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Operation Fresh Start provides disconnected youth a path to self-sufficiency. www.operationfreshstart.org 2015-2016 Annual Report Partnerships Help Us Better Serve Youth and Community Collaboration provides opportuni- ty to expose the young adults of OFS to other organizations and their areas of expertise. Every year, Operation Fresh Start partners with over 20 different nonprofit agencies in the area. Some exciting 2015-2016 partnership highlights include: DAIS Meets with Women’s Group The wonderful staff of DAIS (Domestic Abuse Intervention Ser- vices) have met with our Young Women’s Group three times this year. Each visit, the group delves deeper into healthy relationships. Conservation Academy with the Audubon Society For the 3rd year in a row, Madison Audubon Society has offered this five week academy which high- lights careers that benefit the environment and provides hands on educational experience for youth. Second Harvest FoodBank Is Operation Fresh Start’s partner in registering eligible youth for FoodShare. We are grateful that their staff is willing to come to OFS and discuss the program with young people. In exchange for our gratitude, we spent our Day of Service volunteering at the Foodbank, moving thousands of pounds of food! Copies of this most recent annual report are available to the public. Visit www.operationfreshstart.org/ about-ofs/annual-report/

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Page 1: 2015-2016 Annual Report - Operation Fresh Start...2015-2016 Annual Report Partnerships Help Us Better Serve Youth and Community Collaboration provides opportuni-ty to expose the young

Operation Fresh Start provides disconnected

youth a path to self-sufficiency.

www.operationfreshstart.org

2015-2016 Annual Report

Partnerships Help Us Better

Serve Youth and Community

Collaboration provides opportuni-

ty to expose the young adults of

OFS to other organizations and

their areas of expertise. Every

year, Operation Fresh Start

partners with over 20 different

nonprofit agencies in the area.

Some exciting 2015-2016

partnership highlights include:

DAIS Meets with Women’s Group

The wonderful staff of DAIS

(Domestic Abuse Intervention Ser-

vices) have met with our Young

Women’s Group three times this

year. Each visit, the group delves

deeper into healthy relationships.

Conservation Academy with the

Audubon Society

For the 3rd year in a row, Madison

Audubon Society has offered this

five week academy which high-

lights careers that benefit the

environment and provides hands

on educational experience for

youth.

Second Harvest FoodBank

Is Operation Fresh Start’s partner

in registering eligible youth for

FoodShare. We are grateful that

their staff is willing to come to OFS

and discuss the program with

young people. In exchange for

our gratitude, we spent our Day

of Service volunteering at the

Foodbank, moving thousands of

pounds of food!

Copies of this most recent annual

report are available to the public.

Visit www.operationfreshstart.org/

about-ofs/annual-report/

Page 2: 2015-2016 Annual Report - Operation Fresh Start...2015-2016 Annual Report Partnerships Help Us Better Serve Youth and Community Collaboration provides opportuni-ty to expose the young

Hello Annual Report Reader,

I hope you are having a happy New Year. We are busier than a

hotdog stand at halftime here. We have launched a Capital Campaign

to be able to serve twice as many young people. This is really different

for Operation Fresh Start. We haven’t ever asked the community for this

type of help. The people I work with are folks that care more about what

they do than the building in which they work. They invest their hearts

and souls in every young person they meet and look past the cramped

space of an outdated facility.

Two years ago, during a Strategic Planning exercise, we asked

the community what we could do better. You simply said, “Do More!”

At times it is difficult to think of doing more. We love the young people

we work with, but making significant transformations in older youth isn’t

easy. This is tough, grueling, high intensity work and to do more? Really?

Yet doing more is what we shall do. It is our mission that each

youth has a path forward. The Building Futures Campaign is about a

new facility where we can serve twice as many youth. Twice as many

eyes opened to new opportunities. Twice as many dreams renewed.

We aren’t building sandcastles here; we are building futures and we will

be able to build twice as many in our new home.

When the community said, “Do more!” and the idea for the Build-

ing Futures Campaign started, I had no idea what it would be like. In

addition to doing our daily work, we have to plan a building and deter-

mine how our young people are going to help build it. How cool is that?

Through this process so much has happened. Additional programming

has already started so we are even more cramped. We have a new

building site, we have an ambitious plan for the space, and we get to

begin building and renovating the interior in January!

All of this is awesome! But something else very personal has hap-

pened to me. I have never felt so hopeful. Grim news just washes past –

I don’t have time for it. When a youth talks to a donor about his/her

dreams for the new Fresh Start and they bond over this hope, the whole

of humanity grows. My hope turns into faith. I can’t know exactly how

this Building Futures Campaign will go, but I have more faith in my com-

munity then I ever have.

So stop by the hotdog stand and grab an apron. It is going to

take all of us to pull this off. Come on board and let the hope grow

inside you as it has in me. It is a wonderful thing.

Thank you,

Gregory Markle

From the Executive Director Operation Fresh Start Board of Directors

Steve Hartley, President

Laura Jaggi, Vice President

Cindy Meicher Hasenfratz,

Treasurer

Erica Nelson, Secretary

Stacy Alexejun

Theresa Balsiger

Louis Bentley

Bjorn Berg

Brenda Brown

Bea Christensen

Lau Christensen

Claude Gilmore

David Lehrer

Mitchell R. Olson

Mark Schneider

Our Vision: All youth ages 16-24

are assets in our community.

Operation Fresh Start Leadership Staff

Nina DeHaven – Finance Director,

[email protected]

Gregory Markle – Executive Director,

[email protected]

Brian McMahon – Deputy Director,

[email protected]

Gloria Nelson – Operations Director,

[email protected]

Jill W. Pfeiffer – Development Director,

[email protected]

Katrece Ragland – Employment Services Director,

[email protected]

Our Mission:

Operation Fresh

Start provides

disconnected

youth a path to

self-sufficiency.

Page 3: 2015-2016 Annual Report - Operation Fresh Start...2015-2016 Annual Report Partnerships Help Us Better Serve Youth and Community Collaboration provides opportuni-ty to expose the young

Participant Highlight: Giselle – Life After Pathways Did you know all that Operation Fresh Start does?

This past year, Giselle

graduated from the

OFS Pathways pro-

gram. She is currently

working at the Hyatt

Hotel as a house-

keeping supervisor.

Also, since her time

at OFS, she has

completed personal

finance classes at

Madison College.

In addition to working

full time, she is signed

up for the Surgical

Technician program

at Madison College

and working towards

her goal of becoming

a Surgical Technician.

Giselle says, “The most important thing I learned at OFS

would have to be: not to react to situations immediately, to

take a step back and think about the consequences if you

do react a certain way right away.”

"OFS did wonders for me! I'm beyond thankful for

discovering this program when I was at the point of

giving up. I would with NO hesitation recommend

someone to OFS when wanting a new „fresh start.‟ I

would do it all over again if I could. OFS was hon-

estly like a family to me and I loved the sweetness

and care the staff showed you. You could definitely

tell that they just have your best interest at heart."

OFS serves 15,000 meals annually (breakfast and lunch)

to participants of Pathways and Strive, and to partici-

pants in our partner programs including Urban League’s

Foundations for the Trades and YWCA’s Construct U.

Our part-time nurse offers health assessments to all

participants in our Pathways and Grad Crew programs.

Through our partnership with Urban League’s Founda-

tions for the Trades, OFS staff offered OSHA certification,

CPR/First Aid, Fall Protection, Flagger certification and

Forklift training to 27 adults.

Operation Fresh Start issued 81 work permits for youth to

gain employment. This is a service we provide to the

community throughout the year, including during the

summer months.

OFS provides space and curriculum training for both

Foundations and Construct U.

Every day, past OFS participants come in for case

management, resume review, and referrals.

Page 4: 2015-2016 Annual Report - Operation Fresh Start...2015-2016 Annual Report Partnerships Help Us Better Serve Youth and Community Collaboration provides opportuni-ty to expose the young

Since early 2014, OFS crews have been

working hard at Silverwood Farm Park

near Edgerton, WI where we were com-

missioned by Dane County to transform

a 300 acre farm that was donated to the

county into a beautiful place for educa-

tion and recreation. Now this tremendous

project is coming to a close.

In the Last 3 Years Our Crews Have:

Created a bat habitat (so they stay

out of the old stone house, now the

Visitors’ Center)

Carved out walking trails in the

nearby woods

Created a gravel parking lot with

pond access

Farmed an acre of land which pro-

duced vegetables for OFS and food

pantry meals

Renovated the Silverwood family’s old

stone house into a Visitors’ Center. This

included…

Placing beams in the ceiling to

support the roof

Chipping away plaster to expose

the original masonry walls

Building an addition where

restrooms will be located (to be

completed by a group at a later

time)

The work has been hard, the climate

often forbidding. But now nearly 80 youth

can say they have spent over 26,228

collective hours of work on this transform-

ative project that will be used by

thousands of nature lovers in the years to

come. Visit www.silverwoodpark.org for

more information and to plan a trip to see

the fruits of our labor!

Special thanks to Dane County and

County Executive Joe Parisi for this

opportunity for our county and our youth.

“To have the opportuni-

ty to work and construct

a new Dane County

Park has been the most

rewarding work I've

ever done.” – Sean, OFS

Silverwood Farm: Building an Agricultural Education Park Financials

Actual 10/1/2015 to 9/30/2016 (Pre-Audit Numbers)

Types of solicitations

include: appeal

letters, contracts,

donor engage-

ment, events,

fee-for-service

and grants.

Income

Public Support 2,200,288

Capital Campaign Investments/Pledges 728,573

Private Donations 115,801

Total Revenue 3,044,662

Expenses

Program Services 2,010,063

Capital Campaign 82,330

Management & General 177,360

Total Expenses 2,269,753

Excess (Deficit) 774,909

Assets

Current Assets 893,583

Capital Campaign Investments/Pledges 1,284,988

Property & Equipment 155,574

Total Assets 2,334,145

Liabilities/Net Assets

Liabilities/Net Assets 908,613

Capital Campaign 1,284,988

Unrestricted/ Net Assets 140,544

Total Liabilities/Net Assets 2,334,145

Page 5: 2015-2016 Annual Report - Operation Fresh Start...2015-2016 Annual Report Partnerships Help Us Better Serve Youth and Community Collaboration provides opportuni-ty to expose the young

A Fund For Women, Alliant Energy Foundation, Alliant Energy Matching

Gift Program, Alvarado Family Foundation, American Family Insurance,

Anchor Bank, August Foundation, Axley Brynelson, LLP, Badger Bus,

Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Bank of America United Way,

Bayside Fund, Briarpatch, Charles Vetzner Fund, City of Madison Commu-

nity Development Division, City of Madison Parks Department, Common-

wealth Development, Construction Labor Management Council of Great-

er Wisconsin, Inc., Construction Training Inc., Corporation for National &

Community Service, Courtier Foundation, Inc., Cummings Christensen

Family Foundation, CUNA Mutual Group Foundation, Dan & Patti Rashke

(TASC) Family Foundation, Dane County Department of Human Services,

Dane County Food Stamp Education and Training, Dane County Parks,

Dean & St. Mary’s, Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS), Donald

W. and Margaret W. Anderson Foundation, EMC Environmental Manage-

ment Consulting, Inc., Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc., Epic, Eppstein

Uhen Architects, Inc., Eppstein Uhen Foundation, First Choice Dental,

Friends of Silverwood Park, Grant Thornton LLC, Goodman Community

Center, Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corp, Hann’s Christmas

Tree Farm, Helen and Jeffrey Mattox Passthrough Fund, Herb Kohl Philan-

thropies, Janus Galleries, J.H. Findorff & Son Inc., Lands’ End, LGM Alumni

Association, M3 Insurance Solutions Inc, Madison Audubon Society, Madi-

son College, Madison Community Foundation, Madison Gas and Electric

Foundation, Madison Metropolitan School District, Magic Pebble Founda-

tion, Matilda Ripley Passthrough Fund, Meicher CPAs, Members First Credit

Union, Merrill Lynch – Madison, Meyer Family Fund, Milwaukee Bucks,

Morgan Stanley Foundation, National Guardian Life Insurance Company,

North Central Group, Quarles & Brady LLP, Robert W. Baird & Co., SSM

Health Care of Wisconsin, Sardine, Second Harvest Foodbank, Sub-Zero

Wolf Foundation, The Corps Network, The Cremer Foundation, The

DeAtley Family Foundation, The Evjue Foundation, Theatre Lila, Thrivent

Choice, Topitzes Family Passthrough Fund, United Way of Dane County,

United Way of Greater Milwaukee, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago,

United Way of the Quad Cities Area, University of Wisconsin School of

Social Work, Urban Assets, Urban League of Greater Madison, US Depart-

ment of Labor, UW Health & Unity Health Insurance, WI Partnership For

Housing Development, Wilson Foundation, Wisconsin Department of

Corrections, Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin,

YouthBuild USA, YWCA of Dane County Businesses and foundations listed are program partners or donated a value of $250

or higher during 10/1/15 – 9/30/16. We apologize that we can’t list everyone, even

though we are grateful for each contribution. At this time, we are not listing individu-

als who donate to Operation Fresh Start. Please let us know if you’d like us to do so.

Building Futures Capital Campaign Update Gratitude to Our 2015-2016 Partners and Funders

The Building Futures Capital Campaign is well underway. We

launched the campaign at the 9th Annual Merrill Lynch Grand Gala in

May of 2015. The campaign took off with great momentum, which has

steadily continued. At the time of printing this annual report (December

of 2016) we are 55% of the way to our $4,500,000.00 goal! It will take the

support of the entire community to help OFS reach our goal.

We are excited to share that our new home will be located at

2670 Milwaukee St, in the current Holy Cross Lutheran Church and School.

With the help of OFS’ youth construction crews and community partners,

we will take two years to renovate and reimagine the space to become

a cost effective education and employment training center for youth at a

critical time in their lives. www.operationfreshstart.org/buildingfutures

Cabinet Co-Chairs

Lau and Bea Christensen

Cabinet Members

Betty Harris Custer

Jonathan DeSalvo

Eve Galanter

Jo Ann Healy

David Lehrer

Jason Loewi

Gregory Markle

Jill W. Pfeiffer

Louise Root-Robbins

Kathy Switzky

Jim Sykes

David Worzala

Additional Support of $2500 + in 15/16 from: Alliant Energy Foundation,

August Foundation, Courtier Foundation, Inc., Cummings Christensen

Family Foundation, CUNA Mutual Group Foundation, Dave and Terri

Beck-Engel, David and Sharon Lehrer, Eppstein Uhen Architects, Inc.,

Eppstein Uhen Foundation, Herb Kohl Philanthropies, John E. Wall Family,

Judith Wilcox, Kathy and Bob Switzky, Madison Community Foundation,

Madison Gas and Electric Foundation, Mary and Fred Mohs, Merrill Lynch

-Madison, National Guardian Life Insurance Company, Robert Barnard,

Steve and Bette Hartley, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., the charitable arm

of The Capital Times, Tim and Lori Stadelman. We apologize that there is

not room for business logos and every donor. We are truly grateful for all!

10/1/15-9/30/16 Major Campaign

Supporters Include:

The DeAtley Family Foundation Dan & Patti Rashke (TASC) Family Foundation Diane K. Ballweg Great Lakes Higher Education

Guaranty Corp J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. Lau and Bea Christensen

Page 6: 2015-2016 Annual Report - Operation Fresh Start...2015-2016 Annual Report Partnerships Help Us Better Serve Youth and Community Collaboration provides opportuni-ty to expose the young

Operation Fresh Start Program Highlights 10/1/15 - 9/30/16

Pathways Participants: Age Range: 16—24 Average Age of Enrollee: 18 Female: 18% Male: 82% Black/ African American: 47% White/ Caucasian: 28% Multiracial: 17% Hispanic/Latino: 7% Asian : 1%

PATHWAYS: Core Program Highlights

Affordable Houses Worked On: In Sun Prairie: 57 Hart Rd, 60 Hart Rd, 63 Hart Rd, 715 Robin Dr & 727 Robin Dr In Madison: 902 Sequoia Trail & 4813 Maher Ave

In Conservation: 89 Miles of trails and waterways were developed.

292 Acres of parkland and public lands were improved.

Options

Our Options Program, funded by

the City of Madison Community

Development Division, expanded its

target demographic to include

young adults between 18 and 24.

Despite the challenges of contact-

ing and re-engaging an older, more

disconnected population, we were

able to:

engage 66 young adults in the

Options Program

re-engage 37 young adults in

high school credential

programing

assist 22 of those re-engaged

young adults in earning their

high school credential

Employment Services

Through a partnership with the

Workforce Development Board of

South Central Wisconsin we were

able to expand our Employment

Services department this year. As a

result, OFS participants met with 18

different employers drawn from

National Association of the Remod-

eling Industry (NARI) members and

other businesses and organizations

from around Madison.

Graduate Crew

Graduate Crew is an OFS program

for those young people who show

real promise and interest in the

trades. This fulltime hire-for-service

crew works on residential, commer-

cial and other construction projects

in the community. Through a Fast

Forward grant from the Depart-

ment of Workforce Development,

Operation Fresh Start partners with

J.H. Findorff & Son to have Grad

Crew youth shadow a worksite for

one week out of the quarter. Grad-

uate Crew leads to apprenticeships

for youth, as well as exposure to

many of the subcontractors and

roles needed to bring a project to

fruition.

Placement rate of completers:

100%

Average rate of pay at

placement:

$17.32/hour

Retention rate

in apprentice-

ships: 85%

Strive

In July of 2016, Operation Fresh

Start rolled out the first Strive

cohort. This effort focused specifi-

cally on youth that have recently

graduated from a traditional high

school. The project activities

included participants helping

build, renovate and/or repair safe

affordable housing, with a supervi-

sor monitoring and job coaching

on the construction site and identi-

fying a path to a fulfilling job

through developing and imple-

menting work readiness training in

the classroom. This cohort originally

contained 12 participants, and the

session ended with 9 strong com-

pleters. OFS continued to meet

with community and partner

organizations to assist these young

people with developing and

implementing their career plans,

whether those included additional

training,

employ-

ment or

post-

secondary

education.

Pathways

Pathways, OFS’ core program,

continues to thrive, giving youth a

life-changing opportunity to get

their high school diplomas and

gain invaluable work experience.

This year, 113 youth participated in

Pathways. The work experience,

which involves building affordable

housing and doing extensive

conservation work, is a platform

for education, teamwork, training

and responsibility.

Highlights from Pathways this past

year include our new partnership

with the City of Madison Engineer-

ing Department. You may have

seen one of our conservation

crews at work in your city parks,

medians, and neighborhoods

making our green areas more

sustainable and better suited for

native species.

In Sun Prairie, construction crews

are working on energy efficient

homes. A recent “Energy Cost and

Features” report shows a 53%

savings on heating, 35% savings

on cooling, and 31% savings on

lights and appliances.