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This is my first letter written not only for you but, also, to be posted on our website inviting others to learn about our agency. We will, if you approve, even invite local website visitors to our board meetings.

We are at a low point in our numbers. I find I am working outside my field on jobs that leave me frustrated at the end of the day as I try to keep up with our organization's business in my after work hours. Because these jobs are so far from what I want to do - they inspire me to make better use of our long track record and our unique accomplishments to seek grants to increase our activities.

As you know, none of our efforts in previous years at grant writing have gained us staff support. The grind of this continuous effort can burnout a good person if the pace is too great. It is better to move slowly then to rush trying to do all things in a frantic effort to succeed or bust. So, I have not written many proposals in the last few years, preferring to build our programs and website then to write grants while doing no programming.

Now we have two serious volunteers - Anne Pyterek and Tina White - who want to help us build our development office by writing proposals. We will have ideas to present to you at this coming Board Meeting. This committee will begin to produce a series of proposals with the goal of funding our activities for the first time in our history.

Good news - Crossroads fund will decide the fate of our Technical Assistance request Thursday night (5/17/01). If funded we will be able to pay a consultant to help us with our Peachtree Accounting software. I will take several classes and have to prepare a Policy and Procedures Manual for our agency over the course of the coming 9 months.

Our website is posting art by our founding artists. This is a long term project to add the flavor of our community arts center and the artists who have contributed to our existence.

It is also an opportunity for those who have helped us most to benefit and to exhibit their work on-line around the world! We are small no longer. We are world-wide!

Lan 65 is a coalition of social service agencies which meet to share efforts and ideas. They invited us to tell them what we do and to tell them how our programs could help them help youth with special needs. I have submitted a class description for a one month - one day a week screen printing class for up to five youth participants. The cost to an agency is $400. If we can demonstrate this as a successful program - it could bring me back from the downtown jobs and set UM-CAC up for more support.

Our "Website Design and Promotion" SIG is growing with several Chicago Computer Society volunteers offering to present topics at our meetings every first Saturday of the month. Our Saturday Computer Recycling class is on-going. I am volunteering along with Natalia from NAES College, and Joe Podlasek from AIC to teach a beginning class in computers at AIC on Wednesday night. This class is the beginning of a consortium to help eliminate the digital divide in the Chicago Native community and Uptown, Chicago.

Come to our meeting to discuss these topics and more. We need your vote. See you Saturday, May 19th. 2001 at 1:00. Thanks for your support. You help UM-CAC grow.

Sincerely

Chris Drew