TriCounty Community Network Nonprofit Conference 2016

WHEN: Monday June 13th 8:30 am – 2:00 pm  

WHERE: The Hill School, Boyer Gallery, 800 Beech Street, Pottstown, Pa 19464  

WHY: Event to support the staff, board members, community leaders and volunteers of nonprofit organizations, public agencies and associations. Our goal is to increase collaboration, outreach efforts, partnerships, capacity building and volunteerism to have a greater impact within our organizations to enhance our communities.

 

Keynote Luncheon

IRA KORETSKY, “The Chief Storyteller”

 

VENDOR SHOWCASE: 

*FREE* 

We are looking for vendors providing services and products for nonprofits, agencies and associations. Complete the vendor form to:

– Register and list your product or services

– Indicate if you are able to provide a product or service offering of at least $50 in value as a raffle gift for attendees. All vendors will receive acknowledgement in the conference directory, online advertising with conference promotions and eligibility for a one year membership to TCN .

 

WORKSHOPS: 

9:45 am – 10:30 am 

Workshop A– EITC and DCED: Learn about the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program and the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) resources developed to foster opportunities for businesses growth and community sustainability. 

Workshop B– Volunteer management: Organization leaders and recruiters will learn key strategies to attract, train and maintain strong volunteer support. 

Workshop C– Partnership and Collaboration: Discussion of strategies to increase your collaborative efforts, fundraising abilities and acquisition of effective partnerships.  

Workshop D– Email marketing: Increase awareness of your services and participation in events through email marketing and online engagements. 

 

10:45 am – 11:30 pm 

Workshop E– Grant Writing and Development: Understand the grant writing process and learn tips, strategies and best practices to write and develop grants that get results.  

Workshop F– Mobile Marketing: Discover powerful tools and applications to grow your reach, reputation and engagement with clients. 

Workshop G– Program Design and Evaluation: Learn of key steps for good program design including description, measurable outcomes, piloting and feedback mechanisms.  

Workshop H– Strategic Planning for Organizational Development: Discussion of strategic planning techniques to increase corporate compliance and performance. 

 

Vendor and Attendee Registration Here

Steel River Playhouse Summer Camp 2015

See how the arts can enrich your child’s world, through skill building, performing and working creatively and collaboratively with others.

*Each session taught by our professional staff

*Sessions specially designed for Elementary, Middle and High School Ages

*Choice of AM or full-day activities for elementary school students.

*Financial Aid available for families in need of assistance (click for application)

*… and a Steel River Summer Camp t-shirt included with camp tuition!

Enroll Now!

Three separate sessions to fit your family’s summer schedule:

•  Session 1: July 6-17
• Session 2: July 20-31
• Session 3: August 3-14

SRP summer camp 2015 registration form

Camp 2015 Program Guide

More information:  http://www.steelriver.org/2015/04/summer-camp-2015/

Wilkes-Barre City, Township Police Join Forces With Smartphone App

Two local police departments have gone mobile.

The Wilkes-Barre and Wilkes-Barre Township police departments enrolled in a new smartphone application called MobilePatrol that allows users to receive police alerts on their phones and report suspicious activity, among other features.

Both departments announced their collaborative effort to utilize this application on Friday on Facebook, encouraging their followers “to assist (them) in this new progressive endeavor for community-wide information sharing.”

Law enforcement officials are able to set up an account to send alerts about recent police activity and share lists of wanted suspects, active warrants, missing children, registered sex offenders and current inmates in the local prison.

Read more:

http://citizensvoice.com/news/w-b-city-township-police-join-forces-with-smartphone-app-1.1871353

Norristown Police Collaborate With Social Services For ‘Whole Government’ Initiative

Editor’s note:  Alas, Pottstown leadership doesn’t seem to get this concept.  Two thumbs up to Norristown leadership for being proactive and thinking outside of the box.  We like what we are seeing.

NORRISTOWN, PA – Police are called with increasing frequency for complaints about a homeless man with mental health issues. A boy who lives in a household familiar to authorities for domestic issues has started skipping school and breaking curfew. An unemployed mother of three with no previous criminal record is arrested for drug possession.

These are examples of bad situations that many law enforcement officials agree often get worse.

But what if that was not necessarily the case? What if police and other public health and safety professionals collaborated on these cases using a comprehensive strategy that enabled them to mitigate risk factors and intervene to address small infractions before they snowball into larger ones, effectively reducing and preventing crime?

That is the goal of the Whole of Government concept, presented at the 2015 International Conference on Proven Collaborative Strategies for Improved Community Wellness and Safety recently held at the King of Prussia Radisson and conducted by the Penn State Justice and Safety Institute (PSJSI). The concept, which has a proven track record of success in Canada, is being implemented by a small number of forward-thinking law enforcement agencies in the U.S., including Norristown.

Read more:

http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20150404/norristown-police-collaborate-with-social-services-for-whole-government-initiative

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department Announces Schuylkill River Trail Patrols

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

COURTHOUSE — The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department will be randomly sending up to three motorcycle-riding deputies to different parts of the Schuylkill River Trail to provide an extra level of security to trail users.

“We just want the people to know that those trails are a jewel to Montgomery County. They are used by thousands and thousands of people every year. Fortunately there are very little problems up there, but I’m all about preventing problems rather than trying to figure them out afterwards,” Montgomery County Sheriff Russell Bono said on Friday.

Bono said when he was the Norristown chief of police he did the same thing to protect trail users in the Norristown section of the trail.

“Now that I have a countywide position, our cycles are able to ride the entire trail,” he said.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140808/montgomery-county-sheriffs-department-announces-schuylkill-river-trail-patrols

State of the Borough Address To Be Given By Mark Flanders And Erica Weekley At TCN Monthly Meeting

State of the Borough Address

Receive new and exciting updates on:

Community Collaborative Initiatives

Pottstown Area Rapid Transit

Pottstown Municipal Airport

Infrastructure Projects

Manatawny Gateway & Mini Golf Complex

TCN Membership Meeting

Tuesday, October 15th, 8am-10am

Montgomery County Community College, West Campus

101 College Drive, Pottstown

Community Room

You’re invited to join a TCN Committee and help address community issues.  Committees will meet during the second hour.
Caregivers Support – Community Partners Against Abuse – Environmental Health & Safety – Homeless Services – Workforce Development – Youth Development 

The Fundraising Gala Committee will meet 10am-10:30am. 

Registration required.  Click here to register or call 610-705-3301, Ext. 2.

Pottstown Meeting Set To Boost Borough-School District Cooperation

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Considering the same 5 square miles comprises the school district and the borough, this is well overdue.  However, on a positive note, we will hope this leads to substantive change for the beleaguered Pottstown taxpayer.

POTTSTOWN — It won’t just be the location of the joint school board/borough council meeting Tuesday that is unusual.

The agenda is short, unusual in itself, and further, it is focused almost exclusively on breaking down barriers to cooperation.

“We want to set the stage for collaborating, for open communication,” said schools Superintendent Jeff Sparagana who, along with Borough Manager Mark Flanders, met with The Mercury Thursday to outline their efforts.

“That’s one of the reasons we wanted to have the meeting off-site,” said Flanders. “To put everyone in a setting that encourages participation and interaction.”

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130225/NEWS01/130229649/pottstown-meeting-set-to-boost-borough-school-district-cooperation#full_story

Cooperation and Collaboration Are Not Dirty Words In Pittsburgh

Image via Wikipedia

An excellent opinion piece was published in Sunday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, written by award-winning journalist and author Steven Beschloss, about how Pittsburgh has propelled itself forward during troubled periods in the city’s past.  The author suggests that in today’s troubled economic times, America look at the Pittsburgh model of cooperation and collaboration as a way forward.

Here is an excerpt from Mr. Beschloss’ piece:

…We can rewind to the 1940s when Democratic Mayor David L. Lawrence allied with Republican financier Richard King Mellon to shape the city’s Renaissance Project, giving Pittsburgh a new lease on life at a grave moment of decline and worry. It’s worth recalling how Lawrence described that economic development effort to revive the city and bring together a complex coalition of interests: “This is a Pittsburgh project, not a Democratic or a Republican project.”…

The same cooperation and collaboration has enabled Pittsburgh to survive the collapse of the steel industry and reinvent itself as a city built on education, health care, computer science, biomedicine and engineering.

To read Steven Beschloss’ opinion piece, click here: http://postgazette.com/pg/11233/1168445-109-0.stm?cmpid=newspanel