New Resources – PHENND

Game Time: Midterm Elections Hub

hillarya — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 21:51:27 +0000

As the 2026 midterm elections approach, 501(c)(3)s have an important role to play in helping communities participate in our democracy while continuing to advance their missions. 501(c)(3)s can engage in a wide variety of nonpartisan election-related activities, but they must take care to ensure their activities do not support or oppose candidates for public office. This resource hub brings together practical tools and information to help organizations navigate election season with confidence.

Access the resources.

What Does It Mean to Practice Community?

hillarya — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 21:35:35 +0000

Individual choices matter, but building sustainable communities also requires cooperation, shared resources and stronger relationships.

In this digital age, we can conference with our coworkers across oceans, order groceries with a tap, stream endless entertainment, and get the news directly to our phones at any time of day. Though we are more connected than ever before, we can also get buried in the convenience of being chronically connected. But while being connected online 24/7, we can lose opportunities to practice the skills that come with being in community with others: cultivating patience, compassion and understanding not only for those around us, but for ourselves.

Especially for adults, opportunities to practice these skills are increasingly rare. Even in Philadelphia, with its vibrant neighborhoods, community gardens, and block parties, the deeper skills of relational living – navigating difference, sharing resources, practicing active listening, and co-creating peaceful spaces – require intentional practice.

Census Data Shows Higher Incomes, Slightly Lower Poverty In 2025

hillarya — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:36:41 +0000

U.S. households saw meaningful gains in income in 2025, while the nation’s official poverty rate declined slightly, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Real median household income reached $87,460 last year, a 2.6% increase from 2024 and the highest level recorded since the Census Bureau began collecting the series in 1967. At the same time, the official poverty rate fell by half a percentage point, to 10.2%, with 34.5 million Americans living below the federal poverty threshold. The Supplemental Poverty Measure, or SPM, which accounts for government benefits such as nutrition assistance and refundable tax credits while also subtracting taxes and expenses such as child care, work-related costs and medical expenses, stood at 13.1% in 2025. That was not statistically different from 2024.

This Spotlight Exclusive has all the details.

Reaching Across The Aisle: The Power Of Connection

hillarya — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:25:33 +0000

Discussion is a crucial part of the democratic process, but in an era of division, it can be difficult to bridge the gap. That’s why Muhlenberg College student Skylyn Ellison and her nonpartisan student voting group, BergVotes, developed its “Across the Aisle” program, resulting in a stronger campus community with a deeper understanding of each other.

There is no more powerful tool for collaboration than meaningful communication. In today’s hyper-polarized America, it is easy to believe you have nothing in common with those on the opposite side of the political aisle from you, leaving little room for meaningful conversations and informed debates. Most people are afraid to have simple conversations with those who have different political perspectives from themselves. This isn’t our fault. We are siloed from each other through strict party line divisions and social media algorithms fueled by confirmation bias, which make it near impossible for us to even consider seeing “the other side” as anything more than storybook villains pitted against us. The age-old art of civil debate and exchange of political ideas seems all but lost in the current age of technology and selective reclusion.

ALL IN Civic Holidays Toolkit

hillarya — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:09:07 +0000

Civic Holidays are a great way to celebrate nonpartisan civic engagement on campus and encourage your campus community to make their voices heard by Election Day! To support your festivities, the ALL IN team has put together a Civic Holidays toolkit, complete with social media graphics and sample language to promote holidays like Vote Early Day, National Voter Education Week, and more.

Check out the toolkit here.

New Resource: NATIONAL SERVICE AS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE AI TRANSITION

hillarya — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 01:33:44 +0000

Polarization, collapsing institutional trust, and AI-driven economic transformation are narrowing the pathways into careers and adulthood for Americans today.

Throughout history — from the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps to the Peace Corps — the United States has met moments of upheaval by mobilizing young people around big, shared goals in service to our nation. Yet fewer than 1% participate in national service now.

American Service Project was born to capture the opportunity to scale national service for the 21st century and make it a core response to economic disruption, one that meets the greatest needs and challenges facing our country and the next generation.

New Resource: States are at the Center of Service

hillarya — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 01:25:46 +0000

More than 40,000 people complete a service year annually. Yet demand for service years among young people routinely exceeds the number available, and gaps persist to meet critical needs in healthcare, education, disaster relief, and environmental stewardship — impact areas at the heart of the service year community.

States are stepping in to fill this gap. Alongside AmeriCorps, states are leveraging service to address community needs while preparing their workforce of the future in critical industries and career areas. Today, this effort is being accelerated by state leaders, funders, and service champions who see the potential for sustained, meaningful growth of service opportunities at the local level.

Article Release: “Community Schools: A brief history for principals”

hillarya — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 02:27:23 +0000

What makes a community school a community school?

What have been the major models? We are very pleased to share “Community Schools: A brief history for principals,” published in Principal Leadership (September 2026). While written for Principal Leadership, this brief history should be useful for everyone in the community schools movement. It discusses the origins and development of community schools, and identifies the major models, including University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS). We hope that you find it useful in your important work. Your comments and suggestions are welcome!

Authors: Ira Harkavy, PhD, is the Barbara and Edward Netter Director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a founder and chair emeritus of the Coalition for Community Schools. Cory Bowman is associate director of the Netter Center and director of its University-Assisted Community School Regional Training Center Program and University-Assisted Community School National Network. Richard M. Gordon IV is assistant superintendent of Learning Network 14 with the School District of Philadelphia. While leading Paul Robeson High School, a university-assisted community school, he was named the 2021 National Principal of the Year. Rita A. Hodges, EdD, is associate director of the Netter Center and editor of its Universities and Community Schools Journal.

Read the article to learn more: “Community Schools: A brief history for principals“

New Resource: Our Climate & Our Health Toolkit

hillarya — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 19:01:55 +0000

Campus Compact published the Wicked Issues Toolkit: Our Climate & Our Health, a collection of resources and the culmination of the series that finished in April.

Created in partnership with the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship (ACES), this year’s Wicked Issue series focused on the intersection of climate change and health through higher education. Over five webinars, we explored the work being done to address this wicked issue and the importance of cultivating climate hope while engaging in this kind of work.

This toolkit aims to contextualize the intersection of climate change and health as a wicked issue driven by historical, economic, and systemic factors that require collaborative, place-based solutions, and to provide resources for a wide range of audiences who want to learn more about how they can join this important work.

Explore the new toolkit.

This Month in Policy from PA Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO)

hillarya — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 17:28:19 +0000

Welcome to our September issue of This Month in Policy! Here’s what to expect from this monthly policy e-newsletter:

Key policy updates from the previous month (don’t worry, we’ll still share special alerts for time-sensitive developments).
What’s ahead in nonprofit policy-related happenings.
Suggestions for how to engage.

Service Learning and Meaningful Student Involvement

hillarya — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:43:31 +0000

When students are seen as partners instead of recipients in service learning, this method can foster Meaningful Student Involvement when it is focused on transforming education. Service learning as a powerful and authentic avenue for achieving Meaningful Student Involvement. It’s not enough for students to simply perform community service; the experience must be structured to genuinely empower them and integrate their learning with tangible impact.

New Book: Navigating Dynamic Campus-Community Relationships

hillarya — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 18:35:14 +0000

Navigating Dynamic Campus-Community Relationships explores how higher education institutions and their community partners adapt and reimagine engagement practices in response to shifting demographics.

Utilizing the conceptual frameworks around anchor institutions and place-based community engagement, this volume explores the paradox of higher education as both rooted in place and also responsive to dynamic change.

Featuring multivocal narratives from institutional and community members, it offers transformative insights and actionable strategies to help community members, administrators, instructors, researchers, and students foster agile, responsive partnerships.

The SNAP state cost-shift policy leaves the program’s existence to chance

hillarya — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 18:55:35 +0000

A new paper from the Hamilton Project looks at the potential impact from new federal guidelines requiring states to pay for portions of the SNAP program. “The state cost shift will likely lead some states to exit SNAP altogether while other states will restrict eligibility, cut benefits, or make it harder for eligible residents to enroll in SNAP. Because of balanced budget laws, declining revenue, and other factors, this policy also makes it more likely that states will restrict access or drop out of the program when an economic downturn occurs and need increases, leaving Americans without adequate food assistance, sharply increasing poverty and hardship, and deepening the downturn.”

EPIC! (Enrichment Pathways in Careers!)

hillarya — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 16:48:18 +0000

The EPIC! Ecosystem is a collaborative partnership between BLaST Intermediate Unit 17 and Intermediate Unit 9, established to strengthen connections across education, industry, and the community.

Through a shared commitment to innovation and problem-solving, EPIC! brings together educators, caregivers, students, community organizations, libraries, higher education institutions, and industry partners to create meaningful learning opportunities that prepare students for future careers. By fostering collaboration among diverse partners, the ecosystem helps bridge classroom learning with real-world experiences, ensuring students develop the knowledge, skills, and career awareness needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving workforce.

The EPIC! mission of connecting educators directly with regional employers and community resources creates authentic STEM learning experiences that inspire both teachers and students.

Learn more.

Research Report: From potential to prosperity: A strategic agenda for growth and opportunity in Southeastern PA

hillarya — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 19:07:22 +0000

Leaders across Southeastern Pennsylvania are transforming how the region competes in the global economy and creates opportunity for its residents.

The region’s assets in talent, innovation, infrastructure, and entrepreneurship are exceptional. Yet over the past decade, its economic performance has not matched its strengths. This was especially true for traded sector industries that sell goods and services outside the region and concentrate “opportunity jobs,” which provide family-sustaining wages and benefits or a pathway to achieving them.

Regional leaders identified two ambitions as essential to reversing that trend and unlocking their economy’s full potential:

Boosting economic competitiveness. The region missed out on about 70,000 opportunity jobs in traded sectors between 2012 and 2023—gaining about half the anticipated total and falling 13 percentage points short of expected growth against national benchmarks.
Increasing economic mobility for families. The region ranked last among the nation’s 50 most populous commuting zones in upward mobility for low-income residents. Economic mobility also declined across the region for most racial groups and other income levels.

The Power of Partnerships Newsletter: Latine Heritage Month

hillarya — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 20:18:28 +0000

September marks a new school year, and it’s also Latine Heritage Month, a fitting moment to celebrate the languages and traditions Spanish-speaking families bring to their children’s learning. Back-to-school is when caregivers are most eager for tools to support learning at home, and that’s exactly where our partnerships come in: connecting Spanish-speaking families with free, bilingual literacy resources right as the school year begins.

Inside this month’s newsletter, you’ll find:

Highlights from our Philadelphia back-to-school community events
Opportunities to host FREE, in-person Family Engagement Workshops this fall
Ready-to-share outreach materials for Spanish-speaking families in our Partner Outreach Toolkit
This month’s La Biblioteca / The Library Tip Card
A Spanish read-aloud families can enjoy together at home

Our fall Family Engagement Workshops are available in Spanish and cover Early Literacy, STEM, and the Science of Reading. Literacy Partners provides the curriculum, facilitation, and materials. All we need is your space and your families!

As we celebrate Latine Heritage Month, thank you for continuing to help us connect Philadelphia’s Spanish-speaking families with free, bilingual literacy resources and opportunities to support learning at home.

Looking for this month’s flyers and outreach materials? Find everything you need in our Partner Outreach Toolkit.

Citizen Cast: Hunger Feeds Violence

hillarya — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 20:16:57 +0000

If food insecurity directly impacts neighborhood violence, why isn’t fighting hunger part of a comprehensive antiviolence strategy?

When people hear that an anti-violence organization works on hunger, they tend to ask some version of the same question: What does feeding people have to do with stopping violence?

It’s a fair question. It’s also the whole point.

In one of the most abundant food regions in the country, more than 270,000 Philadelphians don’t know where their next meal is coming from. That’s not a footnote to the city’s other struggles. It’s the soil they grow in.

You can’t understand a city’s hardest outcomes without reckoning with its most basic ones. When you can’t eat, everything is harder. School. Work. Health. Patience. Hope.

Learn more and listen here.

Advancing Youth-Adult Partnership: A Toolkit for Shared Leadership Across Generations

hillarya — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 20:08:43 +0000

Organizations nationwide are partnering with young people to help shape programs, policies and systems impacting their lives. Youth engagement, however, can take many forms. Absent a shared framework, organizations can use similar language while still operating from very different assumptions about roles, authority and leadership. This tool kit from the Annie E. Casey Foundation provides a practical framework for creating and advancing genuine youth-adult partnership for community change work.

Learn more.

Afterschool STEM Takes Off

hillarya — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 20:05:49 +0000

A new study finds a huge leap in afterschool programs providing STEM education, but students in rural communities and low-income families lag behind.

Knowledge and applications of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) underpin much of modern life. These fields form the basis of most of the global economy while also playing an integral role in people’s daily lives. STEM is the foundation for myriad things that we rely on every day, from the weather apps we consult to decide what to wear to the advanced medical scan that catches a tumor early. As we confront the rapid spread of artificial intelligence (AI) in our daily lives and the workplace and enter a new era of space exploration that will create entirely new industries, a long-building question comes into even sharper focus: What does it take to shape, manage, and thrive in a world built on STEM?

In just over a decade, STEM in afterschool has gone from a promising idea to a near-universal feature: 92% of parents now report that their child’s program offers STEM learning opportunities, up from 69% in 2014, reaching an estimated 6.4 million children.

But the progress is not evenly shared—the children with the least access, especially those in rural and low-income communities, are at risk of being left furthest behind, especially in an AI-accelerated economy.

What Gen Z Wants: The Future of Volunteerism

hillarya — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 19:58:29 +0000

Gen Z and Gen Alpha have emerged as the most socially conscious generations we’ve seen yet, but they’re also more discerning with their time. Do Something and American Red Cross set out to answer the question: How do you capture the attention of Generation Z and Generation Alpha to recruit them to volunteer or serve?

When it comes to motivating Generation Z/A to participate in causes or volunteerism, three key factors stand out: Community Impact, Connections and Careers.