The Coleman Foundation Blog

Coleman Foundation Expands Fellowship Program, Announces 2013-2014 Grantees

The Coleman Foundation Faculty Entrepreneurship Fellows program expands into a fifth year with ramped up efforts to extend self-employment education across 19 university and college campuses.  The Coleman Foundation is committing nearly $500,000 for fellowship grants and program support to campuses involved in the 2013-2014 academic year program, representing a 70% increase over 2012-2013 levels.

Coleman Faculty Fellows are typically professors from outside the school of business at their institution.  They engage in the development of courses and leadership of projects in support of entrepreneurship education on their campus, inspiring students in non-business disciplines to gain self-employment skills and experience.  In the 2013-2014 campaign, 58 Coleman Foundation Faculty Entrepreneurship Fellows in departments ranging from Anthropology and Biology to Robotics and Visual Arts will create new courses within their disciplines or modify existing ones to incorporate elements of self-employment education.

The 2012-2013 Class was comprised of faculty members from 16 colleges and universities.  This year, 13 of those schools will receive new Fellows grants and are joined by two institutions receiving funding for the first time as well as four schools which will rejoin the program.  In addition, funding will be provided to support the continuing efforts of 76 faculty members who had Fellowships in prior years as well as many project directors who lead Fellows activities on campus.

Over the five years of the program, the Coleman Foundation has committed almost $1.6 million to fellowships and campus support grants and an additional amount nearing $500,000 for related program support.

Colleges and universities participating in the Coleman Fellows program will include:

• Beloit College (WI)
• California Polytechnical State University, San Luis Obispo (CA)
• California State University, Fresno (CA)
• Colorado Mesa University (CO)
• DePaul University (IL)
• Finlandia University (MI)
• Illinois State University (IL)
• Lawrence University (WI)
• Lawrence Technical University (MI)
• McPherson College (KS)
• Millikin University (IL)
• North Central College (IL)
• Quincy University (IL)
• Saint Louis University (MO)
• Texas Christian University (TX)
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro (NC)
• Webster University (MO)
• Wichita State University (KS)
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)

Coleman Foundation Grant to Support Palliative Care Accessibility Effort

Recognizing the value of palliative care services and the shortage of trained palliative care providers, the Coleman Foundation awarded a grant to develop and implement a training program for doctors and nurses at hospitals and health care organizations across the Chicago area.

The Primary Palliative Care Education Program to Improve Access for Patients with Cancer was developed by the Chicagoland Palliative Medicine Physician Collective (Collective) to improve the quality and access to palliative care services for patients and their families. Members of the Collective bring a wealth of clinical, research, and educational experience in end of-life care. The program is the first of its kind that brings together existing physician-based palliative care knowledge, experience and resources to focus this expertise on areas throughout Chicago currently underserved in terms of palliative care. The Collective includes representatives from organizations such as:

• Non-profit hospices: Rainbow, Horizon, Midwest, Hospice of Northeastern Illinois

• Major academic medical centers: Rush University Medical Center, University of Chicago MedicalCenter, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Loyola University Medical Center, University of Illinois Hospital

• Established hospital palliative care programs: Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, Northshore University Health System, Central DuPage Hospital, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Advocate Illinois Masonic.

“This training program is designed to make palliative care more accessible in the Chicago land area and will take advantage of the strengths of existing models of care to make a greater impact than any one institution could achieve alone,” said Dr. Sean O’Mahony, director, section of palliative medicine
at Rush University Medical Center.

The three-year program will be co-directed by Dr. Sean O’Mahony at Rush, and Dr. Stacie Levine, director, Geriatrics and Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program at the University of Chicago. The directors along with 24 faculty will lead the clinical and educational training effort to equip the region’s community hospital health professionals with palliative care best practices to drive quality improvement.Directors and faculty will collaborate with local academic palliative medicine programs and hospices to deliver a comprehensive education program curriculum with direct experiential training.

Project Directors conducted an intensive application process. They identified and enrolled 35 physicians and advance practice nurses for the Primary Palliative Care Education program. These health professionals known as “Coleman Palliative Medicine Fellows” hail from 22 hospitals and health care systems. Each Fellow is paired with a mentor, who is highly skilled in palliative care and provides individualized guidance in developing, implementing and evaluating a sustainable palliative care practice improvement project tailored to the needs of patients at their respective home hospitals or practice settings. The two year training launched with a 2-day workshop on the EPEC (Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care) Core Curriculum. It follows with e-learning requirements, 40 hours of direct observation of mentors’ practices, and bi-monthly consultation with mentors.

The Coleman training program unites Fellows and mentors as a community, forming a supportive network of palliative care providers in the Chicago area. For a more detailed description of the Coleman Palliative Medicine Education Program, please visit http://colemanpalliative.uchicago.edu/

Only about half of Chicago area hospitals were registered as having palliative care programs according to the National Palliative Care Registry (www.capc.org). A 2010 study that was published in The New England Journal of Medicine reported that cancer patients who received palliative care experienced less depression and lived almost three months longer than those receiving standard care.

Palliative care is medical care or treatment that focuses on reducing pain, stress and symptoms in people with severe and long-term illnesses. Palliative care can also help with the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of the person who's being treated and his or her family. Palliative care doesn't replace primary medical treatment. Instead, palliative care can be combined with all other medical treatment to improve health outcomes. 

Fostering Intergenerational Inclusive Volunteer Engagement in Chicago

History

FIIVE Chicago was a collaborative intergenerational volunteer project developed by six human services organizations and supported by a seventh partner with expertise in program evaluation.  The organizations behind FIIVE Chicago recognized that individuals with disabilities were often excluded from opportunities to contribute to community goals and collective action, to include volunteering.   From the onset, the vision of the project was multi-faceted:  to develop curriculum; to implement volunteer opportunities; to evaluate the effectiveness of the project; and to disseminate training/curriculum materials to other human service agencies in Illinois.

Core Activities

A Disability Training Module for older adults and university students was developed to provide an understanding of the goals of the project as well as insights on abilities and disabilities; the role of the volunteer as a support; and successful mentoring.  A Volunteer Management Training Module was developed to provide a basic overview of the concept of intergenerational volunteerism between older adults and young people with disabilities.   Human services agency participants developed community-specific service activities for their team of older volunteers and participants.  Based on these activities, a series of Volunteer Training Modules were documented, addressing volunteer domains of many types (e.g. homelessness, animal care, environment, hospice) and outlining various activities (including session goals, objectives, activities, materials and cost). 

Outcomes

• 81 young persons with disabilities and 69 older adults over the age of 50 participated in multiple volunteer projects

• While evaluation reported no statistically significant changes in program participants (e.g. self-efficacy, personal growth, psychological well-being), qualitative analysis suggested positive outcomes related to program participation. Download Evaluation

• Project coordinators reported the project helped to build organizational capacity within their own agencies as well as develop new professional relationships with colleagues from other organizations

• The FIIVE Chicago Toolkit: A manual for leading inclusive and intergenerational volunteer efforts was created which documents for the purpose of replication the training and activity components of the initiative. Download FIIVEToolkit

Key Lesson Learned: It’s important to connect volunteers to beneficiaries

Successful projects do not occur in a vacuum. It is critical that volunteers know what is most meaningful to the subject or beneficiaryof the volunteer project. In FIIVE Chicago, the end beneficiary is not the older adult or the young person with disabilities who volunteer. It is the recipient of the efforts of these individuals. The most successful projects had the most clarity as to who the end beneficiary of the volunteer activity was. This information was gathered prior to the activity and was incorporated into the activity itself.

Key Lesson Learned: Recruiting seniors can be a challenge

The recruitment of older adults to participate in the projects was more difficult than expected. Adults in their 50s and 60s are still quite active with many remaining in the workforce. Recruiting through a senior activity center/living facility yielded good results as center activity directors can manage logistics and connect to multiple candidate volunteers. Refrain from requiring volunteers to commit to a lengthy period of services.

NFTE Event Elevates Chicago Entrepreneurship

More than 350 of Chicago’s business and education leaders celebrated NFTE Chicago’s 10-year anniversary at the 3^rd Annual Elevating Entrepreneurship Benefit, held on March 13^th at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). The Benefit was a true celebration of entrepreneurship’s impact on over 15,000 Chicago youth. The evening began with a reception and student business expo in the MCA’s modern atrium. Students and supporters of youth entrepreneurship were afforded a wonderfully enthusiastic networking opportunity, while NFTE students and alumni showcased their businesses, which ranged from clothing lines and beauty products to party planning services and mobile apps.

Guests convened in the MCA’s auditorium for a look back at NFTE’s decade of impact in Chicago. NFTE alumni, NFTE volunteers, students, teachers, principals, and staff gathered on stage to discuss NFTE’s impact on Chicago’s students.

One of the highlights of the evening was a moving video that underscored NFTE’s effect on 10 alumni-- one for each year they have served in Chicago. The evening culminated with a lively and insightful discussion between Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel, and Larry Levy, CEO of Levy Restaurants. The discussion was moderated by Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments.

Michael Hennessy, Coleman Foundation President, visited Steve Mariotti and an emerging NFTE program in New York in 1987.  The Coleman Foundation awarded its first grant to NFTE National in 1988. Hennessy worked with NFTE to develop a multi-year grant to bring NFTE to Chicago in 1993 and the Foundation has been the lead supporter since that time. 

“We whole heartedly believe in self-employment and the value it creates for individuals and communities," Hennessy said. "NFTE and Youth Entrepreneurship provide essential self-employment educational and experiential activities whereby students can learn, develop skills and take action.  We have been are very pleased to see the NFTE Chicago program continue to develop and attract strong program and financial partners over the last ten years.  There is however, still plenty of work for all of us to do."

1st Quarter Grants Advance Three Primary Program Areas

In the 1^st quarter of 2013, The Coleman Foundation approved four grants totalling $270,000 which advance multiple strategies articulated in the Foundation’s Impact Plans.

A $125,000 award to IFF (Chicago, IL) supports its Home First Illinois - Community Living Initiative which advances the Foundation's Disabilities Impact Plan strategy to fund efforts to increase the supply of housing alternatives for individuals with developmental disabilities, including emerging models which allow for ownership by residents or other parties.

The Community Living Initiative builds upon the prior goal of the  Home First Illinois project to develop, own and manage accessible homes that will remain permanently affordable to very low income people with disabilities.  This new Initiative will focus on the development of 50 small, group homes in downstate Illinois for adults with developmental disabilities who are transitioning out of the State of Illinois' Murray Developmental Center in Centralia, IL.  Murray is one of seven large institutions which house individuals with developmental disabilities.  The scope of this project is to organize and plan the initiative and to begin implementation in time to transition individuals as early as fall, 2013.

A $70,000 award to Northpointe Resources, Inc. (Zion, IL) will support organization's Nursing Services Program & Self Advocacy Program which will address the healthcare needs of residents, and help teach individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities to be advocates for their healthcare needs utilizing the Ask Me 3^TM program.  This program employs the Foundation's Disabilities Impact Plan strategy to improve client health outcomes enabling them to reach vocational and residential goals.

A $50,000 award to Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care (Mount Prospect, IL) supports the organization's Rest in Comfort Campaign for capital improvements for the Rainbow Hospice Ark inpatient hospice unit. Improvements to the space are intended to upgrade furniture, equipment, and patient and staff areas.  This grant advances the Foundation's Cancer Impact Plan strategy to fund  capital and program projects that enable the delivery of comprehensive treatment.

A $25,000 award to DePaul University (Chicago, IL) supports a re-launch of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center through seminars, enhanced advising and social media efforts. The project components support Coleman’s Entrepreneurship Impact Strategies that: increase the quality and frequency of experiential/co-curricular activities and increase stakeholder engagement on campus and in the community.  Activities seek to build core self-employment skills not through the curriculum, but through co-curricular engagement.

Coleman Foundation Bone Marrow Transplant Unit opens at Loyola University Medical Center

Funded in part by a $2 million grant from The Coleman Foundation, Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC) in Maywood, Illinois opened a redesigned and renovated Bone Marrow Transplant unit (BMT).  The unit includes 20 beds in private rooms for cancer patients receiving transplants which require extended hospital stays.

LUMC is establishing a dedicated in-patient Oncology Acute Care Center within Loyola University Hospital to provide state-of-the-art care to patients and families experiencing all forms on cancer.  This facility complements the outpatient services delivered at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center.  Part of this effort includes the modernization and refurbishment of in-patient facilities located on four wings of a hospital floor dedicated to in-patient oncology care for all forms of cancer.  The BMT unit was located in a wing which dated to 1966.  Over the past 20 years, the unit received several minor, cosmetic updates but was in need of redesign and renovation in order to meet current and projected future patient and family needs.

The project converted semi-private rooms to private rooms, placed bathrooms in direct line-of-sight from hospital beds to reduce risk of fall and incorporated other design elements which serve to lessen the institutional feel of the unit.  

The new design features a group exercise room, a meditation room, and a spacious patient and visitor lounge where family members may gather with patients to cook meals or watch movies together, attend support group meetings and celebrate important family events. Enhanced lighting and nature-inspired artwork contribute to a healing and welcoming patient- and family-friendly environment.

A centrally located and expanded nursing station for the entire floor is expected to improve efficiencies and coordination of care.  A nursing substation is situated within the new BMT unit to enable close observation and care management of these patients.

An interesting feature of the new patient rooms is the incorporation of blue-enriched light fixtures located directly above hospital beds.  These lights are intended to address circadian rhythms and to minimize sleep disorders that occur in many transplant patients.  It is believed that the presence of blue visible light influences sleep patterns and can be used to modify patterns interrupted by transplant activity.  The blue region of the light spectrum has higher intensity as the sun reaches its peak and wanes as the sun sets.  These lights would be turned on during morning hours as a complement to other standard lighting.  In the later daytime hours, blue lighting would cease and amber lights would remain.   

It is anticipated that The Coleman Foundation Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and other features of the newly renovated Oncology Acute Care Center at Loyola will improve and accelerate patients’ recovery and reduce their length of stay, thereby lowering overall health care costs.  Accommodations that facilitate the availability and involvement of family members also will better equip families to help care for and support their family member’s return home sooner than might otherwise be the case.

It’s Official!! Almost Home Kids Opens New Care Facility in Chicago!

Recently, Almost Home Kids opened its newest facility on the 6^th floor of the Ronald McDonald House on 211 E. Grand Avenue in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood.  Given its close proximity to the new Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, children and families in the downtown region can now have greater access to transitional and respite care. 

Almost Home Kids (AHK™) formed a partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana to support families of children who are medically fragile. While Ronald McDonald House offers families a place to stay, AHK provides services for children after they are discharged from local area hospitals, yet still need medical care and services until they are able to go home. Frequently, parents of children that are medically fragile are not in a position to meet the complicated needs their care requires. Children who stay at Almost Home Kids have complicated
health care needs that usually require specialized medical and technical care. During the child’s stay, AHK staff trains family members on how to care for their children, which enables them to feel confident and competent to transition a child to their home.  

An Almost Home Kids family said “even though our daughter requires 24/7 care, we wanted her to be able to live at home, which can be difficult with a condition that requires 24/7 care. We worked with Almost Home Kids, who trained us to manage our daughter’s needs, and now she is at home – not in a hospital. Almost Home Kids helped our family improve quality of life, especially for our daughter.” 

“We get calls from families all over the country, whose children are ready to leave the hospital. However, their children have serious issues, and families need a place to receive medical care and sufficient time to adjust to medical equipment, special diets and medications which their children will need. At AHK’s new facility, we will demonstrate the value and importance of transitional and respite care for children and their families not only to the Chicago community, but to medical professionals across the county.” said Debbie Grisko, Almost Home Kids’ President, & CEO. 

Almost Home Kids started its first home in Naperville where it provides medical care for children outside of a hospital setting and training for their families and caregivers. Since 1999, the organization has served more than 800 children and their families.  

The Coleman Foundation provided a challenge grant towards support for the capital campaign for Almost Home Kids to build the care facility in the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world. The partnership between Almost Home Kids and Ronald McDonald House was a unique opportunity to provide services for medically challenged, technology dependent children and support for their
families in one location. AHK’s arrangements with Chicago area hospitals and medical professionals are an important component to the Coleman Foundation’s interest in encouraging collaboration among Chicago area non-profit organizations.

 

Intersect for Ability Wins Telly Awards

Intersect for Ability is a collaborative network of eleven community organizations located in Northern Illinois that serve individuals with developmental disabilities.   It has worked over the past four years to develop programming in professional development for staff as well as programs to aid individuals with developmental disabilities in transitioning between life stages and gaining meaningful employment.

Recently, Intersect was honored with three Telly Awards for two promotional videos produced in 2012.  The Telly Awards recognize achievements in film and video production, groundbreaking web commercials, videos and films, and outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs.  The Intersect for Ability Marketing video which showcased all member agencies in the network won twice-- once for best in the nonprofit category and once for corporate image.  A video which promotes the network's Jobs75 program also won for best in nonprofit.  The videos were produced by Michael Maher, board member of Seguin Services, who has played an important role documenting various aspects of Intersect for Ability and some of its collaborative programs. 

In the photo above are members of the Intersect for Ability Network Council receiving the three Telly Awards.  From left to right are Mark Schmidt, The Hope Institute for Children and Families; Wayne Kulick, Countryside Association; Tim Edwards, PACTT; Sarah Weimeyer, Helping Hand Center; Clark McCain, The Coleman Foundation; Alexander Brown, PACTT; Lori Opiela, Seguin Services; Joseph Mengoni, Seguin Services; Jim Weise, Park Lawn; Patti Boheme, Little Friends; Pam Sondell, Barbara Olson Center of Hope; Geana Connelly, Misericordia; and Tess Oster, Barbara Olson Center of Hope.

Lonier to lead Coleman Center at DePaul; Welsch receives USASBE's Hughes Award

Dr. Terri Lonier was recently named the Executive Director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center.  Prior to joining the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, Terri was founder and CEO of Working Solo Inc., a strategy consulting firm with offices in New York and San Francisco.  The company advised Fortune 100 and high-tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, HP, Toshiba, DuPont, and Visa USA on how to connect with small business and microventures.  She is a pioneer in the solopreneur movement and a nationally recognized authority on microbusiness.  She is the author of five books (John Wiley & Sons), numerous articles, and three audio programs.  Her entrepreneurial startup guide, Working Solo, was named "the #1 choice for solo entrepreneurs" in an Inc. magazine cover story and "the free agent's bible" by Fast Company magazine.

As Executive Director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, Terri (pictured at right) will be spearheading new projects to help DePaul University students create and grow successful entrepreneurial ventures. She’ll also be bringing entrepreneurship to many parts of the DePaul campus, and building partnerships with members of the Chicago entrepreneurial community.

At the recent United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Conference, Dr. Harold Welsch was awarded the John E. Hughes Award for Entrepreneurial Advocacy. This annual award recognizes an individual who has consistently contributed encouragement, support, resources, time, talent, and/or financial contribution to further the cause of entrepreneurship.

 

Dr. Welsch (pictured at left with Coleman Foundation President Michael Hennessy) is well known for his expertise in entrepreneurship education, business gestation patterns, privatization, technology commercialization, entrepreneurship career paths, formal and informal strategic planning, information seeking and decision behavior, ethnic entrepreneurship, economic development, and small business problems. He founded the entrepreneurship program at DePaul University in Chicago and holds the Coleman Chair in Entrepreneurship, which was established in 1985. 

He has served the field as President of USASBE & ICSB and as Chairman of the Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Division. Through the years, Harold has served as a mentor for countless numbers of business owners and new entrepreneurship faculty.

Horizon Hospice & Palliative Care Operating Inpatient Hospice Unit

Horizon Hospice & Palliative Care opened the Ada F. Addington Inpatient Hospice Unit at Rush  University Medical Center (RUMC) in July 2012. The 13-bed unit, located at the Johnston R. Bowman Health Center, began accepting patients in July, and thus far has accepted over 135 patients. The majority of patients admitted to the unit are from RUMC although patients have also been referred from other area hospitals. Since its opening in July, admissions to the unit have grown steadily but have also reflected the ebb and flow of a unit where patient stays can vary greatly and turnover can be high. To date, average length of stay has been eight days with stays ranging from 1 to 29 days.   

The inpatient hospice unit at RUMC fulfills a need for more inpatient hospice beds in Chicago’s city center. Horizon staff no longer need to search for available beds in local hospitals during an emergency nor do patients need to change providers in the middle of a health crisis just to secure an available bed. The new unit allows patients a smooth transition between the inpatient setting and their home.

Horizon has hired and trained an interdisciplinary team that includes a medical director, unit manager, 17 nurses, 1 social worker, 2 chaplains, 6 aides, 3 unit clerks. In addition, Horizon has recruited 25 volunteers who greet visitors and assist families and patients in big and small ways. Residents of the Johnston R. Bowman Health Center, where the unit is located, have become integrally involved in the unit with some serving as volunteers. 

Horizon Hospice & Palliative Care is a community-based organization whose mission is to provide comfort and preserve dignity at the end of life, and to educate the community about hospice care. Horizon provides training for students in medical-related fields to ensure that future professionals are knowledgeable in palliative and hospice care. Education has been a key element of Horizon’s mission. The organization has educated thousands of physicians and other health professionals since it was founded in 1978. Last year, Horizon provided training to 155 medical students, fellows and residents, nursing, social work and bereavement students from institutions such as Rush, Northwestern, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, St. Joseph, Sts. Mary and Elizabeth, Illinois Masonic, Loyola, Governors State University and DePaul University.

The Coleman Foundation has previous experience with supporting hospice programs through an initiative in 2005 which focused on access to hospice services and continuum of care. The Foundation participated in the capital campaign for the Horizon Hospice Inpatient Unit to build on its support of RUMC's Comprehensive Cancer Clinics. Support for hospice care in the city of Chicago advances the Foundation's goal of supporting the continuum of care for cancer patients.

Horizon Hospice was founded by Ada Addington and three volunteers and has been providing end-of- life care services to people throughout the Chicago metropolitan area for more than 30 years.  The organization primarily serves an urban population in Chicago, although it is licensed to provide care throughout Cook, Lake, DuPage and Will counties.