Truckee Meadows Tomorrow announces second quarter Silver Stars
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jun 15, 2011
Contact: Karen Hruby
775-323-1518
info@truckeemeadowstomorrow.org
(RENO, Nev.) – Truckee Meadows Tomorrow (TMT) has announced its Silver Star award winners for the second quarter of 2011. These individuals and organizations have measurably improved the Truckee Meadows by positively impacting the following quality of life indicators:
- Voter turnout—KNPB Channel 5 Public Broadcasting, for special public affairs programming leading up to the November 2010 general election, offering voters insights into issues and knowledge of the candidates' positions on them, including Nevada Votes 2010, debates by Gubernatorial and Senate candidates, a "meet the candidates" forum in partnership with TMT, and other programs exploring ballot issues.
- Economic vitality—Dave Asher for launching http://www.LiveLocalRenoSparks.com to amplify the value of local businesses and nonprofits through efforts to generate positive net revenue that stays in the region, such as new business-to-business alliances and the “10%in2010” campaign to shift 10% of non-local spending, or $350M in sales revenues to locally-owned independent businesses generating millions of dollars in local wages that stimulate our economy.
- Affordable housing—Gary Longaker, Nevada Rural Housing Authority executive director, for helping communities meet housing and economic developments needs through innovative public and private partnerships, such as the Home at Last program helping 405 Washoe County, 114 Carson City, and 800 families statewide move from renting to owning a home, and saving Washoe and Carson City families $2.6M in down payment expenses and $1.8M in federal income taxes leaving that money to be spent in our community for other needs; weatherizing 240 low-income Washoe County households saving $225,000 in energy bills annually; and partnering with the Reno Housing Authority to secure over $20 million in grant funding to address Reno’s home foreclosure situation.
- Community responsiveness to its most vulnerable populations—Family Resource Centers, through the Washoe County School District, for connecting 8,000 individuals and 2,200 families over the past 12-months to services providing basic needs assistance for food, housing, clothing and access to medical, dental and mental health care, including cash assistance through the state TANIF program and federal SNAP (food stamps) program; partnering with the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, Children in Transition, and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program to help direct parents to essential public services for students; and resources or referrals to local programs that provide food, utility assistance, parenting education and adult literacy or education classes.
- Community responsiveness to its most vulnerable populations—Soroptimist International of Truckee Meadows for helping more than 200 vulnerable women in need of the skills necessary to successfully enter the workplace, through hosting “Making a Difference for Women” annual workshops, in partnership with local agencies such as Step-2, Hosanna House, Drug Court, Bristlecone Family Resources, JOIN, Job Connect, etc., covering the job application, mock interviews, how to network, career counseling benefits, a free clothes closet for workplace appropriate "shopping,” and the opportunity to apply for part of $5,000 in training grants to assist in increasing workplace marketability.
Recipients will be honored at TMT’s second quarter community forum on Wednesday, June 29th at KNPB Channel 5 Public Broadcasting (1670 N. Virginia St. on the UNR campus) from 5:15-7 p.m. The public is invited to attend the forum (free to TMT members and $10 for non-members), which includes networking and a media roundtable discussing legislative impacts on quality of life and innovation needed to transform the community. Special thanks to Northern Nevada Business Weekly and KNPB for helping to sponsor this forum. “Acknowledging new Silver Stars each quarter for the important work that they are doing to improve the community, is an honor and a privilege for TMT,” said TMT President Amber Martin-Jahn. This year, Silver Star nominations for the community’s 33 quality of life indicators will be accepted through the TMT Web site prior to each quarterly forum. Nominations will only be accepted for those indicators relevant to the forum topic. The next Silver Star nominations will open later this summer. Truckee Meadows Tomorrow (TMT) is a community-based, non-profit organization whose vision is to enhance our community's ability to continually improve quality of life in the Truckee Meadows through collaboration and partnership. As the recognized voice for quality of life in the region, TMT facilitates engagement to identify issues of community concern and the means to resolution, and provides unbiased, comprehensive indicator data measuring quality of life outcomes. For more information, visit http://www.truckeemeadowstomorrow.org ###