Crittenton Women�s Union board welcomes BNY Mellon executive Foley

snichols@liveworkthrive.org

BOSTON�Crittenton Women's Union (CWU), a Boston-based nonprofit innovator in breaking the cycle of poverty, has elected Eileen Foley, managing director for BNY Mellon Wealth Management, to its board of directors.

�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.

About Crittenton Women's Union

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/.

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MA costs of living for single parent with two children

Companion study finds just 11 �Hot Jobs� in state
for middle-skilled workers

BOSTON�Crittenton Women's Union (CWU), a Boston-based nonprofit innovator in breaking the cycle of poverty, released today the Massachusetts Economic Independence Index (Mass. Index), which reveals a single parent with two children needs an annual income of $61,618 in Massachusetts just to get by. Its companion report, �Hot Jobs 2010,� also released today, identifies just 11 hot jobs�occupations requiring two years or less of higher education that pay at the Mass. Index level and have more than a 100 vacancies statewide�down from 26 three years ago.

�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.

Massachusetts Economic Independence Index 2010 (Mass. Index)

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.�

�Hot Jobs 2010�

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 75^th 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.

�Hot Jobs� key findings

• The 11 Hot Jobs' occupational categories are computer and data systems, health care, office and administrative support, protective services, and sales.
• The number of occupations that met the Hot Jobs criteria dropped from 26 in 2007 to 11 in 2010. This is likely due to the combined effect of the recession, rising costs of living, stagnant wages, increased workplace specialization, and increased demand for post-secondary education and training.
• Nine out of 11 jobs in �Hot Jobs 2010� were on the 2007 list, suggesting these were particularly recession-resilient. (See asterisked entries in listing at end of release.)
• Two out of 11 jobs listed in 2010 required only a high school diploma (correctional officers and supervisors of administrative workers); in contrast 16 out of 26 listed in 2007 required no post-secondary education.
• The majority of the 2007 jobs that fell off the list did so because of low vacancy rates, most likely a result of the recession. Some though no longer met the wage criteria and in a few cases had both low vacancy rates and wages below the Mass. Index.
• Of the nine jobs included in both the 2007 and 2010 reports, eight have a significantly lower number of vacancies than in the prior report. Registered nurses experienced a 50% reduction in vacancies as compared to 2007.

�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.�

MASSACHUSETTS ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE INDEX 2010

�Crittenton Women's Union 2010

CWU publishes a real cost-of-living budget tool every three years. In 2009 CWU contracted with Wider Opportunities for Women to develop the Mass. Index. The Mass. Index uses a revised methodology and replaces the Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard, published in 1998, 2003 and 2006.

HOT JOBS 2010

�Crittenton Women's Union

*These jobs also appeared on the 2007 Hot Jobs list as well, suggesting they are particularly recession-resilient.

About Crittenton Women's Union

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/.

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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.

Roslindale, MA 02131

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/.

Lappen Auto Supply CEO and Harvard Vanguard physician

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/.

Crittenton Women's Union is Named Finalist for $250,000 Nonprofit Collaboration Prize

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)

1. Cancer Vaccine Collaborative, New York, New York, Cancer research collaboration promoting learning over competition
2. Chattanooga Museums Collaboration, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Administrative collaboration among The Creative Discovery Museum, The Hunter Museum of American Art and the Tennessee Aquarium
3. Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas, Merger among the Dallas Children's Museum, The Science Place and Dallas Museum of Natural History
4. New York LawHelp Consortium, New York, New York, Collaboration among legal services organizations providing on-line resources
5. Ready, Set, Parent, Buffalo and Lackawanna, New York, Collaboration between organizations supporting at-risk new parents
6. ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia, Ilwaco, Washington, Merger of two community development financial institutions
7. 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/.

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Crittenton Women's Union board welcomes Shire executive Bruhn

�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/.

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Low-Wage Workers Earning $8/Hour Can Be Better off Than at Twice the Pay

�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

Suze Orman pledges $50,000 to Crittenton Women�s Union

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The Working Poor Families Project Report

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Crittenton Women�s Union to Honor Suze Orman

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FESS Report Release

Read the and download press releases about the 2006 Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard, published February 2007.

Crittenton Women's Union Merger