OneSource Center News

The 2021 Avondale Community Makeover, culminating with a huge volunteer work day on July 29, 2021, was an incredible success as community partners, leaders and volunteers worked together for astounding success.  The project spanned six work sites and utilized over 300 volunteers. 

OneSource Center, a partner on the Community Makeover project, was responsible for working with the Taft Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati (BGCGC) team to help update furnishings and overall agency facility updates — providing items from its redistribution warehouse.  Through corporate furniture donations made to OneSource Center’s redistribution warehouse, items were available for greatly reduced pricing — stretching Makeover budgeting for other needed project elements.  The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and OneSource Center volunteer teams, under the leadership of a P&G team lead, helped paint, clean, design and refresh the space creating a welcoming and inviting space for Avondale participants in the BGCGC program.  OneSource Center furniture and program elements were utilized in the Taft BGCGC Teen Room, classrooms and in staff offices.  Connected to the Taft BGCGC, the Crest Smile Shoppe also received a paint refresh, plus new waiting room furniture and office chairs through OneSource Center.  

Emily Yellman, Taft BGCGC Director, said the teamwork was incredible and the transformation of the space “magical.”  “The refresh of our Taft BGCGC location will mean so much to the students involved in our program.  Having so many volunteers here in one day allowed our program to continue uninterrupted and checked so many projects off our ‘facility dream list.’ Thank you to all project partners who helped create an incredible learning environment.  Your work will have an impact on our community for years to come.”    

Another element to the 2021 Avondale Makeover project was the opportunity for community children to have access to FREE toys through the “Unplug and Play” program.  This “Unplug and Play” program was coordinated regionally through OneSource Center, and nationally through a partnership with Marine Toys for Tots and Good360.  The program regionally distributed 16,000 FREE toys through six distribution events, and over 5,000 FREE toys were distributed through several Avondale distributions.    

The 2021 Avondale Community Makeover coordinated the work of project partners Reds Community Fund, P&G, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Cincinnati Public Schools, Cincinnati Community ToolBank, Cincinnati Recreation Commission, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati and the City of Cincinnati Government.  

“OneSource Center is proud to work with community partners to help nonprofits thrive, and this is just one example of how this collaboration can make an impact in our region,” said OneSource Center CEO Christie Brown  “Thank you to all the partners who worked together for such an incredible project in Avondale.”   

More coverage of the community-wide project are located here:     Local 12 News  WLWT-News 5  ’21 Community Makeover Comes to Avondale  

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Most nonprofit leaders often feel like their day is “shot through a fire hose”! Lots of projects and people to manage, and not enough hours in the day. We understand! Did you realize you DON’T have to “do it all”? 

OneSource Center’s consulting group has team members who can easily tackle those projects that never make it to the “top of the pile.” Need your job descriptions updated? Haven’t revised your personnel manual in a decade? Would it help to have a professional plan and run your board retreat? Need help researching grants that fit your work or clientele? These are just a sampling of the tasks OneSource Center team members can take off your plate.

Alida Hart, President and CEO of Inter Parish Ministry (IPM) Food Pantry, has utilized OneSource Center for several projects and says this has helped her organization further expand its mission of feeding hungry people. “No one can do it all!” says Hart. “OneSource Center’s ability to assist with the development and implementation of a team building retreat was incredibly helpful to me, plus it provided my team with a meaningful experience.”

“OneSource Center also was a great resource for the recruiting and onboarding of several new teammates. Their consultants are top-notch and helped us put in place new processes that IPM will continue to use in the years ahead,” she continued. “Their collaboration with us on these and other projects has left a lasting positive impact on our agency and the people we serve.”

Want to explore the range of projects OneSource Center could help you tackle? Contact Vickie Ciotti, Vice President of Consulting Services to discuss your needs.

We have connections! When corporations and regional businesses have gently used office and residential furniture to share and want it to go to a good home – they contact OneSource Center to get these items into the hands of nonprofits and the clients they serve! If your organization has an upcoming move, office renovation or operations expansion on the horizon – let us know! And if possible, let us know ahead of time. Our warehouse redistribution center receives many donation leads, and if we proactively know of your needs – we might be able to seek out or coordinate donations that exactly fill your needs for pennies on the dollar!

One example of a recent coordinated effort was with IKRON, a OneSource Center Shoppers Club client that is a regional provider of integrated quality behavioral health services, employment services, support services, youth services and peer services. The award-winning organization recently purchased a new building with significant residential and office needs, and was looking for a way to stretch their operations budget! Anticipating the need for assistance, the organization proactively contacted OneSource Center with a list of needed furnishings, and OneSource Center was able to help – obtaining over 100 pieces of furniture from their list — saving them thousands of dollars.

These types of “need” calls happen often at OneSource Center, with clients notifying us of advance requests like:

• large quantities of matching conference room chairs
• lockers or closed and lockable storage cabinets
• mattresses
• specific desks needs (i.e. matching or larger quantities of reception or executive style)
  or white boards/conference room needs.

Know of a specific future furniture need? Contact Beth Yantek! We want to help!

Coaching has taken on a new status in leadership circles. In the past, a stigma that leaders might fear when engaging a coach was that it would make them appear weak or in need of remedial help. However in the past decade, there has been a transformation in attitude. Now coaching is seen as an investment in someone, bringing a competitive edge to that staff member.

When faced with a busy schedule and job pressures, managers can sometimes become reactive. A coach from outside the organization can help a leader to pause and view problems with a new perspective. Coaches can also assist in career growth. OneSource volunteer consultant Tim Riordan currently coaches two nonprofit executives, both of whom aspire to become CEOs. He shared, “I think it is good to have a person to bounce ideas off of. It is a way to use my experience as a CEO to help another person prepare for that position. They have found it very beneficial to relate to someone who has already been in that position and faced those types of responsibilities.”

Interested in exploring the idea of utilizing a coach to help you think through major decisions, discover new strategies and ways of working, set goals or chart the next step in your development? This is just one of the services offered through OneSource Center Consulting! Contact Vickie Ciotti, VP of Consulting Services to learn more.

Training leaders to be creative and agile has never been more important as nonprofits adapt to current times and anticipate unexpected changes ahead. The Nonprofit Leadership Institute of Cincinnati (NLIGC) has highly respected leadership development programs tailored to the skill level of employees: entrylevel, middle management and CEO level. OneSource Center consultants provide the leadership and teaching for two of the NLIGC programs (ADVANCE and EXCEL.) The programs are lauded as “transformational” with attendees reporting they utilize skills learned every day in the operation of their organizations and in team management.

Program details:
ADVANCE focuses on strengthening and developing the management and leadership skills of middle managers or nonprofit supervisors. New sessions occur quarterly. The Fall 2021 Session of ADVANCE is currently accepting applications. Fall sessions will be held on Thursdays starting on September 16.

EXCEL is a flagship, nine-month leadership development and skills training program for nonprofit executive directors and C-suite executives. EXCEL was designed to enrich the management capabilities of those individuals inspired to lead nonprofit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati region. The program integrates the use of a coaches to personally mentor each class attendee in implementing best practices in their organizational leadership. The executive leadership program begins every September, and applications are currently being accepted. Session topics included: Leading with Emotional Intelligence; Kouzes & Posner Leadership Challenge and Truths; Collins model for Creating Greatness; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Strategic Thinking and Planning; Team Building and Development; Performance Coaching; Change Leadership; Nonprofit Boards; Financial Management; and Fundraising.

Testimonial
Sandra Jones Mitchell, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Serving Older Adults Through Changing Times, said the EXCEL program strengthened and broadened her leadership abilities, giving her confidence and tools to lead her organization to better fulfill its mission. She said the networking and coaching components were an immeasurable positive strength of the program. Mitchell continues, “I have attended numerous executive leadership training experiences, but the EXCEL program ‘tops my list of favorites’ for many reasons. In this program, the focus is strictly to train agency executives with tools they can use to run their nonprofits. The information was presented in a manner that was easy to absorb, and has given me practical skills I can use every day and for a lifetime. Making a commitment to attend the sessions over time strengthens your ability to learn and actually use the materials taught as well.”

Scholarship opportunities

Dr. Thomas G. Monaco EXCEL Scholarship Fund
A scholarship fund to honor Tom Monaco, one of the principal architects of the EXCEL program, was founded upon his passing in 2017.   The fund has been established for agency executives who would be unable to attend the EXCEL program without financial assistance.  If this type of support is needed in order to attend, please complete the EXCEL application and indicate your interest in being considered for tuition assistance.  (NOTE:  If you would like to contribute to the Dr. Thomas G. Monaco Scholarship Fund, which furthers the development of future nonprofit leaders in Greater Cincinnati, click here to make a donation.)  

OneSource Center Emerging Leader Award
In response to OneSource Center’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion objectives, OneSource Center has established the OneSource Center Emerging Leader Award, which will provide a full scholarship for the award honoree to participate in the EXCEL leadership development program, including 1 year of executive coaching.  More info here.