Written by Trace Mills, BATC Foundation Board of Directors
Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of building on the excellent groundwork of many BATC Foundation volunteers from past years. The Foundation’s success is reflected in the following things:
We’ve Touched Hearts:
- We have helped some incredible and inspiring people over the last couple of years. Looking back at the difference we’ve made in the lives of people like Zack, his mom Cheryl, Marco and Gena, the men who live at Bluebird House and the dozens of others we’ve helped over the years – we can be proud of the work we’ve done.
- In addition to helping Zach with a new home, we were also able to help Zach’s mom receive a scholarship to a paralegal program. Cheryl’s goal is to be an advocate for the disabled.
We’ve Increased BATC Member Participation:
- Some of the best people on earth help with the Foundation and our projects: the Foundation Board of Directors and committee members; Build Partners like Accent Homes, Vujovich Design Build, Finished Basements and all of the subs who have stepped in to work on these projects; everyone who has donated materials; and of course the BATC staff – they are some of the most dedicated people I’ve ever worked with.
- BATC Young Professionals (YPs) are sponsoring a clothing drive in cooperation with Avenues for Homeless Youth supporting the Foundation’s HomeAid Program.
- The Foundation has increased our visibility within BATC significantly. Members have a better understanding of who we are, what we do and how they can be involved.
We’ve Reached Out:
- Although the Foundation has always worked through partner agencies, the past two years have seen several new partnerships that have helped to increase our visibility. These include Homes for Our Troops, Homeward Bound, HomeAid America and, although not new, a strengthening of our partnership with Rebuilding Together Twin Cities.
- HomeAid Twin Cities, a new program of the Foundation, will mean that we can access new material donations for projects that focus on service providers that deal with homelessness. One of our first events is the clothing and gift drive that we’re doing right now for Avenue for Youth, a Minneapolis shelter that serves homeless youth.
We’ve Created a Firm Foundation:
- The last two years have been spent developing critical best practices in our governance and financial structure. This has included restructuring the Board of Directors, new By-Laws, and a new financial management system more clearly shows how funds are being spent.
- We are in process of review by the Minnesota Charities Review Council and hope to be approved by the end of the year.
- Our investment funds have been repositioned for greater growth.
Looking to the Future:
- We’re still putting together some of our projects for next year so I can’t tell you too many details yet but I can say that we’ll continue our focus on veterans. Look for our first big HomeAid Twin Cities project in 2016. Our first gala will be on April 16 and it’s going to be a great party – you won’t want to miss it! We celebrated our 20th Anniversary this year and I can confidently say that our next 20 years are going to be even better!
