeal to funders in local our community. In total, we submitted four applications to help us secure our down payment. We received maximum funding on all four asks - a rare feat in the fundraising world.

JUN

AUG

Lifenet Spring Carnival

Lifenet Expansion

Lifenet Family Picnic

Young Minds School Drive

First year event gave core values a fun twist

After 37 years, Lifenet Texas has a permanent home

A summertime celebration of our Lifebuilders

2nd annual donation drive makes education a priority

In June, Lifenet Texas closed on our purchase of three neighboring buildings that will make up the new Lifenet Texas campus.

In July, we were thrilled to host our annual family picnic for the second year in a row at DD Ranch.

This past August marked the second year in a row for Lifenetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Young Minds School Drive. And you responded to make it a tremendous success!

2014 marked another new event for Lifenet Texas - the Lifenet Spring Carnival.

The idea of a carnival came from a dynamic team of Lifenet employees who felt a carnival offered the right amount of freedom to be creative in delivering our message. The core values of compassion, integrity, teamwork diversity, adaptability and empowerment are important to Lifenet Texas because they help drive our mission of rebuilding lives.

Each member hosted their own booth, complete with games and fun activities.

Upon completion, our employees were awarded a new Lifenet Way t-shirt.

This picnic is one way that Lifenet shows our gratitude to the wonderful employees we have the privilege of working alongside everyday.

We know that our employees are the reason why Lifenet Texas is a special place. Our guests trust them with some of the most important decisions theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll make in their life. Their teammates lean on them for support and guidance. The level of dedication by the entire Lifenet Texas team is remarkable. Thank you to our Lifebuilders!

This purchase was made possible by the support of four local foundations who agreed that these buildings will allow Lifenet Texas to provide services and meet the growing need in our community. By more than tripling our space, we will soon be able to offer services such as a drop-in center for clients, an expanded pharmacy and lab, a resale shop, larger food pantry, bigger Young Minds center and a neighborhood for other nonprofits that provide services to support our mission.

MAY

JUL 9

Because of our Lifebuilders, 45 children were able to go back to school with the supplies they needed for the new school year. This included 20 kids who received a full set of school supplies and another 25 children who also received brand new backpacks!

So many of families that we serve are struggling to meet their basic needs. Thank you for helping our Young Minds make it easy to keep their education and a better future as a priority in their lives.

OCT

DEC

Lifebuilders Breakfast

Lifenet Texas Fall Fest

The Lifenet Meal

Share the Warmth

This signature event helps inform, educate and fundraise

Lake Highlands turns out for first annual community event

Celebrating 37 years of serving those in need

Annual drive to meet an immediate need

In September, Lifenet hosted our second annual community breakfast. With more than 230 guests in attendance, Lifenet was able to showcase our Young Minds program and share the story of the Becerra family, a tremendous example of the care and attention that clients receive from our Lifebuilders on staff.

In October, hundreds of people joined Lifenet Texas for our first annual Fall Fest.

This marked the first community event to be held onsite at the new Lifenet Texas campus. We were thrilled that more than 400 people attended. Families from neighboring communities enjoyed free food, fun and games and live music.

In November, Lifenet Texas hosted more than 300 guests to our new home for The Lifenet Meal.

In December, Lifenet Texas joined together with partners from across Dallas to Share the Warmth during the holiday season. Donations or coats, jackets and other cold weather items could be made at any of the 12 drop-off locations.

This year’s breakfast also introduced what it means to be a Lifebuilder - anyone, a volunteer, donor, sponsor or employee who supports our mission to rebuild lives.

Fall Fest was a great opportunity to create awareness about important social issues.

Lifenet Texas featured five individual stations that promoted each of Lifenet's five mission areas. A Lifenet Texas representative was available at each station to explain how their mission area contributes to Lifenet's mission to rebuild lives.

With 21 sponsors, this key event allowed us to fundraise in order to reinvest in our organization.

SEP

This annual event, sponsored by our friends at Norma’s Cafe, allows us an opportunity to join together with those we serve to give thanks.

The role of a Lifebuilder is an important, rewarding and humbling responsibility. And for this event, just like any other day at our office, we operate as a team to serve others.

We appreciate our board members, volunteers from the community and Lifenet staff who gave generously of their time to support this year’s event.

NOV

Last year, supporters generously donated more than 400 coats to people in need. This year, in order to increase awareness of this need, Lifenet has joined together with nine local partners including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Hanby Ramey King Insurance and Weir’s Furniture. Each of these partners also agreed to serve as a donation drop-off point for residents living in their area.

Thank you to these Lifebuilders for their years of service to Lifenet!

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1

Jose Munevar Juan Aguilar Martin Pichardo Estanislao Reyna Cliff Spicer Willie Jackson

Steven Cowan

2

Danny Clark

Thank you , Ricky Fox Lifenet wishes to recognize Ricky Fox, Property Manager at Lifenetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prince of Wales, for his fantastic leadership over the past year. He has happily taken on extra work in support of Lifenetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outreach events, including securing auction items for our Fall Fest event and soliciting donations for our Share the Warmth campaign.

In this role, Ricky values community partnerships and their importance in our work as a nonprofit. By reaching out to friends in the community, he is able to keep Prince of Wales moving forward. For example, over the past few months, he has gained donations of new bedding, hygiene products and even meals from St. Joseph's Catholic School. And his partnership with Beth Torah Synagogue helps cover the cost of their Christmas dinner and a gift for each resident.

It is because of this great work that the team at Prince of Wales enters the new year with only a few requests: - rental assistance; - used cookware - $25.00 Target or Walmart gift cards for his floor captains - canned food to restock food pantry for new arrivals If you are able to support the team at Prince of Wales, please contact Ricky Fox at rfox@lifenettexas.org 12