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Seward Neighborhood Group Report to the Neighborhood (September 2008
A Note from the Board of Directors (September 2007)
Special Edition of the Catalyst Newsletter: What is happening at SNG? (Fall 2007)
Seward Neighborhood Group Report to the Neighborhood (September 2008)
Dear Neighbor:
It’s been a busy year for the Seward Neighborhood Group. As may of you know, the executive director of SNG resigned last August and the board discovered that there was no money in the checking account. The immediate response was to lay off all of SNG’s employees and to go back to an all volunteer organization. It has been a successful year of rebuilding because of the great support we’ve received from the neighborhood:
King’s Fair: Less than a month after the Executive Director left we had a very successful King’s Fair. It was successful because of a lot of great volunteers, especially Dick Westby and Bernie Waibel.
Seward Towers Community Organizing: Because the Towers continued our contract to provide community organizing to the Seward Towers, we were able to re-hire Nasra Noor, our only staff member. She has continued her great work with the residents of the Towers.
Seward Arts Festival: Thanks to the Vine Arts Center , in November we had the Seward Arts Festival ever.
Annual Meeting and Fall Fundraising: Last fall, we received over $5,000 in donations from individuals. A lot of that was from the annual meeting organized by Don Barton, Pat Rosaves and Susan Hoffman. They also got great contributions for the silent auction from our local businesses.
Peace Garden: Seward businesses, especially the Birchwood, Coastal Seafood and Derovations Corporation helped us raise over $6,000 so we could continue the Peace Garden in 2008.
Franklin Avenue Planning: In early 2008, Minneapolis awarded SNG and Seward Redesign a grant for Franklin Avenue planning. Redesign staff has done a great job coordinating that project. We’ve had great community involvement all the way through the process. Visit www.FranklinAvenue.us for more details.
Standing SNG Committees: Our standing committees—Development, Crime and Environment--continued working with volunteers taking over the support roles that had been performed by staff.
History Committee: Dick Westby started the Seward History Committee Check out the History Walk.
Restorative Justice: As I’m writing this report, we are completing the arrangement to re-start our youth oriented restorative justice program and have advertised to hire a coordinator for the project.
Office Stuff:: Since September, Diann Anders has volunteered to staff the SNG office three days a week in addition to being the organization’s Treasurer. I need to be very clear about this, SNG would not have survived without all of her hard work. We will be hiring a Community Coordinator this fall.
Financial Stuff: As of last fall, we had 7 major financial problems:
- An unpaid credit card balance of over $3000: We have paid off the credit card in full.
- Loss of office partner and five year office lease: Last fall we discovered that our office lease had automatically renewed for five years At the same time, our office partner notified us that they would be moving out. We found two small nonprofit organizations to sublease office space from us.
- Unpaid Minnesota Unemployment Compensation: We have reached an agreement with the State of Minnesota to pay off our Unemployment Insurance
- Bank line of credit: We are current on payments on the line of credit but have not started paying it down. We have built up an operating fund balance to cover cash flow and reimbursable contracts and grants. We do not plan on any further draws on the line of credit.
- A lease for a new copier that we did not need and could not: We are in negotiations to get out of this lease that was signed by the previous executive director without the required board approval.
- Hold on NRP funds: We are negotiating with NRP to resolve the problems with how SNG spent some NRP funds. We hope to re-start our housing programs funded by NRP in 2009.
- No audits since 2004: We have completed formal financial audit for2006 and are almost done with 2007.
- Most importantly, through the volunteer efforts of Robin Westacott, Seward resident and self-employed accountant, the SNG financial records are being responsibly maintained.
So, how can you help? Attend the annual meeting, join the board, participate in a committee, say hi to your neighbor, come to the wine tasting and contribute to SNG (go to www.SNG.org or mail a check to SNG, 2323 East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55406.)
Thank you all, Sheldon Mains, SNG Board Chair
A NOTE FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS (September 2007)
In recent weeks you may have heard that Lori Stone, the Executive Director of SNG resigned from the organization, as did Perry Caranicas, our Board Treasurer. Since the resignations the Board of Directors has worked diligently to get a clear picture of the financial position of SNG. This has been a difficult process and unfortunately the news has not been good. Among the facts we have uncovered are the following:
On August 1 we heard a report from the NRP program which suggests that for several years our Executive Directors have taken funds which were to be dedicated to the Housing Program and allocated them to general operating expenses, in violation of NRP rules.
We have learned that several charge accounts have been opened and have large balances which have not been paid off.
The financial reports presented to the Board of Directors over at least the last year and a half have shown a line of credit in the amount of $25,000. We have recently learned that this line of credit was increased to $35,000 in 2006, apparently without the knowledge of the full board, and that the current balance of that account is in excess of $33,000.
We believe that funds from several of our institutional and foundation funders which were dedicated to certain programs have in fact been spent on general operating expenses, in violation of the funders’ conditions and, potentially, state law. This liability may exceed $80,000.
On Monday September 10 we learned that our bank account was overdrawn. While we were able to cover this overdraft with deposits in the office, we do not have any significant additional funds with which to continue normal operations (some dedicated funds will come in but MUST be directed to the program for which they were intended.)
As a result of all of the above, on Wednesday, September 12 the Board of Directors voted to lay off all of SNG’s staff. It would be a gross understatement to say that this was a difficult decision, but in fact there is no money to pay our staff.
SNG is in extraordinarily difficult financial condition. We do not want to deny the difficult facts that we face. However, the SNG Board of Directors wants the Seward community to know that as difficult as our situation is, SNG has existed since 1960, often as a purely volunteer organization, and we believe that this history will guide us in resolving these issues. A few thoughts:
We intend to make every effort to maintain at least some of our programs. Some of our programs still have funding and we have asked the staff to continue work of these programs on an independent contractor basis. Our program staff has been capable and hardworking and we wish to express our gratitude to them.
We are actively working with the NRP program to resolve their concerns and strongly believe that we will be able to do so.
The SNG Board of Directors, particularly our President Jean Johnstad and our Treasurer Kevin Brown, is working very hard to get a full picture of our financial condition and have dedicated many hours to this effort.
There are a number of upcoming events in Seward which we feel truly reflect the spirit of our community, and we hope you will attend Kings Fair, the Milwaukee Avenue Homes Tour and the Seward Art Festival and see what a vibrant community we have.
SNG’s Committees (Community Development and Housing, Crime and Safety, Environment, etc) continue to be active and work to improve livability in the Seward Neighborhood. We invite you to attend these Committee meetings and help us out.
Many thanks.
SNG Board of Directors
Diann Anders, Kevin Brown, Ann Cronmiller, Bob Hain, Jack Hillenbrand, Charlie Hoffman, Brian Hughes, Adrienne Hyde, Hal Johnson, Jean Johnstad, Bill Svrluga, Dick Westby
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