Nonprofits and Google +

Last week, a LinkedIn group sent me a white paper on the 2012 Social Marketing and New Media Predictions. One of it’s biggest claims?  Google + would be big this year. Even though the social site launched this summer, many have been reluctant to “make the switch” from facebook, haven’t considered it, or perhaps started one but didn’t do anything with it (I fall in the latter category). The more I read about Google +, the more possibilities I saw for nonprofits.

Google + is the perfect social networking tool for nonprofits. With all the different features, nonprofits can collaborate and create community among all the different groups of people they work with; volunteers, community based organization, the board, the people who they work with, and the public to spread their message. AND Google has created tools and ideas specifically to help nonprofits get started with this new social network.  What could be a better fit?

Let’s start with circles. As an organization, you can divide all the people you interact with into circles. Then, you can share information that can go directly to one circle, multiple, or the public. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you are trying to deliberately hide information from someone, but some things are much more applicable and pertinent to volunteers vs. your Board and vice versa. On facebook, you wear multiple hats as you try to appeal to the people you are serving, your volunteers, other literacy organizations, and potential volunteers. Google + allows you to create community without worrying about burdening readers with useless information.

You can also use the Hangout feature to have video chats with multiple people. You can engage all of your volunteers in different lesson plan ideas or teach a lesson to the people you work with. It’s a virtual conference call that is free for anyone who can be involved. If you have interns at your site, you can an FAQ hang out session with those interested in working for your org and the interns currently there. Both of these tools, circles and hangouts,  encourage collaboration and makes it fun over an easy/less confusing medium.

Are you excited about this? Because I definitely am. The problem right now is that not many people are using it, so it cannot reach it’s full potential. And we all know, anything you want to happen must start with one. SO, You need to step forward and start this for your page if you want it to happen. Encourage your co-workers to jump on board and tell their friends. Highlight this new page to your volunteers. Spread the word! It can happen and you can do it.

Here is a “how to” page to get you started. And don’t forget to add us to your circles once you start! 

Top Literacy Stories : January 30

Adult literacy can be shortest path to an educated society
Family literacy is one of the most important things for an educated society. Children learn from their parents’ actions. Educating adults means educating families.

Most Florida jobs don’t require a bachelor’s degree
When it comes to Florida’s jobs, more than 85 percent do not require a four-year degree, according to data from the state’s “Workforce Estimating” conference earlier this month.

Internet promotes literacy, study says
The internet allows for critical engagement between printed text and readers. Enthusiasts of particular series are able to learn more and talk to other fans about their ideas in the stories while building digital literacy.

Statewide literacy tour kicks off in Sarasota
Ann Scott kicked off the 2012 statewide Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! on Monday at Sarasota Middle School. The goal for this year is to have students read 20 million minutes.

Sarasota YMCA: HIPPY Families Focus on Nutrition and Staying Healthy

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, or HIPPY, is a parent-based literacy program for low-income parents of preschoolers.  InSarasota, HIPPY families, considered to be the poorest of the poor, face barriers of poverty, as well as struggles associated with lower literacy rates, lower educational attainment levels and higher incidences of substance abuse and crime.

Many low-literate adults can get lost in the healthcare system, lose their benefits and endanger their lives and the lives of their children. HIPPY attempts to engage families, increasing their health literacy by giving them the ability to obtain, process and understand health information and by guiding them in choosing a healthy lifestyle, knowing how to seek medical care and taking advantage of preventive measures.

HIPPY uses a curriculum with a Health Literacy component, which includes standard topics such as finding a doctor, healthy, eating, visiting the doctor, nutrition and fitness; however, staff enhances the promotion of better health by offering additional support.  Staff provides parents with one-on-one time to discuss issues, referral for services and provide simple tips on staying fit and healthy eating.

In helping improve people’s access to health information and their capacity to use it effectively, staff has learned many valuable lessons; it takes simplicity and consistency to help families achieve success.  The following “Healthy Snacking Tips” article from our “Family Times” newsletter is one such tool.

It often seems that the biggest challenge to healthy eating comes not from large meals, but instead from the seemingly small choices we make at snack time.  It is important to remember that while snacks are small, each little choice quickly adds up in your daily nutrition.

Here are some simple tips to help you make better snacking choices. Bon Appetit!

1. Choose snacks that will satisfy your hunger such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds and low-fat dairy products.
2. Make snacking on vegetables more interesting by dipping them in non-fat salad dressings or hummus
3. Be creative. Spend a little extra time in the kitchen at the beginning of the week and experiment with different recipes for healthy snacks. There are numerous books and websites specifically dedicated to healthy snack recipes.
4. Don’t be misled by labels. Foods labeled as low or fat free can still have a high amount of calories. In addition, foods labeled as cholesterol free can still have a significant amount of fat, saturated fat and sugar. Always read the nutrition labels on the back of the product.

Healthy snack options include:

• A sliced apple with a tablespoon of peanut butter

• Baby carrots with some hummus

• A small bowl of high fiber cereal with fat free milk

• Homemade trail mix – a mixture of 2 tablespoons each of almonds, cashews, dried cranberries and raisins

HIPPY is dedicated to promoting better health through a mix of home visitation, parenting group meetings, special projects and service referrals and by consistently reinforcing skills, which can lead to increased health literacy.

Health Literacy Initiative: West Area Adult School

Lori Cabrera

Adult ESOL programs like ours at East and West Area Adult Schools in Auburndale and Lakeland, Florida serve students in many ways.  Focusing on health literacy is one way that we can have a huge impact not just on our students, but on their families as well.  As the head of the ESOL department at West Area, I knew we needed to improve the way we address health literacy in our program, because I have seen evidence of the gaps in students’ knowledge and know how dangerous that can be in their lives outside of the classroom.   This could be when there’s an emergency situation, when they need to manage a chronic disease, or they need to see a medical professional but lack the skill to communicate with him or her in English.

The Health Literacy Grant we received from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida has been a huge help in our efforts to prepare our students to deal with health situations.   We were able to purchase hands-on materials, visual aids, flip charts, and other items to help our students grasp these topics.  We purchased a new text series called “Health Stories” that we are using to help our lower-level ESOL students learn more about health.  We arranged training for twenty students in Adult CPR, and they received their certification.  We gave out health promotion materials focusing on hand washing habits, finding ways to exercise, and steps to healthier eating.  It has been a very positive experience for all of us, students and teachers alike, and we have all learned a lot in the process that will help us reach the goal of better health in the future.

Lori Cabrera
ESOL Department Head
West Area Adult School (Polk County Schools)
Lakeland, FL

For more information on Florida’s Health Literacy Initiative, please check out our website.

Top Literacy Stories: January 23

Nominate your favorite volunteer, literacy organization, or adult learner for an award at FLC’s annual conference!
Florida Literacy Coalition’s annual conference is coming up May 9-11 at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront. At a special banquet at Conference, FLC will recognize organizations and individuals for their commitment and dedication to increasing adult and family literacy in the state of Florida.

Orlando Magic donates $1 million to education
The Orlando Magic’s charitable foundation gave out $1 million in grants Wednesday morning to 19 nonprofit organizations in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, boosting efforts to improve literacy, education and healthy lifestyles, and alleviate homelessness.

SEC Seeks Comment on Financial Literacy, Investor Disclosure
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking public comment on financial literacy and investor disclosure issues as part of its review mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

How to create your 2012 Nonprofit Career Plan
I know that many of you are happy doing what you are doing, but in case one of your resolutions is to accelerate in your career, I have the perfect site for you. This blog has several useful tools and resources for helping you plan the next part of your journey.

Sustainable Recipes: New Beginnings Health Literacy Program

My name is Susan Warner and I am the Program Manager and Instructor for the New Beginnings Family Literacy Program in Bunnell, FL.  Our program was chosen to be a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Heath Literacy Grant recipient.  I chose to apply for the grant for a few different reasons, first because of the collaboration I have with a Family Nutrition Program Educator and realizing the importance of obesity prevention not only in adults but children as well.  Mrs. Krista Busey facilitates classes twice per month and focuses on nutrition and meals on a budget.  With the grant we have been able to expand upon that and have created box gardens which are located right outside of the back door of our program.  We planted and maintained those crops and once they were ready to harvest we prepared low cost nutritional meals with the vegetables that we harvested.  The families were also given the materials and supplies to create their very own recipe books.  The recipe books are prepared much like a scrapbook with a lot of thought and personal touches that they will be proud to share with others and actually use at home for future meals.  In addition to our project, we utilized the Staying Healthy curriculum, which was a great benefit.  The families learned about calories, fiber, chronic diseases, and where to go for low cost medical care.  Our project is continuing and we will begin to plant our next crop seeds very soon.  This has been a very exciting project that all of the families enjoyed and learned from and we hope to keep it going for many more families in the future.

New Beginnings is a family literacy program designed to empower families to grow toward independence together.

Staying Healthy tips: Nutrition

New Year’s resolutions often include a resolve to get healthier, by moving more or eating better.  Staying Healthy is a great health literacy tool to teach about good nutrition.  According to Florida’s adult ESOL learners, learning about healthy eating habits is the most important tool gained from the Staying Healthy section of adult literacy courses.

Staying Healthy’s chapter on nutrition explains about important nutrients, how to decipher a nutrition label, what to eat, what not to eat, and how to determine a healthy weight using the BMI scale.  When teaching about nutrition, there are a few simple tips that make nutrition easy to understand:

1.  Aim for more fruits and vegetables (5 to 9 per day), more fiber (20 grams per day), and less sodium (less than 1,200 milligrams per day).  Try to incorporate whole-grains.  Switch to fat-free or low-fat milk and dairy products instead of their full-fat counterparts.

2.  Balance calories by enjoying your food, but eating less.  Avoid oversize portions.  The plate rule, promoted by the FDA and Michelle Obama, is an easy way to do this at meal time.  Half of the plate should be fruits and vegetables, one quarter o the plate should be whole grains, and one quarter of the plate should be protein.  See Figure 1.

Figure 1.  Plate Rule.  Source:  Choosemyplate.gov.

3.  Try frozen or canned fruits and vegetables if fresh produce is too expensive – just try to avoid added ingredients like sodium, sugar, butter, or sauces.

4.  Drink 8-10 eight-ounce glasses of water a day.  Avoid sugary drinks.

Combined with moving more, these simple steps will put you on the right track toward staying healthy in the new year!

Top Literacy Stories: January 16

Jacksonville mayor to announce week-long financial literacy program
Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown today will announce a week-long series of free financial literacy events in May to improve the financial management skills of the community.

The Charter Schools Agenda in Tallahasee
One of the bills, SB 1162, creates “family charter academies,” a new class of publicly funded, privately run schools, that would allow parents to attend school with their children. Bringing an integrated approach to adult education, the schools would “assist adults and parents in setting and obtaining goals for helping their children with homework, obtaining a job, enrolling in vocational training, or earning a GED certificate.”

Audits on heart and joint procedures chill Florida doctors
A story from this week’s Tampa Bay Times notes that Medicare audits in FL are on hold. Pre-payment review of high-dollar procedures that tend to be over-done in Florida hospitals created an outcry from doctors

How Nonprofits Make Data Fun and Informative
Whether they are bringing attention to an important cause, explaining their internal operations, or demonstrating the impact of their work, nonprofits can use infographics to present data in a way that is far more engaging and efficient than what could be conveyed with words alone.

Get to know your health literacy coordinator, Maribeth Buie

Hi!  I’m Maribeth Buie, the new Health Literacy Coordinator at the FLC.  A little about me – I grew up in Florida and love the winters here.  I received my PhD in Public Health – Health Education and Maternal & Child Health – from the University of South Florida.  I aim to practice what I preach – therefore, I try to live a balanced and healthy lifestyle.  Achieving or maintaining good health, as well as navigating the health care system, can be a struggle for anyone.  However, by providing the right tools, knowledge, and understanding, we can help make a life-saving difference.  Health education is my passion, and I look forward to working with you to improve Florida’s health literacy!

Marty Finsterbusch, the first adult learner president of the NCL

Marty Finsterbusch

Those who know me, know that I do not like to write unless I have to.  That being said, when the Florida Literacy Coalition, asked me to write this blog, I was hesitant to say yes. Even today, it’s very hard work and time consuming for me. They asked me to write what it means to me to be the first adult learner to be voted as President of the National Coalition for Literacy and what I hope to accomplish.  As this was the first time I was asked these questions, I felt I needed to respond.

As President of the National Coalition for Literacy, the most significant thing that I can accomplish is that I can help open doors for my fellow adult learners. As a child with a learning difference, I was seen as less than others and found that it did not change when I became an adult.  I began my adult learning when I went into a literacy program back in 1984, as a student.  What I learned through this experience was that many doors are closed to adults that cannot read and write. I have been working ever since to get adult learners to be seen as equals within the rest of society. Currently, I am the executive director of VALUEUSA, a resource organization for adult learners nationwide.

Today, in our society, we cannot discriminate against someone because of race, gender or sexual orientation, but we can deny people a better life because of their lack of reading and writing skills.  So many people feel like the rest of the world does not see them or care about them because they cannot read and write like every one else. Even people working in the field of adult education do not always see the whole person they are working with. They see what we cannot do, but fail to see what we can do and what we have done.

Adult learners come from all classes in our society. In the past, we would have been just fine. We would have found jobs that would allow us to raise our families and be a vital part of our local community.  However, today, this is not true.  Now, with the speed of technology, the need to be literate in everything that we do is making so many more of us feel left out.  Jobs and opportunities for us to make a better life are going away. We, as adult learners, want to learn. We want to be part of this great nation. We want to be seen as people that can and do make a difference.

For individuals who do not know what the National Coalition for Literacy is; it is an organization that helps bring together individuals and national groups that are concerned and working to help adults get the basic education they need. As the new president, I hope I can motivate more people to appreciate adult learners and recognize that adult learners are a vital part of the solution.

In working together, adult learners, provider groups, funders and government can make life better for so many more people.  If you can help in any way, please do.

Marty Finsterbusch

Executive Director, VALUEUSA

President, NATIONAL COALITION for LITERACY