What percentage of districts in Florida can be considered competitive?
See answer at bottom of page.
HSC Has Moved!
HSC has moved to a new office location: 1900 Biscayne Blvd., Ste. 200, Miami, FL 33132. Our email addresses and phone number will remain the same.
See below for news from our November 2010 issue of The Voice, our monthly e-newsletter. See our archive of previous issues.
The entire HSC family hopes that your holiday season is joyful and bright, and that you are able to spread this joy to someone in need.
We have been working on our holiday wish list, and fair elections in Florida is atop the list right now. We're also hoping for more community leadership and a smooth 2010 Census, in which everyone is counted. Do you have a wish for Miami? Tell us about it through one of our online social networks or get involved in one of our programs.
Have a safe and happy holiday season!
HSC bids farewell to two dedicated staff members
Two of our HSC team members will be leaving us in the new year, and we would like to wish them the best of luck. Parmer and Corinna, your creativity and passion will be missed!
Spotlight on Leadership video series begins
This month's video podcast begins a series that focuses on one of the Human Services Coalition's core projects: the Neighborhood Leadership Program (NLP).
NLP builds community leadership at a grassroots level using the dialogues-to-change. Diverse groups of 10 to 15 community members come together once a week for five weeks to define their neighborhood's assets and struggles while learning advocacy methods. At the end of the five weeks, groups often choose to turn their learning into action by developing a community project. In our video podcast, you'll learn about study circles in Little Havana.
Redistricting debate alive in Tallahassee
Florida House and Senate leaders are once again considering blocking ballot initiatives aimed at curtailing the practice of drawing voting districts that favor one party over another. This tactic, called gerrymandering, has been used to disenfranchise minority voters and bypass the democratic process.
The initiatives read, in part: "Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice." Radical? The organization Fair Districts Florida doesn't think so, and they are collecting petitions and money to get these initiatives on the ballot.
After reading a Miami Herald article regarding this issue, we wondered how gerrymandering might be affecting elections today. So we turned to our favorite database, Follow the Money, which brings us to ...
This month's quiz:
What percentage of districts in Florida can be considered competitive? (Competitive refers to an election between two or more candidates in which no single candidate has twice the funding of another.)
See bottom of page for the answer.
Use your voice to create community change: HSC collecting stories for newsletter, book, database
HSC offers many opportunities for our clients, program participants and others to share their experiences with us and the Miami community. We regularly feature graduates from our programs in the Voice, and we are working on compiling a book about the history of HSC. In addition, HSC has a Storytelling Initiative in which we work with media outlets to highlight anecdotes about community change, struggles and triumphs.
We would like to hear from you if: you made a useful connection through an HSC program, you have used an HSC service, you are helping to make your neighborhood a better place, you are struggling with medical debt or you have an anecdote about the organization--serious or fun.
View stories we've already collected at the 1000 Voices Archive on the VOX Miami page.
Candlelight vigil to mark National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day
When: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 12:30 p.m. Where: Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW 1 St. Miami-Dade County will join over 100 communities nationwide in marking National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day with a candlelight vigil and memorial service at which the names of the homeless and formerly homeless people who passed away in the last year will be read.
This 19-year-old tradition aims to bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness, and to remember those who have passed away on the streets of our community this year.
The U.S Census Bureau is now hiring nationwide for the 2010 Census. These temporary, part-time jobs offer good pay, flexible evening and weekend hours up to 40 hours a week, and the chance to work near home. Workers are needed in almost every community. Call 1-866-861-2010 or visit www.2010censusjobs.gov to learn more. Post this info in your offices and share the word with job seekers!
Save the Date: HSC will host a Conversation Cafe about the Census on February 5. Stay tuned to learn how you can get involved in your community and make sure everyone is counted.
Register for Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise Conference
SVC/CE, Miami 2010 is an opportunity to network and learn about best practices across the social enterprise sector. HSC's Daniella Levine will present "Catalyst Miami and other Local Social Innovations" on March 19. Learn more at www.connectionmiami.com.
Where: Miami Beach Convention Center When: March 17-19 2010
December 31 is the deadline for early registration for SVC/SE, Miami. Prices increase after the first deadline.
Health Foundation of South Florida announces new grant cycle
Health Foundation invites you to apply for a grant if you have a project that is focused on improving the health status of under-served populations in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties.
Preliminary grant proposals due by Friday, January 8
Invitations for full proposals sent by Wednesday, January 27
Full proposals due by Monday, March 1
The four priority areas HFSF is looking to fund are: healthy lifestyles, oral health, preventative health measures and primary care.
Redistricting debate alive in Tallahassee 
Use your voice to create community change: HSC collecting stories for newsletter, book, database
