WriterCoach Connection

Richmond Community Foundation continues to lead the way in West County

The Richmond Community Foundation has been a leader in fostering the mission of countless nonprofit organizations in West Contra Costa County, notably in helping organizations build the capacity they need to do their work. Since spring 2011, the Foundation has sponsored semi-annual grant cycles in capacity building, filling a need that all too often is under-addressed by funders. 

We have been the fortunate recipients of two such capacity-building grants. Last fall, RCF funding helped us immeasurably to reach our volunteer-recruitment goal for our new Richmond High School program, for which our coaches began filing into RHS classrooms this past September. And the RCF has helped us build on that success with a new grant of $2,500, announced on Nov. 7, to support continued volunteer recruitment as we plan for an expanded program at Richmond High for next year. 

And RCF support has extended beyond direct funding. For example, we would be hard-pressed to count the number of meetings we have attended in the Foundation’s capacious board room, collaborative meetings with other West County non-profit and agency stakeholders and CAFL meetings as well. Given the fact that we don’t have a central office, the generous donation of meeting space by the RCF has meant a great deal to us. 

We are deeply appreciative of the support of the Richmond Community Foundation, and we are honored to be their partner in West County.

Bob Menzimer

Executive Director

Joseph and Vera Long Foundation says yes to WCC in Oakland

The Joseph and Vera Long Foundation told us they liked what they saw about our program in Oakland, and they weren't kidding, backing up their words with a generous $15,000 grant on Dec. 4 to support our writer coaching in Oakland this year and to help us plan future expansion in the district. 

The severely constricted district budget has vaporized funding for support programs in Oakland schools, and so for the time being, we are dependent entirely on outside support, grants and donations, to keep our coaches sitting next to students in Oakland classrooms. We are deeply grateful to the Joseph and Vera Long Foundation for helping us do just that.

Bob Menzimer

Ed. Fund affirms its support of WCC

The West Contra Costa Public Education Fund (Ed. Fund) has partnered with us in innumerable ways in the past year, fostering connections for us through such projects as the West County College Access Network (WCCAN) and the West County Getting Ready for College Conference. The latest expression of their commitment to collaboration is a grant of $1,000 to help fill the remaining budget gap in our program at Portola Middle School in El Cerrito.

Funding for WCC at Portola this year has required the fitting together of many interlocking puzzle pieces, and the Ed. Fund responded with alacrity when we asked them to help us complete the Portola budget picture. The staff at the Ed. Fund reminds me very much of our own group -- smart, talented, dedicated, and a pleasure to work with. We so appreciate their support of WCC!

Bob Menzimer

Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation continues support of WCC

The Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation has awarded CAFL a two-year $20,000 grant to support WriterCoach Connection in Contra Costa County. This gift represents the second round of funding for WCC from the Foundation, which was instrumental in helping us establish a strong foothold in El Cerrito in 2011-12, in the program’s crucial second year at El Cerrito High School, and in planning expansion of the program for the first time to Portola Middle School in El Cerrito. This grant is especially important to us because it allocates $10,000 to support WCC in Contra Costa County for next year, helping to ensure the continuity that is so crucial in maximizing our program’s impact.  

We are deeply grateful to the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation for this generous support, and for the confidence they have expressed in the difference we are making for West County students and teachers.

Bob Menzimer

The El Cerrito community helps keep coaches at Portola Middle School

In a rare and heartily welcomed move, the El Cerrito City Council voted unanimously on Dec. 4 to approve a $2,500 grant to help keep our writer coaches at Portola Middle School in El Cerrito this year.

WCC began coaching at Portola in a pilot program last spring and the challenge, as always, was to find the funding to keep the program going for the crucial second year, often a pivotal point in our program’s history at a school. In the second year, the program really takes hold and establishes the foundation for a sustained presence through the years.

With school and district funds squeezed by the state’s chronic shortage of education funding, money for academic support programs is hard to come by. For WriterCoach Connection to continue at Portola, it needed supplementary funding.

The El Cerrito community, in the form of the GoPortola volunteer organization, led by Portola parent Alonn Ilan, raised $2,320 to help keep WCC at the school. El Cerrito Councilmember Rebecca Benassini, a strong education advocate, then proposed that the City Council help provide some of the remaining program funding. The City of El Cerrito doesn’t typically fund education programs directly, but emails and calls from parents, teachers, coaches, and community members, as well as GoPortola's fundraising efforts, helped convince Council members of the importance of WCC to the school, students, and community.  

We are grateful for the support of the school, community, and City Council — and we're thrilled to continue working with Portola students!

Bob Menzimer

Unique Holiday Gifts from WCC!

 

Rather than exchanging knick-knacks with friends and family this holiday season, give gifts that help change a student’s future!

Add special meaning to your holiday giving when you visit our new Online Gift Catalog. Choose from 12 gifts that illustrate aspects of WCC’s work — from The Mighty Pencil to The Star Student to The Flash of Inspiration and The Terrific Teacher.

Every gift represents a donation to WCC's overall mission and comes with a customized gift card for your recipient. There's no better way to commemorate a special occasion and share our work with students far and wide! 

View the complete Gift Catalog > 

Celebrating the holidays

Everyone associated with WriterCoach Connection works hard, but the people who make the program go behind the scenes seldom find time to play together, a circumstance that CAFL board member Shelli Fried remedied this year by organizing our first-ever holiday party for everyone who pulls the levers to put writer coaches next to students in East Bay classrooms. We gathered on the evening of Saturday, Dec. 1, in space generously donated by St. Clement's Episcopal Church in Berkeley. Here's what it looked like.

A table to celebrate Kwanzaa.

A menorah helps illuminate the celebration.

Santa lights up the season.

The festivities included a collection of classic headlines presented by Shelli Fried, who reminded us all that it isn't only kids who need writing support. Click here for some examples:

Download Headlines2

Download Headlines1

Everyone brought food to share, and everyone enjoyed it!

The gift exchange was full of fun and lots of gags. Our Richmond community liaison, Fernando Ramirez, is about to be surprised.

Many thanks to Shelli Fried and her husband Michael who put plenty of heart into planning our holiday celebration!

Bob Menzimer