1. Grant and Information Request Form
Your Account or Fund Name:
___________________________________________________________
I would like to distribute $_______.___ from my/our fund for________________________
I would like to distribute $_______.___ from my/our fund for________________________
I would like to distribute $_______.___ from my/our fund for________________________
Please provide me with more information about: _________________________________
Please provide me with more information about: _________________________________
Please provide me with more information about: _________________________________
____________________________ ______________________ ___________________
Signature Print Name Date
____________________________ ___________________________________________
Phone number Email address
Revitalizing Downtown
Two recent reports, Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America’s Older Industrial Cities
(2007) by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Land Institute’s Advisory Services Panel Report on
Rochester, NY (2005), point to two central strategies for revitalizing the city’s core.
Both reports draw attention to the benefits of development along the Genesee River, and recent projects like
Corn Hill Landing attest to the success of this strategy. Rochester is lucky to have a wonderful collaboration
on the waterfront—the Rochester Historical Society and Corn Hill Navigation. Together, these two
agencies have nurtured an appreciation of our region’s waterways and history. This summer, residents can
ride the Sam Patch on the Erie canal while listening to urban planner Kal Wysokowski discuss the future of
Bushnells Basin, or sail below the new Troup-Howell Bridge while discussing public art with arts advocate,
Roslyn Goldman.
Corn Hill Navigation also sponsors educational tours for children in partnership with the Rochester Museum &
Science Center. Since 1991, over 20,000 local students have toured our local waterways while learning
about our area’s history. Unfortunately, Corn Hill Navigation’s larger boat, the Mary Jemison, is currently
beached for repairs, with repair costs estimated at close to $40,000. Many individuals, groups, and
companies are contributing funds to get the Mary Jemison back on the river where it belongs. If you would
like to support this effort, call Ed Doherty at The Community Foundation at 271-4271, ext. 4312, or call
Corn Hill Navigation’s Executive Director, Victoria Schmitt, at 509-8229. See the organization’s Website
(http://samandmary.org/) for information on this summer’s tours.
The Brookings and Urban Land Institute reports also highlighted the importance to downtown revitalization of
a vital arts and cultural scene. The recent report Arts & Economic Prosperity (III), by Americans for the Arts,
discusses how vibrant art scenes appeal to the “creative class”—those younger, well-educated,
entrepreneurial individuals so many cities are looking to attract, and that census data indicates the Rochester
area is losing (i.e., the “brain drain”).
The Rochester Contemporary, home to our contemporary art and
performance scene, is sponsoring events this summer and fall geared
directly towards attracting young professionals to downtown. There
will be a series of “New History Tours”—bike tours of downtown
focused on particular historical topics. Guide Erik Olson will explore
obscure events on the Genesee in August on the tour, “Down by the
River,” and this September, local lecturer Karen VanMeenen will lead
the tour “Beyond Susan B: Revolutionary Women of Rochester.” You
can obtain more information about the tours by visiting
www.tours.obadiahdogberry.org. Also in September, the new
performing arts group Method Machine will host a multi-site event
called “POST:SEPTEMBER11.” The group has obtained access to
(Continued on page 2)
Matching Your Generosity with Community Needs
Looking for other ways to make a difference? We have researched and recommend the following opportunities.
opportunities
G I V I N G
Summer 2007
Photo courtesy of the Rochester Museum and Science Center

2. over 5,000 index cards originally posted by New Yorkers on 42nd Street during the days after the
attacks. These cards will be on display at 4 different sites, including one on Main Street. Onlookers will
be able to write response cards while members of Method Machine perform street theatre inspired by
the original cards. Contact Ed Doherty at The Community Foundation at 271-4271, ext. 4312, or
Bleu Cease at the Rochester Contemporary at 461-2222 to support these events.
Cutting Edge Research on Children and Families
The Community Foundation has been a leader in supporting vital research to inform public policy and
practices that impact children and families. The Early Childhood Development Initiative (ECDI), a
collaborative of The Community Foundation, United Way, Rochester City School District, and Monroe
County, among others, has undertaken an important study on child care subsidies in Monroe County.
The study, being conducted by the Center for Governmental Research (CGR), is looking at who is
eligible to receive subsidies and why more families aren’t taking advantage of child care subsidies.
Since 2001, the number of families accessing child care subsidies has decreased substantially - from
13,000 to 9,000. It is anticipated that this work will help identify the barriers that exist for families
attempting to access child care subsidies so that those eligible will be able to provide their children with
high-quality care.
The Community Foundation is also supporting two key
pieces of research on after-school programming in
collaboration with GRASA (Greater Rochester After-
School Alliance), an initiative of The Community
Foundation. GRASA is a volunteer steering committee made
up of funders, policymakers, researchers, and parent and
provider representatives, among others. In 2002, GRASA
released the results of an after-school survey conducted by
CGR which found that only 12% of 5-to-14-year-olds in
Monroe County were served by formal after-school
programs. That inventory is being updated now by The
Children’s Agenda, a member of the GRASA collaborative.
GRASA felt it was particularly important to update the survey
now due to significant state after-school funding stream
changes impacting Rochester. The Children’s Agenda is in
the process of identifying after-school programs and
collecting important information on the programs via surveys and phone calls. The new inventory, to be
released in the fall, will be invaluable to the community in identifying geographic gaps in after-school
services and the number of children not participating in formal after-school programs.
GRASA is also involved in an important study being conducted by The Children’s Institute that seeks to
assess the quality of after-school programs in Monroe County. More than 45 program were reviewed
this year through on-site observations and other measures. The Children’s Institute would like to
include many more programs in this work. Once complete, this study will form the basis for a set of
“best practice” recommendations for after-school programming. This is an important strategic step in
helping to boost after-school program quality to the same level as Rochester’s early childhood
programs. The Community Foundation is committed to seeing after-school programs participate in
quality assessment research and make quality program enhancements.
If you are interested in supporting any of these vital research studies, please contact Caroline
Merenda at 271-4271, ext. 4303.
(Continued from page 1)
On the international front….
The Community Foundation understands that many of our donors have interests that take them outside
the Rochester area. Additionally, the Foundation is always interested in promoting international
exchange between Rochester and other countries and cultures.
The HUGS Foundation, Inc., is an international
medical aid society founded by local physician
Vito C. Quatela, M.D. in order to bring corrective
facial surgeries to children in Quito, Ecuador.
These children suffer from congenital facial
deformities at a higher rate than in other Latin
American countries, and research is underway to
determine why that is the case. Dr. Quatela
noted that most of these children would not
receive any corrective surgery, and was inspired
to recruit a team of doctor and nurse volunteers
to go to Quito and provide these vital surgeries,
without which, these children would likely suffer
lives of medical problems, rejection, and abuse.
Since HUGS was founded in 2003, 216 children
have received corrective surgery. Hugs
estimates that each surgery costs approximately
$650—a small price to pay for the invaluable impact these surgeries have for the children who receive
them. If you would like to support Hugs and their work in Ecuador, please contact Bonnie
Wallace at 271-4271, ext. 4308, or call Nancy P. Good, Practice Manager for HUGS, at 244-1000.
Be sure to check out the HUGS Foundation webpage at www.helpusgivesmiles.org.
According to AHEAD Energy (www.aheadenergy.org), a nonprofit energy access group focused on
African energy development, currently 3.5 billion people in Africa rely predominately on dung, charcoal,
firewood, and crop residues for energy. These energy sources are not self-sustaining, create illness and
death from indoor air pollution, and contribute to deforestation and other environment ills. AHEAD is
seeking new ways and ideas to help bring energy to those 3.5 billion, and the University of Rochester
is helping in this important effort. This year, the University will host two African experts on biofuels,
Drs. Joao Venancia and Joao Chidamoio of Mozambique, who will perform in-depth research on
sustainable energy sources for the developing world. This research has the potential to impact so many
people, both here and abroad. If you would like to help support this historic collaboration between
AHEAD and the University of Rochester, please call Bonnie Wallace at 271-4271, ext. 4308.
Last year, 8 members of Rochester Wheels, a group of top-notch basketball players who just happen to
be in wheelchairs, were given a wonderful opportunity to play in an international competition in
Rochester’s sister city, Rennes, France. Rochester Wheels is part of SportsNet, an athletic program
created by the Rochester Rehabilitation Center which helps other-abled individuals engage in athletics.
The team obtained a loan from the Rennes-Rochester Sister City Committee for the trip, and have paid
over half the loan back, but $3,300 is still owed. If you would like to help support Rochester Wheels
and the Rennes-Rochester Sister City Committee, please call Ed Doherty at 271-4271, ext. 4312,
or Steve Barbato, Coach of Rochester Wheels, at 271-2520, ext. 674.
Photo courtesy of HUGS Foundation, Inc.